94-97 how to replace front wheel stud? DIY?

Hi,
I have a 97 accord. I have a bad front wheel stud. When they changed
my tires, I noticed that the studs are on a circular plate bolted to
the top of the rotor.

Easy enough...I can remove 4 bolts, then take the plate off with
studs. Since I have not done this before, I don't know if I need a
press to remove and install a new stud. Or can I pound them in and
out?

Anyone know this? Would be great to know before I try to tackle this!

Thanks!

-joe

 

wrote in @g12g2000prg.googlegroups.com:

I think you'll find the splash shield and steering knuckle are in the way
of pounding the studs out.

Get behind the knuckle with a strong light and see if the stud heads appear
to have room to exit to the inboard side. I don't think it's possible.

If you remove those four bolts you mention, all you will do is make the
rotor loose; the rotor is behind the hub, which is pressed on to the
steering knuckle. The hub needs to be pressed off the knuckle before the
rotor can be removed. The pressing part is NOT a DIY job.

I suspect you'll need to remove the steering knuckle from the car and have
a garage press everything apart so the stud can be changed.

 

I think you'll find the splash shield and steering knuckle are in the way

Well it really did seem like the plate with four 12 or 14mm head
bolts(not phillips screw type) holds the studs. On the other cars
I've had 91 civic, 99 accord, I think I know what you mean that there
are 4 phillip screws and the studs come from behind the rotor. On
this Accord though, it seems like the studs are up front on this
disc. Much different setup.

For what it's worth, shops are quoting $30 parts/labor, so I imagine
it's easier than those other hondas with a hub/knuckle deal.

Well...let me unbolt it tonite...and see what I find. I'll keep you
posted and maybe get a picture or something.

 

wrote in

It does. It's just that that "plate" is the hub, which is pressed on to
the knuckle along with the wheel bearing. You can't remove that "plate"
just by undoing the bolts you see there.

Then maybe there IS room to hammer the stud out the back without
removing the hub. The rotor does have reliefs around the studs, so it
would only depend on there being clearance between the knuckle and the
hub so the studs can be withdrawn out the back.

 

Ah...I catch you now. So the plate is press onto the hub. bummer.

Thanks for that additional info. I guess I'll mirror behind the rotor
and see if I can see the stud holes and where the knuckle comes into
play. Then whack way. Assuming I get it out, how do I get the new
one squished into the plate? I think I read somewhere where I can put
an open ended lug nut and crank it down. I don't have one...but I can
pick one up.

-joe

 

if the stud you're changing is broken you can just pound it back, and it
will fall out... the interference with getting the new one in can be
fixed if you have a grinder... you take the new stud, and where the
head is on the top of it, you just grind one side to a flat edge, so
when you're looking at it, it looks kinda like a "D" but don't grind
down into the shaft of the stud...

When you go to put the ground down one back in, just make sure that the
ground part is facing the inside of the assembly, and push it straight
in..

As far as drawing them in, yes, you can do it with an open ended lug,
BUT make sure you're not dragging the threads of the stud in the hole,
as this will crush them, and they're not nearly as easy to get out when
they're not broken.

also, if you're replacing more than one, drive your car at a low-normal
speed and take lots of turns for about 15-20 mins, then retighten all
the lugs on that wheel... this will ensure proper seating of the studs.

 

wrote in

That "plate" IS the hub.

And I see someone called "g20zoom" has chimed in, speaking from practical
experience. What he says makes sense.

 

the "official" method is remove the knuckle, press out the hub center,
press out the stud, replace stud and reassemble. but you can also do it
by cutting away part of the splash guard to get access. but that's a
cheap and dirty fix. you can probably buy a whole new knuckle with hub
from a junk yard for less than it'll cost you to mess about like that.

whatever you do though, do NOT pound on the hub - you'll damage the
bearings.

 

:

In the case of removing old studs, pounding is OK. They're not in there
/that/ tightly. Takes a hell of a whack to damage wheel bearings.

 

via the wheel/tire, yes. but not with a hammer direct to the hub. it's
one of the commonest bearing failure modes these days since seals, lube
and bearing quality is so good.

 

if you what to DIY listen to dropzone he's done it & so have i or take
it to shop to have it pressed off & on

 

Dr0pZ0n3 chimed in, not g20zoom! I was looking at the wrong post!

 

heh, it happens... at least you realised it tho @ tegger

i was kinda wondering wtf you were talking about... cuz g20zoom is the
threadstarter and all... why would he have sensible knowledge of his
own problem... ya know? lol no matter tho.

 

Hey, check out this tool!!!!!
http://www.try-intools.com/video.html
http://www.try-intools.com/instruct.html

or search for "accord hub remover" on ebay. Runs about $150 shipped.
A tad expensive for my one time job, but someone may find it useful if
it works. If someone has tried it, let us know!

-joe

 

Thanks for everyone's help!

Here's what I did:
1. unbolt wheel - that was fine, but my steel wheel was stuck to the
hub. What a PITA! Never had this happen before...i wacked the wheel
a bunch of times from behind with a mallet...
and did some prying, finally came off
2. remove brake caliper! I figured this out later...for a while
there, I couldn't figure after whacking the wheel stud, how I would
remove it. After undoing both caliper bolts, that left a big open
space for the stud to fall out. Plenty of room.
3. turn hub to the brake opening and hammer out stud.
4. push new stud in with a little oil. tap in with a punch to get it
started.
5. used a open ended lug and cranked it down to pull stud through hub
plate by hand, then with an impact gun

Well...it's not that hard after the fact, but i finally figured out I
needed step 2. Duh! I did have to pound the heck out of the wheel
stud, a little uncomfortable for the wheel bearing but I had to do
it. I did put some oil at the base of it, but maybe I didn't wait
long enough. After a few shots of oil....a few more minutes of
tapping the stud in different directions, then hitting the wheel stud
straight on, it started to move out. Part of the problem was that
this side previously had a caliper lock up, so the previous owner said
the wheel was smoking. The extra heat and rust probably seized it up
a bit more than normal.

out with the old, in with the new. No need to cut the new one in a D
shape. Plenty of room where the brake caliper was.
Was it worth the $30??? no way!! but at least it's done!

btw...and impact gun was needed for the brake bolts. When some shop
did the brake caliper, they cranked down the brake mounting bolts!!

 

those bolts should be cranked... not necessarily with an impact, but
cranked none-the-less. I think the torque spec is something like
100-115 lb/ft^2

 

force per area is the unit of pressure. torque is force per distance,
not area. torque is typically N.m or ft.lbs, so no divisor and no
"squared".

and to be clear, honda lug nuts are typically torqued to 80 ft.lbs or
110 N.m.

 

heh... read a torque wrench.. it's measured in ft.lbs... which is
"pounds per square foot." you're torquing to a given pressure. the
purpose of torquing a nut and bolt assembly is to allow frictional
forces to maintain a certain pressure over a given AREA of the
contacted surfaces... in other words, when you torque the nut and bolt
to 80 lb.ft., you're torquing them to 80 lbs per Ft^2 of contact
surface area... Don't try to school me.. I'm here for a reason.

and he wasn't talking about the lugnuts... he was talking about the
caliper retainer to hub mount bolts.

 

dude, ft.lbs are not lbs/ft^2.

ft^2 is area. and you're dividing to get pressure.

with torque, there's only one ft, and it's times, not divide.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque

perhaps the confusion is that when you lean on that wrench, you're
exerting force, not pressure.

 

I know....but i was just trying to draw the stud into the plate. It
was turning when I tried to wrench it in with an open ended lug, so
some light impact action did the trick without holding anything else.

btw, is there a reason why some 3 leg puller won't work on that
circular plate pressed on the wheel hub?

-j