So I got my new wheels/tires put on by Will's in Irving, but now I have a big problem. One of my freaking studs is loose on my front right hub. Which means now my lug won't come off because the stud spins with it.

Should I take it to Infiniti for the fix, or can I get away with taking it to a local shop to a) get the lug off, and b) get the stud fixed? What do you guys think....

 

Dealership would probably rape you bad. Take it back to Will's if you can.

 

its going to be a nice chunk of change. i wish you the best of luck.

 

Well the guy that noticed it was a young guy and he didn't seem to know what to do/how to fix it. Is there someone I should go see about it up there?

 

Hmm, I wonder if the stud just needs to be pulled into the hub, or perhaps the stud is damaged to where it won't stay put in the hub. Either way, I think you'll probably have to split your lugnut in half to get the stud out. Hope they aren't neochro's or anything pricey.

 

Man what a pain.

I haven't personally tried the following, but heard of folks that have done it with other cars...

- Have a friend pull on the wheel while you use an impact wrench to loosen the lug nut (the other four nuts have been loosened as well and of course you have the car on jackstands). I've heard the torque from the impact wrench makes the nut move faster than the stud. Doesn't hurt to try. I think Nissan studs have these little teeth that catch the hub. Maybe the teeth are stripped from over torquing?

- Try grinding down the stud from the back. I forgot how the front hub looks. I think the dust shield only covers half the rotor so you may be able to get to the stud. If you can see back there, you could examine whether the stud is seated properly, as Moog mentioned. Not sure if there is enough room to get a grinder back there. Maybe a dremel tool?

- If you have access to the back of the hub you could have somebody tack weld the stud. Then get the nut/rim off, grind off the stud and replace it. May as well replace all the studs at this point.

 

about 3 months ago i had this same problem...i had wheel locks put on at discount tires in arlington and they failed 2 mention they stripped out 3 lugs, after a week of driving one of the lugs fell through the back somehow and tore up parts inside...i went ahead and tried 2 fix this on my own...you are going to need 2 have someone pull on the wheel while you try to undo the lug...after this its a pain in the a$$ you are going to have to take of your rotor and brake pad...if you know how 2 do all this then go ahead but if you dont i would call around and it shouldnt be anymore than around 150 bucks to get fixed

 

Well I called up Grubbs because the car is still under warranty. They said that this problem is covered, but I'm just worried about those SOB's tearing/scratching up my new wheel to do so.

 

if i was you i would find out when they were going to take of the wheel and see if you could watch and make sure they dont eff up the new wheels...

 

This may sound a bit an but take a camera and take a pic of your wheel right when you drop it off and let the service mgr clearly know that you expect an intact wheel back.

 

Alright, my problem has evolved. So I fiddled with the lug a bit, because I didn't want the dealer (or anyone) to jack with my new wheel. Luckily, I got the lug off. Unluckily, the stud fell back. I tried to hammer the stud out the back but it is hitting something, so I stopped pretty quickly. So now, the hub won't spin all of the way around pretty much stopping the car where its at (which happens to be in the garage). Gonna take the wheel off tonight and see if I can get at the stud. Will I have to take the rotors off first? If so.....

 

Yeah you'll have to take the caliper and rotor off, which is real easy. Then you should see the stud that's backed out clanking around behind the hub.

 

what happened? the lugs are setup pretty simply on the nissans... and yes, they have teeth on them where the stud is pulled into the hub, but if it comes out, that's not an easy task. sounds like the pulling on the wheel idea would work. let us know, i'm really curious

 

Well I got the lug off just by spinning it faster than the stud could spin, so luckily that didn't become an issue. I then went to remove the loose stud, but thought it would be easier to just cut the stud off in the front and pull the remaining out from behind the hub (stud was too long to pull out from back with rotor on). Then I just put the wheel back on with 4 lugs , haven't been driving it all, going to tackle installing the stud this weekend.

 

Glad you got the stud out. Installing one is simple. Just make sure before you put the wheel on you put the nuts on 1st to pull the stud all the way through. Then take them off put the wheel on and you should be all set.