BobWreck

I have now broken a total of 3 wheel studs. One on each side of the front and the left rear. Got the two front studs replaced under warranty but no such luck on the rear. Now they are blaming it on my Motegi MR7 wheels. "They aren't GM products" they say. "Neither are the rims you sell" I counter. In the end, they wanted $30 a stud and another $50 to replace it.

**** that.

I need to know (And I did a search, first), has ARP or someone else good released a set of wheel studs for the Cobalt yet?
The ******* service manager is blaming my rims because they are multi-fit. I am blaming GM because they over torqued the steel wheels at the factory. Seriously, I had to use a 4' cheater bar to bust the lug nuts off when I put the Motegis on.

Thanks,

Bob

Edit: Another route would be for some kind soul to tell me what the dimensions are on the stock studs and I can order them that way. The Motegis are a 40mm offset, if that matters.

YellowLT

Auto parts store up the street from my had a new stud for three bucks hardened steel. took ten mins to put in.

Archie

Just so you know, it is partly the rims fault. $10 says that you don't have hubcentric rings. Am I right? Do you even know what hubcentric rings are? They are a plastic or steel ring that fits in the wheel hub, and takes up the space between the wheel and the vehicle hub. But it needs to be perfect for it to work.

When a wheel is on a vehicle that doesn't mount flush with the hub, and doesn't have wheel spacers, the wheel weight pulls down on the studs by as much as 1/8". Even if you think you lined it up perfect, its not. Even that little bit of pulling on the stud is enough, over time, to weaken the stud.

If you don't have the rings, I have to take GM's side, and say it was the wheel's fault.

True my wheels were overtorqued too from the factory. But they were only torqued to 110-120lbft. (I checked with a torque wrench progressively adding lbft) and the recommended torque is 100lbft. That is definately not enough to reach the yield point. On our studs, the yield point is around 160lbft. I guarantee they weren't torqued like an F-450.

By the way, when GM dealers sell rims, they usually purchase HC rings to match. Or make sure the hub is the same size as the vehicle they put it on.

BobWreck

The Bob

Archie

Okay, well you have spacers, so you are smarter than 95% of the regular population. At my work, we have people come in with aftermarket wheels, no rings, and a broken stud and try to blame us.

So you can ignore almost everything I posted earlier.

How many miles were the stock wheels on before you switched to aftermarket ones?

Was there any rust or corrosion on the mounting surface? That could cause an improper clamping force, and may break a stud. It usually isn't a noticeable wobble either.

Was there any rust or corrosion on the lug nut threads or on the stud threads? Or any visible damage to either? Those can make a lug impossible to get off.

Three lug nuts can hold the required clamping force on a wheel, as long as they are every other lug.

Jumping on a 4 foot cheater bar may have weakened the studs.

But when it comes down to it, the studs and lugs these days are made like crap. Not even made out of steel anymore. The SS/SC comes with the crappy sleeved lugs, that I would suggest to everyone to replace as soon as you buy your vehicle. Gorilla lugs are made the best nowadays.

Archie

BobWreck

Okay, well you have spacers, so you are smarter than 95% of the regular population. At my work, we have people come in with aftermarket wheels, no rings, and a broken stud and try to blame us.

Yeah, well these things ARE plastic so how good could they be?

So you can ignore almost everything I posted earlier.

How many miles were the stock wheels on before you switched to aftermarket ones?

Less that 500 miles. I had an unexpected windfall, Tread Depot had a sale. =)

Was there any rust or corrosion on the mounting surface? That could cause an improper clamping force, and may break a stud. It usually isn't a noticeable wobble either.

Well, yeah. The brakes are either cast or ductile iron, I'm not sure which. I wire brushed the nasty off before I put the new stuff on.

Was there any rust or corrosion on the lug nut threads or on the stud threads? Or any visible damage to either? Those can make a lug impossible to get off.

A bit, see above. No damage that I could see.

Three lug nuts can hold the required clamping force on a wheel, as long as they are every other lug.

Mine's an LS. I got 4 bolt wheels.

Jumping on a 4 foot cheater bar may have weakened the studs.

No doubt about it. It were my only option as just standing on the thing dint return the expected result. Plus, six and eight foot cheater bars were out of stock just then. =)

But when it comes down to it, the studs and lugs these days are made like crap. Not even made out of steel anymore. The SS/SC comes with the crappy sleeved lugs, that I would suggest to everyone to replace as soon as you buy your vehicle. Gorilla lugs are made the best nowadays.

I wish there had been a way to document what the actual amount of torque was that was required to bust those lug nuts loose. That would have been REAL good to know. At one point during my uhm, discourse with the service manager I had bet him $100 he couldn't bust a lug nut off a Cobalt LS without resorting to the force multiplier of his choice (i.e. anything OTHER than the wrench that comes with the car). He refused to take me up on it.
I haven't heard of anyone else having had that much trouble getting a tire off. What was different about mine?
I will count my blessings that I dint have to find that out the hard way, like on the side of the road somewhere.


Bob

Archie

Yeah, well these things ARE plastic so how good could they be?

The plastic ones get the job done just fine, but I prefer the aluminum ones.

Well, yeah. The brakes are either cast or ductile iron, I'm not sure which. I wire brushed the nasty off before I put the new stuff on.

You wire brushed off the big parts of rust? Did you work at a tire shop at some time in your life?

Mine's an LS. I got 4 bolt wheels.

Gotcha. You can get by on 3 lugs, but of course 4 is better.

No doubt about it. It were my only option as just standing on the thing dint return the expected result. Plus, six and eight foot cheater bars were out of stock just then. =)

Yeah, been there, done that.

I wish there had been a way to document what the actual amount of torque was that was required to bust those lug nuts loose.

There is no way that I know of to measure the force to break loose. But a way to test the torque that is on the lugs is to get out a torque wrench, and progressively add 5-10 lbs. Once the lug turns a tiny bit, that's what torque they were at.

My only guess is that the small amount of rust that was on there raised the amount of torque needed to break loose. That is usually the reason, but it sounds like there wasn't much, so maybe it was a combination of some 500lb guy torquing the car and the rust.

ORT

Yeah I have also broken 3 ughhh ******* cars

Archie

You've broken three cars?!?

Its just cheap GM and their cheap lugs/studs.

ORT

Nooooo 3 bones

Yeah it just sucks though cause its a hassle I don't feel like fixing or that I should have to fix really...

BobWreck

You wire brushed off the big parts of rust? Did you work at a tire shop at some time in your life?

No, but it did the job as there wasn't a lot of it. I dint think a brass wire brush would hurt anything.

Bob

Archie

Well you did everything you could. The wire brush is actually what you are supposed to do. Lugs and studs should be "clean and dry". According to the Tire Industry Association (TIA).

BobWreck

Oh, WELL then, smiles all around. I done good!

Bob