Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Wheels & Tires Broken Wheel Studs

I've just experienced my second wheel stud failure.

The failures have occurred on the two rear wheels on the stud with the lock nut. One looks like it was snapped off all at once, and the second failure looks like it took some time to finally break off.

The wheel nuts were all torqued to 85 ft-lbs, and retorqued after 3000 miles.

The rims are 17" ASA IS6 I bought from Tirerack last September. The lock nuts came from Tirerack with the rims.

Looking for any help to prevent this from happening again. I'm considering taking the lock nuts off since only studs with lock nuts failed.

MLT,

Are these wheel hubcentric to your Tour? If not, loads that would normally be carried by the hub OD will be carried by the wheel studs. This can be a problem because wheel studs are designed to hold clamp load only.

This wouldn't explain your trouble with the lock nutted studs though....

-Kurt
Livonia, MI

I had one wheel stud bust while taking a wheel off. Never noticed anything funny last time I torqued it on (only 65 lb/ft). Just cheap Ford I guess.

Don't know exactly what you mean by hubcentric, but the rims do have a plastic centering ring.