Wheel studs sheering off

Greggles · Member

Wheel studs sheering off

Peter_n_Margaret · Senior Member

Warranty issues are not covered by insurance.
Why did the wheel studs sheer off?
Cheers,
Peter

thomas01 · Senior Member

If your windows are Dometic brand, check the recall section in the techies forum to see if yours are part of a general recall issued last year. You may have options to have them replaced by Dometic.

Best of luck.

woolman · Guru

From my knowledge the main cause of studs shearing off is same as ball. They have been loose at some time which makes brittle the metal in studs.

My rule is is I discover a loose stud or ball I replace asp. It will fail at some time, today, tomorrow, next week or next year.

Neil

Corndoggy · Senior Member

Have a listen to this guy.
www.youtube.com/watch

Greggles · Member

Dont know why they came off, but with the van being so new relativly I cant imagine.

Peter_n_Margaret · Senior Member

Greggles wrote:
Dont know why they came off, but with the van being so new relativly I cant imagine.

Did you or anyone else ever check the wheel nut torque since you owned the van?

Cheers,

Peter

Greggles · Member

Thanks for the video, Im a bit old school at 69yrs, so am well aware of changing tyres etc.

What I dont know however, since never having experianced it is the actual studs breaking off.

I've been told it could be bearings seizing up but I suspect it might have been a brake issue for that wheel only???

Greggles · Member

Not that I know of Peter, unless it was Sydney RV on the 1st service

Wouldn't have seem tbe necessity myself.

Peter_n_Margaret · Senior Member

Wheel studs need to be checked on a regular basis and especially after fitting from new or after a wheel is removed and replaced.
This is fundamental vehicle safety.
I suggest that you have no one to blame except yourself.
Was there any stud hole damage to the rim in question? Was the other rim checked?
Cheers,
Peter

Jeff-2025 · Member

Greggles wrote:
Dont know why they came off, but with the van being so new relativly I cant imagine.

My van has the following in the user manual (Pre-departure checklist)

Check that the wheel nuts on all wheels have been tightened
to the manufacturers specification for wheel nuts. These
should be tightened with a torque wrench to the correct torque
and they should be tightened after each 100km for the first
400km and they should be checked every 1000km
or six months.

After reading this post I'm adding a torque wrench to my tool set list.

Greg 1 · Guru

There are primarily only two reasons for wheel studs shearing off. The first is the obvious one of too loose either because of not being tightened sufficiently or not checked after a wheel having been removed as others have said. The second which can happen some time after the initial cause, is overtightening. Bolts mostly work by stretching slightly as they are tightened to a specified torque so locking the nut. This slight stretch will return to its static state once the tension is released and the bolt remains good . However if the bolt is significantly overtighten, then the stretch in the bolt will remain and the bolt is significantly weakened. At some point down the track the bolt will fail and on something like a wheel it becomes like a zipper effect, with one failing increasing the load on the other weakened studs and them all failing one after the other. If you had the van serviced and the young apprentice used the rattle gun at full torque on your wheel nuts it's a real good chance that all the studs are weakened. When I picked up my new van I caught one of the workers with a large wheel brace swinging on it like a monkey and had to stop him before he overtighten them. They didn't process a torque wrench so I dragged out mine and did them myself. I suggested they invest in one before they have a wheel come off on one of their vans.

Greggles · Member

Are these problems only on caravans, because I have never had an issue with cars in my 50 years of driving.

Peter_n_Margaret · Senior Member

Greggles wrote:
Are these problems only on caravans, because I have never had an issue with cars in my 50 years of driving.

I would bet that your caravan has no shock absorbers?

Wheels Falling Off Trailers (rvbooks.com.au)

Cheers,

Peter

Greggles · Member

Peter, you are so right about that, it was one of the things I was concerned about when 1st buying not just this van but our old one too.
I was talked out of installing them
They do have leaf springs tho which I am told are sufficient. Hmmm

Peter_n_Margaret · Senior Member

Caravan suspension. A whole new subject. smile

There are "leaf springs" and then there are "leaf springs". biggrin

Cheers,

Peter

Whenarewethere · Guru

In a previous life, 1980s, one of my friends (corporate speaking). Always had Ford do the servicing on his car. They sheared off the thread within a nano metre of its life replacing brake pads/disc so the nut wouldn't fall off Within the last .1mm of the stud.

I question how do mechanics record data on Nm dry tightening of wheel nuts (not wet tightening) of wheel nuts.

P.S. One wonders of the total lack of any level any basic fundamental level of physics. Brain dead on all & every level from mid primary school basic education... at least in the 1979s.

Just how it is today.

Brenda and Alan · Guru

Just a comment on "shock absorbers." They do not reduce shock loads on suspensions, but in fact increase them due to the fact that they reduce spring travel.

The term is completely erroneous, they are spring dampers.

Alan

Greggles · Member

just to say, our problem was NOT the nuts coming off, it was the studs they attach to.so as I see it a torque spanner would not be relavant.

Whenarewethere · Guru

What PSI were you running on these secondary grade roads.

Greg 1 · Guru

The torque is very relevant. Did you not read my previous post? Incorrectly torqued wheel nuts are the BIGGEST cause of stud failure both in cars and caravans. Trailer axles in particular, as the grade of steel in the studs is often questionable and correct torque is even more relevant. I cannot stress this enough. The very fact that you say the wheels had been off the van prior to the studs failing points right at this being the cause.

Dick0 · Guru

Greg 1 wrote:
The torque is very relevant. Did you not read my previous post? Incorrectly torqued wheel nuts are the BIGGEST cause of stud failure both in cars and caravans. Trailer axles in particular, as the grade of steel in the studs is often questionable and correct torque is even more relevant. I cannot stress this enough. The very fact that you say the wheels had been off the van prior to the studs failing points right at this being the cause.

Also worth watching.

Your wheel nuts: The ghetto engineer's guide to torque & lubrication | Auto Expert John Cadogan (youtube.com)

Corndoggy · Senior Member

Also worth watching.

Your wheel nuts: The ghetto engineer's guide to torque & lubrication | Auto Expert John Cadogan (youtube.com)

That was the one I was actually trying to post.

Greg 1 · Guru

A very good video. The loose wheel is more than likely what has happened in the OP's case, but I have had tyre shops do nuts up so tight with a large rattle gun that a 600mm breaker bar with 4' of pipe on the handle wasn't moving them unless I jumped on the pipe and eventually broke the breaker bar. The studs were stretched beyond repair and ruined and I had to replace the studs. And you don't need to carry about a long torque wrench any more. I have the normal large torque wrench in my workshop but I bought a small digital device that fits onto you breaker bar or 1/2" wheelbrace between the brace and the socket which is a remarkably accurate torque gauge, quite light in weight and about 50mm in diameter and 75mm long. Has a screen showing torque and a beeper with light that warns you when you approaching the preset torque figure. I paid about $50 on Ebay. Easily carried in the car. Reads torque from 7nm to over 200nm.