froggy47

I know this has been asked/answered but a search didn't turn up much, sorry.

Do I need to take the upright off the car to do this? Don't want to drill the backing plate.

Thanks.

Link me if you know of a good diy (with shortcuts).

Bill Dearborn

The easiest way is to drill the backing plate near the spot where the parking brake spring mount is formed into the backing plate at the rear of the backing plate. Don't drill into the mount and leave enough meat around it so it won't fall apart.

Bill

fatbillybob

To me easiest way is pop all ball joints and take the knucke out then T55 torx off the hub and then you got easy light access to studs. Benchvise and socket to drive out old studs and spacer with lugnut on to pull in new studs. Job is SOOOOO much easier if you got a good rattlegun. Consider replacing the torx bolts with regular 10.9 hexhead bolts so that the job is easier trackside in an emergency. Some like to use the fancy nordlock washers but I have never had a problem with proper torque and locktite.

froggy47

Anyone have a picture of the exact spot, if I do this, don't want to swiss cheese it.

Bill Dearborn

I don't have a picture of it although I can tell you how it is done.

I was incorrect in my previous post the hole is drilled in front of the rear knuckle. If you have changed the studs in a front hub without removing it from the car then you know there is a notch in the rear of the front knuckle where there is enough depth to remove a broken stud and insert a new one. The knuckles are the same front and rear and just reversed in the rear so the notch is in front of the knuckle. Once you take a look you can see exactly where to drill the hole. Make sure it is just large enough to fit the large end of a stud and the edge of the hole is far enough from the spring notch so it isn't weakened by the hole.

Bill

kmagvette

So, after the hole is drilled in the right place, you then beat on the stud, with the flange unsupported, till it pops out? That never felt right to me...I have absolutely no science to back up my gut feel, it may be perfectly fine.

Separating the ball joints is not that hard, even easier if you spring for the $35 Kent-Moore tool on eBay. I like to loosen the bearing bolts with the knuckle still in the car, but after the ***** have been separated. Now, with the knuckle/hub in hand, you can rest the flange on a 6x6 (or equivalent) and smack the snot out of the studs if needed.

Replacing the torx bolts is a good thing to do. Hardbar sells a nice, but pricey, bolt kit.

Bill Dearborn

Keith, good to hear from you. Hope the off season is going well for you.

It doesn't take much banging on the stud. One or two good hits with a 3 lb sledge will knock it right out. I have done this quite a few times over the years on front hubs and have never noticed them failing any faster than normal. Not sure about the hubs used on GM cars but the ones used on the trucks can take quite a beating. When I had to replace a rotor that was rusted to the hub on my Tahoe I banged away on the rotor for several hours with a full sledge hammer. That had to transmit a lot of shock load into the hub. I am pretty sure it was harder on me than the hub since that was almost 6 years ago and the hub is still on the truck.

Bill

SteveDoten

the top two T55 bolts are exposed with the bottom recessed for the knuckle/spindle clearance, are you using a small hex to fit inside the knuckle??

OP'er, if your removing the spindle, I go after the bottom nut and remove the UCA from the frame(2 18mm bolts), the older/rusty cars LCA balljoint taper will often 'spin' in the spindle.........BMF pliers can clamp the spindle to LCA stopping the balljoint from spinning

Drilling the backing plate and having experience is also good practice(not what I do, but better if you have to replace quickly)

If you need any help give me a call, I've seen run in's with curbs, cracked spindles, blown hubs, whiny hubs.........tons of hub swaps over the years

spindle/upright/knuckle............as stated earlier, same FL to RR, and vice versa(only 2 part numbers on C5)

froggy47

What's wrong with the original torx bolts? I have the right size torx bit.

froggy47

I have beat them out on a c4 (on the car) & no issues, they came out with a couple of whacks of a 2.5 lb sledge. Tire shops break lugs all the time & do you think they take the hub off if they don't have too?

froggy47

So if I drill it, can I get a longer stud in (about 5/8 longer?)

Bill Dearborn

Never tried installed physically longer studs.

Bill

travisnd

FYI there's not enough room to remove longer studs front or rear w/o taking the hub off. I always pull my hub to do studs now. Much easier to hammer them out using a vise to support the flanges and then pull them in with washers, a backward lug, and a big wrench.

kmagvette

There is nothing terribly wrong with the stock torx bolts. If you find yourself swapping hubs frequently you will appreciate how easy it is to remove/torque 12pt bolts compared to the stock torx, that is about all.

Bill, off season sucks. Not enough snow for ski/snowboard racing and too busy with work for the "small" mods I want to do under the hood. As far as the hammer beatings go...you know me, always babying the car, never accelerating, braking, or cornering too hard

travisnd

I installed a set of SKF race hubs this weekend that I got from Gary at Hardbar. When you buy the race hubs he includes his upgraded hardware kit which has a 12-pt 12mm bolt and nordlock washers. They're much easier to work with than the OEM torx headed stuff. Plus, you don't have to use any loc-tite or torque to 97 ft/lbs (which can take two people trying to do it off the car). I torqued them to 50 ft/lbs as a "easy to remember" round number, but in reality once they're tight a nordlock washer won't let them back off.

froggy47

Does Nordlock specify that a lower torque spec is "allowed"? Wow.

Another question, if I take the upright off, how do I hold it to torque the bearing back on (if I have to go to 97#)? Big azz vise?

travisnd

Nordlocks allow the bolt to seal based on the interference/tension from both half of the washers (they have interlocking "teeth"). You're not using the threads to keep everything tight.

I was able to figure out a way to hold it put on my work bench and have my fiance use my large torque wrench to torque it.

yakisoba

Also be aware that the hubs/studs can be different for different years of car. I did the studs on my 02, then wife's 01, then worked on a 2000... And the holes for the studs were different. Smaller. I used regular studs, and they stripped right out. Had to replace all the hubs. Called ARP, and they were aware of the issue, but it doesn't happen on every hub, just some of the earlier ones. So if your car is pre-01, be careful.

froggy47

That is quite interesting. The studs on my 96 appear the same as my 2004.

Of course the hubs are probably different.

The nuts go on all interchangeable.