Did a search to see if I really needed to remove the rear spindle to replace a broken stud. The consensus seemed to be 'yes'
Well, didn't need to. Of course, removed the caliper and hung it up in the wheel well. Rotor removal was easy as someone in the past had removed it. One of my past projects was to bolt them back on with flathead allen screws. That made any future removals easy.
Rotated the broken stud to 6 oclock position.
Removed the parking brake adjuster.
Knocked the broken stud out without any effort at all.
Now...the replacement is 1 3/4" long, longer than the available space needed to get it back in. On an angle, it would reach the hole in the flange but the head was way too far down on the backing plate. Took it to my grinder and bevel ground the head a little on one side only, just enough to make an angled flat spot. Refit the stud again with the bevel flat to the backing plate and it looked doable. Gave it a very light rap with a SMALL hammer and it popped right in!
Greased up a couple of flat washers and used a regular lugnut to pull it back into place.
I'd guess 20 minutes to get it back in and everything buttoned back up.
Layed awake last night thinking about pulling the spindle or bubbaing it up by drilling a hole in the backing plate! Turned out easy.
Hope this helps someone else out.

 

Since you just did this...Is there enough room to install long studs(like 3") that way????

 

Sorry, no. Tight enough with the 1 3/4" ones!

 

I'm not qualified to say it won't necessarily be fine, particularly behind a relatively lo-po engine in an application which may not see much abuse, so don't loose any sleep on my account, but I'd be a bit uncomfortable so altering a lug on a truly high-perf application. Expert opinions most certainly invited.


TSW

 

Call me bubba. I drilled the backing plate. Seems less likely to cause a problem than grinding part of the head off.

 

Being grade8 bolts I don't see how that amount of grinding would be a problem. The entire shoulder is still there and the serrated part is VERY tight in the hub.
Besides, in my case it was just one stud.

 

Qualifying my observation with the fact that it occurred behind a hi-po NOM engine, my reservations are based in having ripped the lug bolts out of a stock stub (not all the way, but enough to ruin the stub and cause a lot of collateral damage). It is due to this failure that I upgraded to HD high-nickel stubs w/ 1/2" x 3" studs. Of course, I'll admit that not everyone may have such cause to hesitate or to take such measures.

 

Any new stud is better than stock...EVERYONE should replace their studs with newer ones as added insurance.
However as I've mentioned I agree with Skunkworks where I overbuild for any application. I upgraded to ARP 1/2" x 3" studs which was a PIA to install without removing the hub or altering the stud themselves. I went thru a lot of trouble to not jeapardize any structural peice of the assembly without taking apart my newly rebuilt TA assembly.
I would definitely consider at least upgrading to a 1/2 stud, its just a matter of knocking out the old ones, enlarging the hole a bit and sliding in the new ones if you still want to keep the shorter length. A 3" length stud requires some power tools and elbow grease and an open mind.

 

I know this is a very old post but I just installed 3" on the fronts with no issue. Ordered 10 more for the rears. Haven't torn into it yet, but any pointers on getting 3" in for the rears? I'm capable of cutting and rewelding if necessary.

 

I just did mine this spring. Drilled the backing plate and used a press to push the old studs out. Maybe took an hour each side.
Got to be honest though...I left the parking brakes off because I lacked the patience to get them back together.

I think that would be the only reason to need to pull the spindle.