Looking at replacing the front wheel studs. After watching a video of this being done on a C5Z (linked on the bottom), I have to wonder, do you really need to pull the brake rotors and caliper off at all?

Could I not pound out out and replace one stud at a time? This would leave 4 others in the hub to hold the brake rotor. Then I can just cycle through till they're all done. The rotor would always be supported by 4 studs.

I have to assume you can't, otherwise crafty people would have tried this already, but based on this video, it isn't clear why that wouldn't work. Is it because the brake brackets/caliper is blocking the way? I figure they'd be further out near the edge of the rotor and not by the center near the hub. Also as long as there is clearance at any point around the hub, I figure you could work them all, as you could just spin the hub by hand until they are lined up where you can insert and remove.

Just trying to see if I can cut a 3-4 hour job into just 1 or 2. Thanks.

 

Not really sure why you're stressing over having to take the calipers and rotors off as you can do all the studs on both sides in under an hour.

 

Honestly the calipers will only add 10-15 minutes tops to the job total and that's if you have to sit and wait for pb blaster to work to get the bolts out. If you get something to support the caliper while it's off so that it isn't tugging on the brake line you will have so much more room to work by just removing them.

 

If you want to drive to my house we can do it in an hour or so.

Simple job as long as you don't want longer studs.

 

The notch in the back of the knuckle isn't in a direct line with the hole in the hub. When I have replaced studs on the car I have had to swing the new stud sideways to get it started in the hole in the hub and then push it through far enough for the head to clear the knuckle. I think the added thickness of the rotor might make that a lot more difficult. Also the caliper would be in the way of my numb feeling fat fingers.

An impact wrench makes short work of the two caliper mounting bolts and a piece of heavy twine or wire can be used to hold the caliper so it doesn't hang on the hose. I use an air impact in the garage and a battery powered impact when at the track. Using those it only takes a couple of minutes to remove a caliper.

Bill

 

Wouldn't say I'm stressing, just trying to understand if I could do a simple job even more simply . I'll do what I have to do to get it done, but as long as there aren't any issues or compromises, I'd opt to do spend less time than I have to if I could.

Sure, but if I don't have to take them off, then why would I bother? No point in taking things on and off if you don't have to. If I have to, then thats a whole other story though

Thanks for the offer, I'm a little too far to drive to WI . I'll be using the DRM studs which are about 1/4" longer.

Thanks Bill. Good point about the rotor hat possibly getting in the way. Weird that the insertion point isn't a direct line through the rotor. I didn't see any type of notch in that C5 video, but maybe I didn't notice it or its different on our cars. I'll have to check for myself when I get around to doing this (waiting for the studs to show up).

I've got an electric impact gun, but I think the torque rating on the bracket is 125lbft. I don't think my electric impact can handle that. I should have a big enough breaker bar though.

 

Good luck installing longer studs with out removing the hubs.

 

Okay, got the wheel studs yesterday. Few things...

1.) You can pound the stud out, but no way to remove it with the brakes on. There isn't enough room towards the front of the hub (away from the brakes). The only place to remove the stud is where the brake caliper sits. So the brake caliper has to go.

2.) The DRM 1/2" longer studs (only 1/4" physically larger) was installable without pulling the hub. There's only one place where you can insert it while the hub is still on the car, which is by the brake caliper fits. If anyone else uses these studs, try to put them in, you can see it might not fit in most areas, but eventually you'll find that tiny sweet spot where you can insert the longer stud without requiring the hub to be pulled. Once that new stud is in, just spin hub to install the next wheel stud in that same location.

3.) It took me about 2 hours from getting tools out to all cleaned up and I took my sweet time. Never did wheel studs before, but the process was pretty simple. Took a little while to figure out the best way of pulling/inserting the studs, but once you get into the groove, the studs go in and out really quickly. The clamp I had just couldn't push the studs out, so I got my 32oz hammer, and with a few good whacks, the stud comes right out. Insert the new stud, use the wheel stud installer, spin on a lug nut, and hit that bad boy with your impact gun. My electrical impact gun had enough power to pull it in. Rinse and repeat for the next studs. I did have to sacrifice one of the lug nuts pounding the old studs out, but I got another one on order.


4.) Here are the wheel studs, good luck.

http://dougrippie.com/products/drm-e...d-wheel-studs/

 

There is another version of stud that you don't show. Aftermarket studs available in autoparts stores are the same length as the stock stud but threaded all the way to the end. That can allow you enough space to add a 1/8 or slightly bigger spacer without going with longer studs.

Bill