Chevy 1500 Wheel Studs

[MCL]

My son has a 1998 Chevy 1500 4x4. This weekend the left front wheel lug nuts worked loose and broke off two studs. How hard is it to get to the hub and change the studs? I am replacing all 6 and the nuts also. We had this wheel off recently and must obviously not have gotten it tight enough.

Thanks.
 

[glennster]

not bad to do. pull the caliper and rotor. there should be one position for the hub that you can drive the studs out one at a time. get a few extra lug nuts and a couple flat washers and you can use them to pull the new studs in. when mounting the rim torque them to 75 lbs. re-torque them at 25 miles, 50, and 100. to make sure all are seated correctly. alloy wheels need to be checked up to about 500 miles, as they do have a tendency to loosen up more than a steel wheel until fully seated.
 

[willie in mn]

My 97 GMC should be the same. Book says torque to 140# for C/K 1500 & 2500, 175 on 3500 series.
Willie
 

[hd6gtom]

If it has aluminum wheels they MUST be retorqued every time you remove a wheel, even if you torque them to the proper setting. If it is an aluminum wheel make sure the bolt holes in the wheel are not egged out. If they are the wheel is not usable. Check the back side of the wheel and make sure it is straight, not wallowed.
 

[ASEguy]

To add to what Tom posted, if the 60 degree taper is damaged on the wheel, the wheel will probably come loose again. The 60 degree taper on the lugnut locks the wheel to the hub provided the 60 degree taper on the wheel is not badly damaged. Hope this helps. Gerard
 

[MCL]

Thanks for the info. Got it done. Ended up taking the hub off and using a neighbor's press to put in the new studs. Drove it about 20 miles and retightened everything. Nothing was loose. Will keep an eye on it for a while though. Thanks again.