Anyone else break wheel studs?

[ZFMax]

2002 2500HD Duramax 4x4 w/24K miles on it ...

Went to go get some new tires. Upon removal of the LF hubcap (PY0's), a broken wheel stud was discovered. Removal of the two adjacent lug nuts resulted in snapping off of those studs as well.

The tire store said they've seen it on other new Chevy's. Really? Anyone else?

BTW, the Chevy dealer gave me a ration about fixing it under warranty. Claimed they never fail and if three broke, someone MUST have overtightened them. But the only person who's ever tightened those things is me, when rotating, and I ALWAYS use my torque wrench on lug nuts. After a heated exchange, they agreed to fix it. Chevy dealers listen up: nothing aggravates a customer faster than being hassled over fixing a small issue on his $40K truck and essentially calling him a liar in the process. Sure fire way to send someone elsewhere the next time he's in the market for a truck.

I really think what happened is that one of them was defective, and when it went, it's neighbors had to work harder and caused their eventual failure.

[JustWondering]

Hey ZF,

First time -and only time- I took my truck to the dealer for a routine service; oil change, lube of suspension, minor trim issues and tire rotation- they scr*w*d everything up.
They got oil all over my skid plate -kept dripping days after, lube grease up to my door handles- wheels, tires and paint, and of course they also broke a wheel stud. They said that they've been having this problem quite a bit, they said that they're being set too tight at the factory. Took me almost two weeks to get the stud replaced.

[Allison Jettester]

For everyone's info, the torque for the 2500HD lug nuts is 140 ft-lbs and 175 ft-lbs for the duallie rears (140 for the front). That is a LOT of torque. My son used my air hammer, unbekownst to me, on the 450 ft-lb setting on my little Nissan Pulsar. It didn't break those little lugs, but I spent hours hand chiseling them off. I don't see how anybody using hand wrenches can over torque these things and NEVER let anyone use an air hammer on them!

Here's a thread on this subject:
http://forum.62-65-dieselpage.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=7&t=002305&p=

Joe

[Redhawk]

Same thing happened to my GMC 3500 LF wheel. I had a shimmy in the front end, came on all at once. I couldn't find the problem, so took it into the dealer, who found two broken studs. Fixed under warranty, no problem. With those black plastic lug nut covers its hard to tell whats going on underneath them. Soon after,I bought forged alum wheels where I can see the lug nuts, and haven't had a problem since.

[ 12-19-2002: Message edited by: Redhawk ]</p>

[dave p]

i had broken wheel studs with my 98 2500, and went around with the dealer. here!s how it works, if no one but the chevrolet dealer has touched those wheel studs, then they will make it right. how ever if you have a tire dealer put on tires or rotate the tires it lets the dealership off the hook. it would be best to go to the same dealer for tire rotation until you are out of warranty. good luck, dave p :cool:

[Ranger354]

I took both rear wheels off my 2002HD so I could install my Gooseneck hitch. While taking the RR tire off I noticed one of the nuts was coming off kinda tough. This was WITH a air wrench. It had gaulded the threads in the nut, but I managed to get it off. Once I was finished I put it back on as far as I could. Took it to the dealership and told them what happened. Once they figured out what stud to replace it was in and out in one day. Under Warranty!