Morris Minor Owners Club

Posted: **Mon Oct 23, 2006 4:06 pm**

Dear all,
i have just put two new front rubber pipes on the front brakes and putting the wheel back on , one of the wheel studs snapped off after a few rude words i thinking how to get the stud out heat it up and wallop it,sounds a good idea unless u know different
thanks 4 any help
phil.

Posted: **Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:14 pm**

Just hit it with a hammer. If it's already broken, no need to worry about mushrooming the end, but if you can get a nut on, it won't happen anyway. New one should be drawn through using a nut, BF&I...

Posted: **Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:57 pm**

thanks 4 th
e help i will get my hammer swinging!
phil

Posted: **Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:00 pm**

But why on earth did a stud snap ?This is a most unusual and worrying event. Had it suffered any strange mal-treatment ? If one stud can snap - so can they all - so i suggest you change all 4 for new ones.

Posted: **Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:01 pm**

Use a suitable size hammer and drift to knock it out.

Posted: **Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:10 pm**

bmcecosse wrote:But why on earth did a stud snap ?This is a most unusual and worrying event.

No it isn't. A combination of age/being ridiculously undersized and use of air wrenches means it's commonplace.

Posted: **Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:21 pm**

Yes, this happened to our East Kent chairman recently on the IOW run! He got home OK on the 3 studs though.

Posted: **Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:51 pm**

Commonplace to have studs snapping - I don't think so !! NEVER happened to me - and I have had many many Minors and Minis (same studs) over the years. If the Ministry of Transport hear it's 'common' for these studs to snap then we can look forward to all Minors being banned from the road! Something very worrying has happened to this stud - if you tell me it's the air wrench - then all the more reason to change all 4 studs - in fact all 16 studs on the car if the wrench has been at them all!! Sounds extremely dangerous to me.

Posted: **Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:01 pm**

bmcecosse wrote:Commonplace to have studs snapping - I don't think so !! NEVER happened to me.

Just like fuel evaporation, it may never have happened to you, but this DOESN'T mean it's not a regular and common occurence. Agreed over replacing the lot though.

Posted: **Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:16 pm**

If it's regular and common - then it's really NOT SAFE ! And i spend a bit of time on various Mini forums - they use the exact same studs - and this is NOT something that ever comes up. If my studs were snapping - I would be frightened to take the car out on the road. I have seen stripped threads on the studs - where they have been overtightened - but not any snapped ones.

Posted: **Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:20 pm**

I can post pictures, if you like, not that they'd prove anything. I might add that I for one am not in the habit of making these things up, as you seem to think. Never had one snap while car was moving, btw, always when putting nut on/taking it off.

Posted: **Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:27 pm**

Oh I don't doubt it's happening - but WHY is it happening - so that everyone on here can avoid the accident! Is it original 'genuine' studs that snap - or maybe some cheap copy studs that are snapping ? I believe some folks fit modern wheels - with 100mm pcd - and force these over the studs (on 4" pcd) - and then tighten the nuts hoping for the best. (NOT suggesting that's what was going on here !!) - and this sort of mis-use will almost certainly end in tears - and broken studs!

Posted: **Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:10 pm**

Without wanting to take sides and all that, this is a new one on me! Surely when this happens it must be from abuse. In fact it would be interesting to know who has had this happen wouldn't it ? 3 so far.
I must pamper mine something rotten!

Posted: **Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:18 pm**

Must be it - I've had it happen a couple of times, and got one car where it had already happened. When they break, it feels like cheese breaking - or the feeling of metal breaking after repeated bending, so presumably metal fatigue. All of these had 917s, if that's a clue.

Posted: **Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:24 pm**

All of these had 917s

You're just saying that to make me feel insecure!

Posted: **Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:33 pm**

Either that, or I AM an inveterate liar

Now I think of it, the one that had a snapped stud when I got it was running normal wheels...

Posted: **Mon Oct 23, 2006 11:05 pm**

I do think the problem is rattle guns (air wrenches). They should never be used on wheels but frequently were and sometimes still are.

I can't comment on wheel studs breaking but it is so common even now to find wheel nuts/bolts tightened to the extent that they can only be undone with a really long breaker bar.

It's not really surprising that the odd wheel fastener will fail due to fatigue

Posted: **Tue Oct 24, 2006 12:17 am**

Its never happened to any of my minors, to my knowledge, but doesn't mean it doesn't happen!

Posted: **Tue Oct 24, 2006 12:46 am**

Could be down to the fact that the commercials have generally had a much rougher life than the domestic models whether rallied/raced or not, carried MUCH more weight and been maintained by people even less considerate than general garage mechanics.

Posted: **Tue Oct 24, 2006 7:43 am**

I've had wheel nuts strip, wheel centres crack, front hub crack and shatter (a story of its own!) but never had a stud snap. Years ago when I worked in a tyre centre whenever a Mini, Minor, Triumph or any vehicle with tiny studs came in it was time to put away the impact wrench, even then it was necessary to be careful with a cross wrench not to apply excessive stress to the stud. It was always good to be able prove to the customer that they could get the nuts off with their own wheel brace.