Morris Minor Owners Club

"New" tyres today,155x14x65 part worn, hooray OH NO, as I tightened up the last nut, PING and the stud snapped, no use of a bar,just a spider and my hands,now I know I am not experienced in all things Moggie and I can be a bit heavy handed but still... I presume metal fatigue? But any way, how do I go about changing a wheel stud,am I better getting new or second hand,the project is running out of money at present and every penny is accounted for on jobs for the MOT,this is an unexpected problem.

Remove the brake drum. Rotate the hub as necessary to get clearance and then drift the old stud out. A suitable rod and hammer will be fine, the stud just pushes back through the hub flange. The new stud pushes in from behind. Put on a couple of washers and then tighten the wheel nut with the flat side towards the washers and hub. This will draw the stud home. Then remove the nut and washers and refit brake drum, wheel and nuts as usual.

I would recommend new studs - they are not that expensive, and with old ones you don't know how fatigued they are when you buy them! Note that the rear studs are slightly longer than the front ones as they have to pass through the half shaft as well as the hub and drum. Not every supplier is aware of that

Studs are not expensive and just push out the hub from front to back. To refit, push through from back to front then pull into the hub by tightening a wheel nut onto the stud. No more than 45 lbs/ft when tightening wheel nuts. Probably damaged in the past by some Monkey at a tyre fitting place !!

Double posted but message is the same

Thanks for the replies peeps,the tip about washers? Offer the stud to the hole in the rear of the hub,push through slightly,put washers on protruding part of stud,turn a wheel nut back,to front the wind until tight against the back of the hub.Have I got that right so far? No need to Locktite the new stud in place or anything else I may have missed. I don't take offence if anyone thinks that I am dim,I can be when it comes to mechanics so its better for me to understand stuff step by step.
Is 45lb/ft about the same as: tighten by hand with a "spider" then a good hard tug extra?

That sounds like you've picked it up perfectly. I recommend the washers and reverse nut rather than a wheel, but PSL's suggestion is equally valid - my way just saves the paint on the wheel.

Two things here - the 65 section tyres are not suitable for a Minor - should be 80 section - and the fact that one stud has snapped indeed suggests an overtightening in the past - and therefore it's likely the other studs have also been overtightened and could snap at any time........

Also I would not recommend part worn tyres, you do not know where they have been or how they have been treated, they could have been kerbed with internal damage to the sidewalls

Is 45lb/ft about the same as: tighten by hand with a "spider" then a good hard tug extra?

I'd give the good hard tug a miss, especially using a spider.

I'd disagree with Mike on secondhand tyres.

I don't routinely fit new tyres to any secondhand car I buy, and at least with part-worns you can examine them more thoroughly than when they're on wheels, on a car.

On wheelnut torque: Henry Royce's principle was to ensure that all spanners were the right size to apply just the right torque, in the hands of a competent mechanic (hence open-ended spanners in early R-R toolkits were almost all single-ended). So use the factory wheelbrace, or one of equivalent size, and all will be well. Then keep a length of gash gas barrel in the boot for when you can't undo one at the roadside, and some previous owner hasn't had the courtesy to copaslip the threads.


Kevin

To be honest Kevin undoing wheelnuts isn't normally an issue, as to tyres I quite often fit part worns as £15 each is affordable, I don't skimp on brakes but there is a limit to what I can afford,my Moggie will never be a concours car,its an every day runner that my Sons can learn to drive in,and we can spend time together fixing,I have already discovered that my eldest son seems to understand the exploded diagrams in the Workshop Manual much quicker than me,and he has a knack for seeing the best way to realign stuff when we are putting it back together. The whole experience is turning out better than I ever thought

Yep - i agree completely about judicious use of secondhand spares, including tyres, to keep costs down, just as I don't go for this "fit a new..." when all something needs is stripping, cleaning, oiling, and a few trivial bits.

I also agree about the father & son thing: I started off helping my father with his Morris 8, and then his MG 1100 started my near-continuous association with A-series engines. In turn, my own son, though late taking an interest, helped considerably with the restoration of my Midget and has developed skills of his own. He finds the floor much easier to reach than I do...

Kevin

Sorry to revive this thread but I have now joined the sheared stud club. I would say that from when I took ownership of Meggie and had to use a cracker bar to loosen the wheel nuts that she had fallen victim to the dreaded wizzy guns.
Before I reach for the lump hammer would it help to drill the stud as my thinking is by removing as much material as possible it will make the assault with the drift and lump hammer a bit less of a all out attack?
Thanks in advance

Personally, I would remove the hub before knocking out the broken stud.
No need to drill out the broken stud, just knock it out.
Having the rear face of the hub stud flange resting on a solid object i.e. an open vice alleviates the possibility of distortion of the flange from a mis placed hammer blow.
Pull the new stud into the hub using a suitable socket, washer and reversed wheel nut.
Torque to 40 ft lb f.

Cheers Phil more work ahead

Phil's advice to remove the hub is the safest way, although I have easily knocked out broken studs in situ in the past.

The rear wheel has a broken stud. Having read the above posts, I was planning to remove it in situ after removing the drum. How easy is it to remove the hub itself? I have to renew all the brakes anyhow. Thanks

To remove and refit the rear hub is an easy task if you have the right spanner/socket.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176439572318 ... R_q35YLsZA

The process is well described in the BMC workshop manual.