After working on replacing a parking bulb in my headlight I was tightening the lugs on my stock front passenger rim by hand, and not realizing my own strength one of them broke off!! Can I drive like this to the dealer?? I live like 20 miles away. Do I need a whole new rotor now?? The stud is broken

 

I would say it is absolutely impossible to break it off by hand. so it was probably cracked and that just was the straw that broke the camel's back (a blessing in disguise IMO. it'd be bad to have that happen on the highway or something)

anyways, I wouldn't drive it personally, they should come out and flatbed it to the dealership for free anyways.

in the future, just open the hood and change the bulbs through the top. there is no need to take off the tires unless you are doing the turn signal bulb

 

I tried to replace the parking bulb thru the top, but gave up. Anyway, I'm scared now that I overtightened the other lugs too. I'll call the dealer tomorrow. I wonder how much this will cost me

 

^Seriously? You are fine to drive it to get the stud fixed..but don't go to the dealer. They will probably charge you $100 for a $25 job.

 

thanks for the responses. so i'll drive it carefully there, but you think they can just replace 1 stud instead of the the whole rotor? looks like i'll have to order an extra lug too since this one has a broken piece of the stud stuck in it.

 

Wheel studs are in the hub, not the rotor. You can actually change a broken wheel stud very easily by yourself. Just pick one up at a local autoparts store. You can use a hammer & punch to knock the broken one out. Then just install the new one and use a nut with a washer behind it to pull it into place. It's the easiest job ever and you'll save a lot of money.

BTW, it's not hard to break wheel studs by hand. I just did it on my 4Runner a few months ago, and that's a vehicle with six big lugs per wheel.

 

Oh good to hear. I thought I just needed to quit working out, and was becoming too strong

 

Always tighten your lugs with a torque wrench. If that one snapped off, you can bet that all of them are probably too tight. Better to have one come off sitting still than driving. When you go to the auto parts store to buy a wheel stud, get a torque wrench too. Torque them to 80 ft.lbs.

 

You could drive without a wheel stud. I did for a while because discount tire ****ed up one of my wheel studs by using an impact wrench. I just used a hammer to knock out the broken wheel stud, put the new one back in exactly as MSCA said. It literally took me ~30 mins (at least on my previous car, nissan sentra).

 

Ok, easy fix..the dealer only charged me 35 bucks. That, and I invested in a torque wrench

 

All's well that ends well.

 

1/2" Drive Click Stop Torque Wrench





# Click-stop type, accurate within +/- 4%
# Heavy duty cam and pawl mechanism
# Torque range: 20 to 150 ft. lbs
# Reversible

 

Never mind the fact that over torquing them can and does lead to warping of the hubs. Any shop that uses impact wrenches or breaker bars to put lug nuts on is never seeing my car.

 

I've always wondered how accurate are torque sticks that some shops use to save time but not curious enough to use them yet.
Torque Sticks, Torque Sockets and Other Discount Tools

 

at least your jack did not break on you. i got a flat saturday night and went to put the spare on and the jack folded in half on itself. I had to call roadside service to get the tire fixed lol
I think it will be fine to drive it just to the dealer. watch your speed too