Wheel Stuck On Car. Stud spinning
 

Hi all,

While attempting to bleed my brakes, I discovered one of my lug nuts spins freely. It appears that the stud has broken free from the hub and I can't get the nut to loosen. I've asked around and have tried putting tension on the stud and hitting with the impact. I've also put an extractor bit in the center and tried to pull the stud back into the hub. I've ordered some carbide bits to ultimately drill out the stud...

Has anyone out there run into this problem? It's on a rear wheel and I might be able to get to the axle nut. If I can't drill out the stud I have to try to take the wheel and hub off the car together... any thoughts put there? I have a new hub, studs, and nuts on the way.

Good thing I already paid for the upcoming track day :ughdance:

Drill the stud out. Take the rest of the lugnuts off. Lower the car down onto a slanted 2x6 or 2x4 and kick the tire. It should break the stud the rest of the way. Done it several times. It sucks but it works.

Can't remove the tire and hub by removing the axle nut. There's the caliper, rotor, e brake cable, and 4 bolts in the back that hold the hub in place.

If drilling failed. I figured I could split the brake caliper since I have the base (floating) piston design. So I think I could get the brake caliper to clear. The four bolts that hold the hub seem easily accessible as well. I didn't consider the parking brake cable tho.. it sounds like drilling is the most popular opinion so far

Update: I was able to drill out the stud and get the wheel off the car. I used the ARP extended studs, which made drilling a lot harder than usual. I needed carbide tipped bits, cobalt was not working.

I wish these cars used M14 size studs. For the weight and power they have, they really should be using them instead of the wimpy M12 size.

BMW pulled a similar cheap-out on M-cars through the E92 platform. Wasn't until a company offered a retro-fit of the press-in M14 based BMW hubs that I started tracking my M3 again. All the WRL race cars use them.

I use the same studs, luckily haven't broken any yet.