Tony Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 We had a Mercedes in to replace a tyre but thanks to some plank working for a major chain the wheel studs were locked solid. The owner was warned if we use a cracking bar and the stud snaps then a unlimited labour fee will incur because of the stud length and the wheel design, and it snapped!! Since only the studs head snapped this left 25mm of stud available to use a stud extractor...... The extractor snapped Next option was to drill a hole into the stud and use an "easy-out" extractor..... yep that snapped. So we now have a countersunk snapped stud with a toughened "snapped" easy-out in it's core.... so now what. I decided to see how big a problem we really have by attempting to release the remaining studs, and they all twisted ready to snap. Next thought was to drill the base of the stud to weaken it To no avail It was agreed the only way to remove the wheel was going to be terminal for the rim so with a little searching we found a set of patten rims that would be cheaper than replacing the single OEM rim. With the owner fully understanding this rim has to come off we went in on a mission. First up we'll cut it off..... This failed due to the alloy dissipating the heat Next option was to grind between the spokes in order to weaken them But the spokes were to deep for the grinder so next thought was to "melt" the remaining studs and hammer the wheel off. Problem was by the time number five stud was hot number one stud had solidified..... I despair.... Finally with much heating, cutting hammering, heating, cutting hammering, heating, cutting hammering, the dish was finally removed I think the rim was in submission Now we had purchase between the rim and the hub some careful levering finally removed the remaining rim This ultimately exposed the studs that were now finger tight All this because an airgun was used to tighten the studs!!! Fact is for me is that we lost out big time with this job, we gave a honest opinion of labour fees and agreed a fixed price but never did i think it would take two staff six hours to remove one wheel. The reason for two staff in case you wonder is one is "spanners on" and one is on safety/ fire watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 Bloody hell mate how much aggro was that!!! I've had to drill 2 studs before so I can guess you were getting a tad frustrated? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted October 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 Bloody hell mate how much aggro was that!!! I've had to drill 2 studs before so I can guess you were getting a tad frustrated? Problem with the studs was their body length.... Between the snapped head and the base tapper is about 25mm so drilling this free hand is impossible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 just going out to check my nuts are nice and loose i would rather keep my wheels in one piece i tend to always use a battery powered torque driver on the starlet, probably because i am lazy, but it seems to do them ok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 should have thought outside the box Tony hold the wheel studs.......then turn the car ........extra leverage you see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted October 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 I can honestly say we now make split rims ..... Fact of the moment though is the industries ignorance "AIRGUNS" are for removing wheels not refitting them!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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