One of the rear wheel studs on my '02 Z28 has been mucked up since I bought the car last fall. (Discovered the problem months later when I put snow tires on.) I want to replace the stud but want to know what I'm looking at in terms of work before I start tearing into it.

Most importantly, am I going to have to pull the axle to get the old stud out and put the new one in? If so, what exactly is involved? If not, I can probably figure the rest out but if anyone has experience and/or advice on this task I'm more than happy to have input.

Thanks,
Brent

 

If you don't have traction control, with the reluctors on the back of the axle hubs, you can get the studs out without pulling the axles. If you have traction control, I believe you will have to pull the axle out. The studs can be tapped out with a hammer (although the preferred method is to use a press), and pulled back in with an imipact gun, a spare lugnut (installed backwards) and a washer.

 

Rats — it does have traction control. Looks like I may have quite a task ahead of me. :-(

 

Check for more info. I've seen a post recently that went into a bit of detail on the issues with the TCS reluctor rings, but I can't remember where it is.

 

Turns out it was no problem after all. The worst part of the whole job was getting the rotor off, even though the car only has 20K on it. Finally got it off, then tapped the stud out and it dropped right out the back (once I rotated it into the right spot.) The new one slipped right in and /just/ made it past the reluctor ring. Pulled it in with the lugnut and all is well. Thanks!

 

Wow... I just had my rears off and I looked at what it would take to replace the studs... I didn't see any way the studs would come out with the reluctor ring in place. I wonder if the LS1 cars have more clearance between the reluctor and the flange on the axle that holds the studs.

 

It was close, but it /just/ made it past the reluctor. If the ring had been a couple mm wider, it wouldn't have cleared.

 

I don't have traction control, so could I just hammer out the one rear stud that is crossthreaded and ruining my new lug nuts?

 

Should be able to, but do it carefully. It doesn't take a LOT to tap it out and you don't want do any more banging than is absolutely necessary -- you don't want to damage bearings, races, and/or other parts in the process of replacing a $2 stud.