SlackJaw

Anyone know if the rear wheel stud on a D35 rear axle can be replaced without pulling out the axles? I've searched, but no definitive answer. One of my lug nuts got stripped so I got to replace it tomorrow.


Thanks.

freegdr

yes........

magator

Hit it with a hammer and it will come out. Pull the new one in with a new lug nut tapered side out with a washer. Once its flush remove the nut & washer and put it all back together.

dagr8tim

Not to drag up an old thread, but does this also hold true for an 8.25? I've got 2 stripped studs that are keeping me from enjoying my XJ.

Big David

Yes. Just make sure when you hammer out the old stud that it doesn't hit any critical components.

riderJim

I don't know if my 2013 WK2 GC Jeep has a D35 or not, but I also needed to service a broken wheel stud and didn't care for disassembling the knuckle, as the official Jeep service manual asks you to do. Following is a suggestion on how to temporarily service the stud until you can have a proper hub repair.

What I found:
There's not a lot of room in back of the hub to fit a new wheel stud or even remove a full-length broken/stripped stud.

Solution:
My stud was broken, so a few whacks with a hammer popped it out. On close inspection, it seems the stud 'flange' left a shiny spot on the hub where it was a very tight fit (more later). Easy section done: bad part out. If you have a full-length stud, you'll need to cut it or otherwise shorten it so it can be extracted out the back.

Next, there is a bit of space in the parking brake cable well. The full length stud has no chance of fitting in this hollow and being able to be installed without major disassembly. However, I shortened my replacement stud by about 4 threads (and the easy-on no-thread zone) using a Dremel cutoff wheel: maybe 1/4 - 1/3 inch.
Then, out to the driveway and I removed the rear brake shoes for the parking brake. I pushed the parking cable in as far as it would go, and then the stud was able to fit in this area. I put GC in neutral (pop out keyless fob, insert remote head, turn to run (remember brakes are out when you step on pedal to allow shift), shift into neutral) and then was able to rotate the hub for best angle to work stud in. The donor stud (removed from front bearing hub core during replacement) was too wide to make it past the hub shoulder, so I slightly flattened one edge to get the clearance. Viola! the shortened stud was able to be finagled in and rotated for proper spline engagement (I was going use 'bigger hammer' method, but wasn't sure on the stud spline alignment, which became easy once the little bit of clearance was made).

So yes, I have a serviceable stud: Observe the rest of the studs and you can see how far the lug nuts thread in and how much of the stud is not being used: I did not affect the holding power (look into your lug nut 'acorn' and you can see it's quite hollow, with a fair range of threads at the business end), and besides: this is a hub-centric application meaning the hub engages the rim and the lug nuts are only holding the hub flange tightly to the wheel: the hub takes the radial weight load, not the studs.

Does it affect wheel balance? Well, it should, yet I'll note I had no perceived balance issue with the broken stud AND its lug nut, so I'm far closer to balance with the shorty in place.

So yes, when in a bind but with access to a hammer and a Dremel, you can make a temporary repair until a permanent one is done via hub/knuckle disassembly.

For discussion: could you flatten a bit of the stud shoulder such that it fits deeper into the parking brake well, and then maybe you don't need to shorten the stud to get it to install?