Axle replacement

It's fairly easy to do. Autozone has a tool, it's forked, to put between the axel
and transmission, then you hammer the too to pop the axel out. Similar to the
ball joint/tie rod tool. But the frame is in the way, but you put it in a position so
you can hit the tool sideways to pop the axel out.

 

I can usually pop them out with a long pry bar but you've got to have it undone at the lower ball joint at the steering knuckle or the hub so that when you pry it outward something actually moves A lot of people try and pry the axle out and have an undone it at the hub you got to have some play in there You want to undo the big nut first I usually undo the lower ball joint It's a bolt and two nuts I think they're 14's and that allows you to slide the hub off of the axle shaft where you took off the nut and then you can pry it out of the transmission in because now it will move side to side.

 

Clean the lug nuts and the stubs. Check and make sure they're not stripped.
Then torque to 76flbs. That's what Toyota calls for.
Not 98 like walfart wants to do!

I hand tighten them, then torque them to 50, then to 74.
Do NOT bounce the torque wrench. Apply steady pressure until you reach the setting.
After I've finished all wheels, I check them again.

By doing it by hand, then you KNOW they are on, and snug.

 

When rotating tires (actually swapping between snows and all-seasons in my case), I've taken to leaving the torque wrench on the floor, in a prominent location. So when I've snugged all the lug nuts with the car raised, then lowered the car to the floor, I'll see the torque wrench and think "oh yeah".

 

It's hard to imagine two lug nuts missing if the remaining three were still tight and the wheel was not wobbling. If wobbling it means all nuts were loose and two worked themselves off.

It is possible to put the wheel on slightly cocked where the edge of the cone on the nut is hung up on the wheel. You quickly end up with all lugs loose. This scenario is pretty obvious if you have good light on the subject, which could be the issue.

Otherwise somebody tried to steal the wheel.

 

Believe it or not I just blast them on and blast them off with my big DeWalt 60 volt half inch drive a gun I don't try to kill them this is the way I've always done it I have some of those torque sticks just another thing I have to look in the box for so on my personal stuff I just put them in like always and watch the rotations I bet they're close. My dad had a wheel fall off of a 124 Fiat spider back in like or I don't know 71 the service station had left all the lug nuts literally loose It was hysterical watching the wheel roll by while we were sitting there waiting to pull out of the driveway and then the car just teetered down into the blacktop.

 

Some of those lug nuts on specific vehicles were like dual ply especially some on the Chevrolet stuff in certain years and they do wear out rather quickly you'll see the outside cladding on the assembly hate to call it that start to get banged up and all of that If I had any of those types of lug nuts I usually replace them with solid steel type of things aftermarket generally speaking but they're made of one piece of metal if you will with threads in them and if they're conical their conical if they're shanked for mag wheels then they're shanked and pretty much that's that The shanked lug nuts that go on the factory 15-in wheels that are made out of aluminum that very edge that has that chamfer on it is only there to help you get the wheel nut into the hole on the wheel easier if that wasn't there it might be a little more difficult but should not cause any problems with the tightening or loosening of said nut now if you have the multiply you want to get rid of those as soon as you might get around to it they're just not very good sometimes you can hold them in your hand and wiggle them and feel them clicking not a ideal setup in my world.

 

It is angled to match the rim.
Most placed just use an air gun and slam it on. They don't car about torque or if it
is on correctly. More money to fix what they broke and claim ignorance. Which they are.
That is why tightening at least 2 of them by hand, with the socket in your hand, and wiggling
the wheel until the nut is properly seated, with 1, but 2 is better, then the other 2, or 3, or 4, or
however many you have, will seat properly.

Lug nuts do not "swell". Someone OVER Torques them and damages them.
Walfart always screwed up mine on my Van from over torquing. I would always remove them
and torque properly when I got home.

It could have been just a simple mistake that the person got distracked and "thought" he had
tightened them.

 

It certainly does happen. I was once driving behind a good ole boy truck when I witness his wheel come off and the wheel rolled right into a guy on a motorcycle at highway speeds. It was not pretty. The truck had no broken studs.

Exactly but while they are still tight it drives ok.

One solution for diy guys are wheel alignment pins. You take the wheel off, do your work and install two or three of the steel alignment pins first to ensure the wheel goes on straight. Add several lug nuts, remove a pin, add a nut etc.

Obviously visually inspect and torque with torque wrench. If a shop does the wheel installation, I go home and check the torque which usually means slightly loosen and retorque one by one.


These are primarily used to hold heavy wheels while avoiding nicking wheel finishes. But they are sold as Wheel Alignment Pins and do make the job easier.