Rusty/Broken Wheel Studs?

[nikhsub1]

Thats surface rust. Means nothing to the integrity of the stud.

Those were overtightened, no question.

Replace + re torque = all good

This.

 

[Loufish]

Not the first tire shop to just run them down hard with a bad-ass air gun...I've been using a cordless set to min power (about 80-85 lb/ft) and then I always have to torque up and then never over-tightened...
I believe our studs get 150 lbs....

 

[JetG]

Well now that I got the truck back and looked at the studs I know that is was not due to rust as it was at best superficial surface rust. The lug nuts without a doubt where over tightened which could have causes a worse problem if the wheel had come off at 90mph.

 

[SilverBolt]

I agree with the others that the rust is not the root cause. However looking at the breaks I am not 100% convinced that it is from over torquing. There is oxidation in the fracture which appears to be old. Only part of the fracture is showing the oxidation. This leads me to believe that it may be hydrogen embrittlement. Basically microscopic fractures that will fail under load. Ford has a history with hydrogen embrittle in their wheel studs.

Side note, it's not Discount Tire's issue if they were not the last shop to remove and reinstall the wheels.

 

[JetG]

I agree with the others that the rust is not the root cause. However looking at the breaks I am not 100% convinced that it is from over torquing. There is oxidation in the fracture which appears to be old. Only part of the fracture is showing the oxidation. This leads me to believe that it may be hydrogen embrittlement. Basically microscopic fractures that will fail under load. Ford has a history with hydrogen embrittle in their wheel studs.


Side note, it's not Discount Tire's issue if they were not the last shop to remove and reinstall the wheels.

This is the problem, who should or shouldn't pay for the damage that was done? The back story is I went to discount tire to have the tires mounted around 1400 miles on the OD. They screwed up and didn’t give me ridge grapplers and put on the trail grappler. So once I noticed it I had already left Discount so had to go back the next day to get the correct tires as the trails are a lot louder on the road and wasn’t interested in the rougher ride on the road. Once that was fixed say a few hundred miles or so I had the RPG adjustable collars installed by another shop. A few days or maybe a week goes by I hear a sound coming from the front right area and it sounded like it was a light grind and was at low speeds and once I applied the brake it would stop making the noise. I told the shop this and had to take the truck back for a blackvue issue that I was having with the B124 back up battery. They corrected the camera stuff as to no fault of theirs just a bad battery or connection but it got fixed. When having the truck I told them to check out the noise, but they said the tech couldn’t hear it. I also drove the truck with the tech but just had the windows tinted so couldn’t roll down the window to point out the noise. So I just let it go as to a noise that I will have to figure out at a later date. I needed my truck as I was going to San Antonio for my wife’s conference. Thank god nothing happened to and from as I was traveling upwards of 90+mph. Once I was home a few days after the trip I noticed that the noise had stopped and I had not heard it that day (Thur Sept 13th). So I looked around the truck when I got home to see what if anything had changed. This is when I noticed that I was missing 2 lug nuts/studs on the front right wheel. So since the shop was the last to touch the Truck/wheel being off I sent it back to them as in my opinion I would have thought they would have caught the issue and considering I took it back and complained about the noise from the front right driver side wheel. At this point I am out a tow and studs etc to the tune of 390ish bucks to no fault of my own. So just chalk it up and eat the cost or make them pay for it is my dilemma?

Just trying to be fair in this situation...

 

[EricM]

Jack the ****** up and fix it. Then you know your shit won't be flying off at 90 MPH.

 

[JetG]

Jack the ****** up and fix it. Then you know your shit won't be flying off at 90 MPH.

It is already fixed, believe me if I had the space and time I would do my own work.

 

[SilverBolt]

This is the problem, who should or shouldn't pay for the damage that was done? The back story is I went to discount tire to have the tires mounted around 1400 miles on the OD. They screwed up and didn’t give me ridge grapplers and put on the trail grappler. So once I noticed it I had already left Discount so had to go back the next day to get the correct tires as the trails are a lot louder on the road and wasn’t interested in the rougher ride on the road. Once that was fixed say a few hundred miles or so I had the RPG adjustable collars installed by another shop. A few days or maybe a week goes by I hear a sound coming from the front right area and it sounded like it was a light grind and was at low speeds and once I applied the brake it would stop making the noise. I told the shop this and had to take the truck back for a blackvue issue that I was having with the B124 back up battery. They corrected the camera stuff as to no fault of theirs just a bad battery or connection but it got fixed. When having the truck I told them to check out the noise, but they said the tech couldn’t hear it. I also drove the truck with the tech but just had the windows tinted so couldn’t roll down the window to point out the noise. So I just let it go as to a noise that I will have to figure out at a later date. I needed my truck as I was going to San Antonio for my wife’s conference. Thank god nothing happened to and from as I was traveling upwards of 90+mph. Once I was home a few days after the trip I noticed that the noise had stopped and I had not heard it that day (Thur Sept 13th). So I looked around the truck when I got home to see what if anything had changed. This is when I noticed that I was missing 2 lug nuts/studs on the front right wheel. So since the shop was the last to touch the Truck/wheel being off I sent it back to them as in my opinion I would have thought they would have caught the issue and considering I took it back and complained about the noise from the front right driver side wheel. At this point I am out a tow and studs etc to the tune of 390ish bucks to no fault of my own. So just chalk it up and eat the cost or make them pay for it is my dilemma?

Just trying to be fair in this situation...

You don't have enough evidence to definitively point the finger at one place or the other. You could send the broken studs out to a lab for testing to see if the are indeed embrittled. If the are Ford owes you. If they are not you are out the cost of the lab fee (way more than $400) and you still would not know which shop over torqued. The only long shot (very long shot) I see is to take the broken studs to your Ford dealer and show them the oxidation in the fracture. They may step up but I doubt it.

Side note, I would be checking the torque on all 4 wheels regularly. If you have embrittlement the others will likely be failing soon.

 

[Jr24]

Usually, broken studs happen either when someone gets crazy tightening the lugs with an impact or when the lug nuts are left loose and allowing the wheel to move slightly. Leaving the lug nuts loose would probably have caused a vibration and possibly damage or wear around the lug holes of the wheel, so most likely the lug nuts were overtightened.

Like others said, the surface rust forms almost instantly on exposed untreated metal and is nothing to worry about. If the broken studs appear to be rusting from the inside out, my guess is that when they were tightened to the point that they stretched and were starting to fracture and then moisture found it’s way into the fracture causing rust before the stud broke completely.

 

[TXRaptor]

If you are really worried about surface rust on the hubs and studs, you can sand them lightly and paint them. I paint mine every time I rotate my tires to keep them rust free.