Cutting the brake shield pan

[adrianfromthecastle]

I bought some metal cutting scissors at kragen, that should be strong enough to cut the brake shield right?

I just need reassurance before I open it, cuz I dont think I can return it if I open it.

[AZhitman]

Why cut it?

It comes off in one piece, you know....

[thenillaz]

^ef that! Cut it into snowflakes. That would be super tyte JDM hotness!

[adrianfromthecastle]

Why cut it?

It comes off in one piece, you know....

I'd have to take the hubs off tho right? I dont have the proper tools to take off the hubs =/

reason being is I'm putting in my extended studs this weekend

[AZhitman]

Booooo.

Yep. But why cut the dust shield just to put in longer studs?

[adrianfromthecastle]

Booooo.

Yep. But why cut the dust shield just to put in longer studs?

to get clearance so that I can hammer in the new ones from the back...

last time I did it, I just torqued it in, no hammer... man was that a big mistake

[94_240sx]

Well, I tourqued mines in and worked just fine. If you want to hammer them in then get a thick punch. It should work without cutting the dust shield.

[adrianfromthecastle]

last time I torqued it, one stud came loose while when I was trying to take a wheel off...

lets just say, its not easy taking a lug nut off when the stud is spinning freely with the wheel still on.

[AZhitman]

Adrian, do I need to teach you how to put in new studs?

NO hammering on them! You're gonna wreck the bearings.

If they don't "bite" well, then you need new hubs, not a hammer.

[adrianfromthecastle]

Adrian, do I need to teach you how to put in new studs?

yess...

any writeups?

I mean, I wasn't gonna bang the heck out of em... I was just planning on lightly pounding them in till theyre secure

[AmoebAssassin]

Hammering them is a worse idea, not in the sense that you'll damage your wheel beearings, but because if you hammer them in, there's a greater chance for misalignment.

If pulling the lugs through is not working for you, you are going to need new hubs.

If you pulled them through and they came loose, chances are you didn't line up the splines on the lug studs with the splines in the hub, and yielded some of the metal in the stud holes in the hub.

[adrianfromthecastle]

so would you recommend me trying to torque it in again? First time I did it, I didnt use any automotive grease, I just did it dry... you think that was the problem?

[94_240sx]

lets just say, its not easy taking a lug nut off when the stud is spinning freely with the wheel still on.

It doesn't sound good. It looks like splines on the hub got messed up and unable to hold the stud. I rather use thread lock or do it dry, not grease. You should remove the stud and inspect hub and see any splines left there. Worst case, you might have to replace the hub???

When you torque, I think the spec was something like 120lb. It was in the manual that came with Nismo studs, so I used washers and torqued down. I also torqued lugnuts for the first week or two to make sure they settle down good.

[adrianfromthecastle]

When you torque, I think the spec was something like 120lb. It was in the manual that came with Nismo studs, so I used washers and torqued down.

the thing is, @ 120lbs, I'd be afraid to strip the nuts, or even the studs.

either way, last time I tried torquing it in, it didn't go in all the way

[AZhitman]

<sigh>

http://www.240sxTech.com

Get a big nut, a few washers, and a couple sacrificial lug (I use old chrome acorn lugs for this)....

You don't need to pull them ALL the way through, but close. They will seat a little through heat-cycling, make sure to check your wheel torque several times after swapping them.

Sounds like your hub is shot, Adrian - Skip the project until you get a replacement hub.

[KFL]

It's more 70-80lbs i'm pretty sure for torque it down. Find some OEM lugnuts I bought a 4pk of open ended from local autozone deal. Very bad 2 got hot and the threads started to come undone. Ended up messing two studs slight up but fixed them. I cheated and bought a new air gun and bam did the fronts in under 5minutes flat. Here's a local write-up pretty decent http://www.importfanatix.com/F...=1750

[adrianfromthecastle]

It's more 70-80lbs i'm pretty sure for torque it down. Find some OEM lugnuts I bought a 4pk of open ended from local autozone deal. Very bad 2 got hot and the threads started to come undone. Ended up messing two studs slight up but fixed them. I cheated and bought a new air gun and bam did the fronts in under 5minutes flat. Here's a local write-up pretty decent http://www.importfanatix.com/F...=1750

hey thanks for the link

[C-Kwik]

Just to add my 2 cents, when I had an S13 many many years ago, I had installed slightly longer studs in the rear. This was before 240's had any popularity and before Nismo studs or any longer stud was readilty available. I sized up a close match (0.1 mm bigger shoulder) and still got it in with an impact wrench. It took a lot of effort, but was expected with the slightly wider shoulder. By contrast, I found I had a stud that had been sheared off in the S14 as I was teching for an autocross so I swapped it out onsite. I used a foot long socket wrench and it was effortless by comparison. You should not be struggling to put these on.

The only potential issue I can think may occur is if the studs are very long, but I can't recall what the clearance is like so this is only speculation...

[AZhitman]

Yeah, there's no clearance issues - If you rotate the hub, you can slot in each stud through the opening in the backside.

And I put mine in with a regular 1/2" drive ratchet and a socket with a "sacrificial" steel lugnut (I snagged a pile from a junkyard JUST for swapping wheel studs).

I have longer studs on the Q rear, the G35 rear, and all 4 corners of the 240, and I've swapped studs on other people's cars as well, so I'm an expert now (gotta be good at something I guess).

[adrianfromthecastle]

so all you guys just impacted it huh?

hm... I wonder what I did wrong the first time and why it became loose a while later when I tried taking it out?

[AZhitman]

No, DON'T use an impact.

I can tell you what you did wrong: NOTHING.

You need to replace the hub, as the little press-fit splines in the holes wear down, and no longer hold the lug stud securely.

Hubs are a WEAR ITEM, contrary to popular belief. Don't think you can just pop studs in and out like it's nothing....

[adrianfromthecastle]

Hubs are a WEAR ITEM, contrary to popular belief. Don't think you can just pop studs in and out like it's nothing....

hmm... what if instead of getting new hubs, I just weld them in? do you recommend that? or should I just go to the junk yard and find some hubs? =/

[AZhitman]

Weld them ONLY if you're certain they're straight.... A small tack weld will do it.