How to Replace Front Wheel Stud 2006-10 Ford Explorer
Created on: 2016-11-09
How to repair, install, fix, change or replace a worn out wheel stud on 06 Ford Explorer
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step 1 :Removing the Wheel and Tire
- Loosen the lug nuts
- Raise and support the vehicle
- Remove the lug nuts
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step 2 :Removing the Brakes
- Remove the two 17mm bolts from the brake caliper
- Pull off the brake caliper
- Hang the caliper aside with a bungee cord
- Remove the brake pads
- Remove the two 21mm bolts from the caliper bracket
- Pull off the caliper bracket
- Pull off the brake rotor
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step 3 :Removing the Wheel Stud
- Line the broken stud up with a clear space
- Hit the broken stud with a hammer to loosen the hub splines
- Drive out the broken stud with a hammer ad punch
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step 4 :Installing the Stud
- Pass the stud through the wheel hub
- Tap in the stud with a hammer
- Make sure the stud is flush to the wheel hub
-
step 5 :Installing the Brakes
- Slide the rotor onto the wheel studs
- Slide an axle nut, if one is available, onto one wheel stud
- Thread a lug nut onto the wheel stud to hold the rotor in place
- Put the caliper bracket into place
- Insert the 21mm bolts into the caliper bracket
- Push the brake pads into the caliper bracket
- Apply brake grease to the brake pads
- Release the caliper from the bungee cord
- Put the caliper into place
- Insert the two 17mm bolts into the caliper
- Remove the placeholder lug nut and axle nut
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step 6 :Installing the Wheel and Tire
- Slide on the wheel
- Start the lug nuts by hand
- Lower the vehicle to the ground
- Tighten the lug nuts to 100 foot-pounds of torque
Tools needed
-
20mm Socket
Torque Wrench
Hammer
Pry Bar
17mm Socket
Jack Stands
18mm Socket
19mm Socket
Brake Parts Cleaner
21mm Socket
Flat Blade Screwdriver
Paper Towels
Center Punch
Bungee Cord
White Grease
Ratchet
Wire Brush
Floor Jack
1/2 Inch Breaker Bar
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In this video, we're going to be working with our 2006 Ford Explorer 4-wheel drive. We're going to show you how to change out a broken wheel stud on the front hub. If you like this video, please click “subscribe.” We have a ton more information on this truck as well as many other makes and models. If you need parts for your vehicle, you can follow the link down in the description, over to 1AAuto.com. Here are the items you'll need for this repair.
Using a 19mm socket and a breaker bar, loosen the lug nuts. Your vehicle should have five, but ours has a stud broken off. We're using a lift to make it easier to show you what's going on, but this job can easily be done in the driveway on a jack and jack stand. With the vehicle raised and supported, go ahead and finish removing your lug nuts. Remove your wheel and tire.
On the back side of the caliper, remove the two 17mm bolts securing the caliper onto the slides of the bracket. We'll do this using the 17mm socket and a ratchet. Be sure to loosen both of them before removing either one, fully, to prevent the caliper from twisting on the slide when you go to remove a stuck bolt. With the bolts removed, work the caliper off of the pads and out of the bracket. You may need a small pry bar to help get the caliper off of the bracket. This particular vehicle has been sitting for a few years, so everything's pretty well stuck on there. Using a bungee cord, mechanics wire, or a zip tie, whatever you have handy, we'll remove the caliper and hang it up out of the way. This way we know it won't fall and tear the flex hoses.
On the backside of the caliper bracket, we'll remove the two bolts with a 21mm socket. We're going to start it with a breaker bar and then move to a ratchet. The same rule applies here, where you'll want to break both of them lose before removing either one fully, so we don't twist that bracket while we're removing the bolts. Remove the bracket from the vehicle. Remove the rotor from the hub.
To remove your broken wheel stud, you'll want to make sure you line it up right where the caliper bracket normally goes, because you have enough clearance, here, most of the time to be able to knock that out. At the same time, you want to make sure that you're not directly over your ABS sensor, otherwise you can press it out and into the sensor, creating a another issue while you're trying to fix the first one. Before beginning a procedure like this, we recommend that you have proper safety equipment, like safety glasses.
This process is pretty simple, and pretty straight forward. Really, all you have to do, is hit that broken stud as hard as you can with a good sized hammer to drive the splines out of the hub. Place the flat punch in the center of the broken stud, and now that the majority of the spline is out, you should just be able to tap it free.
Here we have our old stud that we just removed from the hub in our vehicle, and our new wheel stud. You can see the bottom has a tapered splined base. This flat edge is not specific on this vehicle, so you can face this any way you want. All we have to do is place this through the hub, and hammer these splines in until the collar at the bottom sits flush with the back of the hub.
Send the stud through. Now, it may not start off perfectly centered. That's all right. It'll straighten out as we tap it in. Once you get it in a ways, you may have to use the flat punch to make sure you're getting good contact. You could see, here, that that collar is flush against the back of the hub. That means that our wheel stud is set in straight, and all the way in, and it will hold our wheel and lug nut safely and securely.
Install the rotor onto the splines. The next step isn't completely necessary to finish the brake job, but if you have one handy, it's really helpful and makes reinstalling the pads, caliper, and caliper bracket a lot easier. We're going to use an old axle nut over one of the studs as a spacer. Just install one lug nut on there finger tight to keep our rotor flat against the hub, so when we reinstall the bracket, pads, and caliper, the rotor is nice and straight, and flush, and lines up with everything going on.
Reinstall your caliper bracket, and the two 21mm bolts that secure it to the spindle. We'll get those bolts started by hand, and then tighten them down with our socket and ratchet. Once they're in there by hand, go ahead and tighten them down with a 21mm socket and ratchet. Install the brake pads into the slides on the front and the rear. We'll apply another thin coat of grease to the back side of the pad here. This will prevent our caliper from getting stuck on. It'll also act as a little bit of an insulator to keep them from making move while they're moving.
Remove the bungee cord, mechanic's wires, zip tie, or whatever it is you used to secure the caliper up and out of the way. Be sure that when placing it back in that you don't have this flex hose, here, twisted up. Set the caliper back onto the slides, and reinstall the two bolts. You may have to work these around a little before the go in. Tighten the two caliper slide bolts up with a 17mm socket and ratchet. Remove the lug nut and the axle nut you used to keep that rotor in place.
Then we can reinstall our wheel and tire. Reinstall the wheel and tire onto your hub. It's easiest to put a lug nut inside of the 19mm socket to start it onto the studs. Get all five of these down as tight as you can by hand, and then we'll torque the wheel once there's some weight on it. Lower the vehicle back down, and put partial weight onto the wheel and tire. This means that you may have your jack or lift under the vehicle, get the tire to touch, and let the vehicle come downs some without allowing it completely off of the lift or jack. Torque your lug nuts to 100 foot-pounds in a cross pattern.
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