[jono213]

It pains me to keep posting about my Creta which seems to have a problem or 2 every other month but here we are again

Me and dad had left to Ashoka wheels on Minister road to get the usual balancing/ alignment done and after giving the car to them, they reported that they couldn't get the front right wheel off due to one of the bolts being cross-threaded and overtightened.

Being slightly alarmed at this, we asked them to try and get it off and after a brief struggle, one of the studs broke in half.

Now we were in serious trouble and the manager pitched in to help us out, he asked them to check on all the wheels and voila! , there were 1-2 cross-threaded bolts on every. single. wheel.

At this point the manager asked the mechanics to cease all work due to the fear of breaking more studs. He also told us that recently he's been receiving more Hyundai's with similar issues, could it be due to Hyundai's carelessness when I got the tyres balanced and aligned by them in November? Or did the immense Hyderabad heat have a role to play in this aswell? Would love to hear your thoughts!

The victim:

[zeng]

Heat has no role whatsoever.

[Jeroen]

When wheel studs snap, it means the nuts/bolts have been overtightened. That is why you should use a torque wrench.

Jeroen

[Jangra]

Now what? Will they have to replace the entire housing (the Disc)?

[MinivanDriver]

A skilled(!) mechanic should be able to get the broken stud out by drilling in to it. Basically create a thread inside the body of the bolt and use that to unbolt it. Another way is to weld a bolt head to the body of the bolt. Either way, it requires a good old fashioned mechanic who really knows what he is doing.

[ashivas89]

Originally Posted by Jangra

Now what? Will they have to replace the entire housing (the Disc)?

The hub/ bearing has to be replaced. The wheel bolts' threads engage with the hub's threading. Discs typically do not have threading. Discs are sandwiched between the wheel and hub due to the tension in the bolts to form a "friction coupling".

The bolts will be broken, the wheels will come off, the discs after that and finally the hub units which are bolted on to the front steering knuckle and rear torsion beam swing arm.

Bearing+ hub assys are expensive parts though.

However, the above applies if this gen cretas' hub is like the ones on German cars.

If the Creta has the bolts embedded in the hub unit from inside (like most asian cars with 4 lugs), then it is a matter of replacing only the bolts.

Not sure if the you can get the dealership to own the mistake and solve it for you at minimal cost.

_________________________________

I suspect this could be a case of Hyundai dealerships' mechanics not setting the right torque in their wrenches. They probably have a value set for lug nuts for the 4 nut per wheel cars and are using the same for 5 wheel bolt cars.

Or.. see SS-Traveller's post below

[SS-Traveller]

This is frequently caused by garages using a pneumatic or electric torque wrench to tighten the wheel nuts without first threading in the nut onto the bolt by hand. The cross-threaded nut jams firmly onto the stud, and is then impossible to remove without breaking off or rounding the hexagonal edges of the nut.

Good that the bolt (stud) has sheared off, and the nut has not rounded off and stuck. Ask your mechanic to remove the wheel, remove the stud and replace with a new stud and a fresh wheel nut. Next time, make sure no service centre monkey uses a power tool to tighten wheel nuts.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Jangra

Now what? Will they have to replace the entire housing (the Disc)?

Could you take some photographs of the hub with the wheel off?

Jeroen

[Chetan_Rao]

I get dirty looks every time I insist the wheel nuts be removed, put back on and re-tightened manually. This is precisely why. I don't trust service centers to have their pneumatic wrenches set to recommended torque.

I usually tell the mechanic I'll do it myself if he isn't willing to. Most oblige, sometimes I need to take the spanner and get to work.

Better than this happening.

[Oppanna]

This is the only reason i fear whenever the service centre/alignment folks use the pneumatic device to loosen and tighten the wheel nuts. I stand next to them and specifically ask them to use wheel spanner to remove and tighten the bolts.

I once had a bad experience of bolt slipping and ever since follow this hand tightening method.

I guess that is the only way out.

[pkulkarni.2106]

Deja Vu!
I brought my Harrier two days ago from the TATA ASC for the same problem.

It all started with the wheel alignment & rotation. The wheel alignment guy used his impact gun (or whatever they call it) to tighten the lug nuts. Last week I approached my FNG to replace the brake pads (they were on their last leg). He couldn't unfasten the lug nuts. In the process, he broke his wrench/spanner. He approached 3-4 puncture shop guys to unfasten the nuts & was able to remove 18/20 nuts. In this ordeal, all these nuts were damaged.

The remaining 2 just didn't budge. The FNG guy was so frustrated, he got the address of the alignment center from me & gave them an earful.

Finally the FNG guy advised me to go to the ASC to do the job.
The ASC had to cut the nuts to take them off. Costed me a bomb.

[pkulkarni.2106]

Originally Posted by Jangra

Now what? Will they have to replace the entire housing (the Disc)?

An FNG should be able to replace the broken stud. ASC may ask you to replace the hub.

[I_am_TSG]

Happened to me a couple of years ago as well. I had just got my Hexa's tyres rotated during service on the previous day and got a flat tyre the next day.

No matter how hard I tried to undo the nut, it just wouldn't come off. I was puzzled since this had never happened to me before and I've changed at least 20-30 tyres. Called RSA, but they couldn't help as well.

Realised what had happened and finally got it flat bedded to TASS. They were gracious enough to accept their mistake and replace the bolt after opening the hub. I thought it was only TASS who could be so careless.

[pranavt]

Wheel studs can be replaced without changing the hub assembly. Each stud should cost around 300-500 Rupees. They might need to take off the hub and put it on a hydraulic press and get the stud off. Nuts should be started by hand and only after there is 2-3 threads of engagement should a pneumatic wrench be used. Of course, the mechanics here have been trained in F1 and need to change the tyres in 3 seconds, lest they be late in destroying some other part of the car.

[arjunsatheesh]

Honda ASC did this to my Amaze twice. Both times I had to fight with the dealership to get the hub replaced for free. Luckily I had gone straight to my trusted wheel alignment/balancing center after the service so was able to pinpoint the Honda ASC as the culprit. After these incidents, I tell the SA to take extra care if there is any work that needs the removal of the tires. I also make sure each nut can be loosened manually after the service is done.