Lugnut bolt starting to strip/melt

Long story short. My wife and I won Jeep Cherokees. Hers is a 90, mine an 87. Her tires were really bald so I had to put mine on hers as a temporary fix. The previous owner of her Jeep only put on a 3" rear suspension lift but nothing in the front... with her old bald as bald can be 31's there was no rubbing. We put mine on and there was lots of rubbing on the fenders. So I ended up having to hack off some fender/flare in order to get them to work. Which she was ok with. In the process of taking the tires off to get the trimming done, one of the screw things on the axle has now melted/been stripped...I'm curious if there is a simple-ish fix/solution to this. Hopefully nothing too expensive.





The pics aren't the best as they were taken last night about 9:30... you can kinda see what i'm talking about. Any input would be dandy. We need to get this taken care of asap as this is the Jeep we use to mow lawns on Saturdays.

Drive it out with a hammer and take it to the parts house and ask for one just like it.
To install just push it in from the rear and use lugnut to pull in.
Should cost about a buck or two.

So they are replaceable? And I take it I hammer it out towards the axle? Do I need to remove anything from the back so it doesn't get caught or what? I haven't had a chance to look at the back to see how it's in there because I was tired from working all day and it was dark.

heat it up with a propane torch first, and hit it square, should'nt be bad with some fire on it.

installing the replacement is more interesting, you can use a washer and lug to pull the stud in. a bit of oil or antiseize makes this easier.

just whack it out with a square hit or two from a good BFH... It will just pop out the back. they are only in there really snug, and held by the lugnut that holds the wheel on.

id reccomend getting the grand cherokee stud to replace it with (of the same diameter and pitch) the have a couple extra threads, and a nose on the end to make starting easier, might help prevent a repeat

No big deal to replace a stud like that. As mentioned above, a couple good whacks from a heavy hammer should drive it out. I like to lube mine with penetrating oil like PB Blaster / Liquid Wrench before hand. Helps break up any rust that's keeping it captive.

Any parts store should have a replacement for you for under $5.

I just picked up 5 at NAPA, $1.49 a piece. And it took me about 5 minutes to replace one.

Ok. So I took the hammer to it and got it loose... but the question is how do I get to it in order to take it out and put the new one in? Is there something I have to take apart as well...?

How many bolts would I be looking at? This is the first time i've ever done this... Kind of a nooblet at this point. Thanks =)

He'd have to get the calipers outa the way to get the rotor off... ugh! just reach behind the wheel and pull the loose stud out. nothing holds it in at this point. it's out. If it did not pop out, whak it some more with the hammer. it will pop out the back..

kk. So I got the part needed. Wheel nut. This is where i'm at with taking it apart to put the new one in...





Now I've removed 5 bolts total... I can't find anymore that would seem to keep it attached. Does it just pull off? Ive tried that... no go... do I need to use some hammertime persuasion or what? Please advise eace:

Should just pull off. Looks pretty rusty under there, so I'd PB Blaster the hell out of the rotor mating surface, let it sit for a while, and give it a couple good whacks with a hammer.

from the looks of it, you are in the perfect possition to do a brake job. from what i can see in the picture, your rotor looks like it has quite a lip near the outer edge. once you get the rotor off, its just a mater of putting a new rotor on and pads in the caliper- piece of cake.

speaking of getting the rotor off, like mentioned above use a good penetrating oil (NOT WD40!!!!!!!!!). I have been using PB blaster with great results. a few good whacks on the back side of the rotor may help too, just be sure to spin the rotor after a few hits so that it doesnt try to come off at a bad angle causing it to not want to come off again.

when putting on a new rotor, i am in the habit of applying a SMALL amount of antisieze on the back of the rotor where it will contact the axle at. a little goes a very long ways. small packets of it can usually be found at the check out/parts counters of most good and most not so good parts shops. try not to get any on the threads of the wheel stud where the lug nut will sit.

hth
stewie

Well... thanks to your help and this site
http://www.2carpros.com/how_to/rear_brake_pads.htm

My wife and I were able to get this done. We didn't end up doing a new rotor/pads because at the moment we need the Jeep up and running by at least Saturday as we have to get some lawns done. It's our side job to earn extra cash.

I tell you what... that rotor was a pain in the patooty. It took my wife and I using a hammer and a pry bar to get it off after about 10 minutes of working...

All in all it was quite the task. Having to take off the rotor, caliper and put in a new wheel nut. It was satifsying though. We finished at 10:30 with that and sawing the passenger side fender. I'll say this... ANGLE GRINDER FTW!!!

I had used a recip. saw... that sucked as the blade is so long that it wobbles and putting it close to the body tends to jack up the paint and leave a bad line as the metal guards like to bounce up and down like a jack hammer...a jigsaw...not so hot. You have to go really slow, if not, the blade comes shooting out. Not fun. I went to Harbor Freight and picked up a $17 4" angle grinder and an economy pack of 10 discs and cost me $28 total...Did the passenger side fender, and it looks a heck of a lot cleaner than the driver side done with jigsaw/recip.

Thanks for all the help!

P.S. I definately recommend an angle grinder for fender trimming all the way. SO much fast... and you get a fireworks show!!