need new lug nut bolt - '99 Camry, rear drum brake

If I remember correctly, you'll have to remove the drum and press the old bolt out. Then press a new one in. You can probably get them at AutoZone, although they have been cutting back on the hardware they keep in stock.

Have a look at the condition of the shoes. Since you already have the drum off anyway...

On "press it out"... hammer out with a mallet? Special tool?

Generally with a genuine press. You can hammer it out. If your luck is like mine, you'll warp the drum...

The piece you are referring to is called a stud, not a bolt.

You should be able to tap it out with a brass hammer. Wear safety glasses when you strike the stud. Rotate the flange the stud is mounted on so that there is clearance behind the stud for when it is loose. When you install the replacement stud, pull it back out with a lug nut.

So no need to remove any brake drums?

So no need to remove any brake drums?

How would you look for clearance behind the stud, and how would yoy grasp the stud and get the new one in the flange with the drum on ? ;)

Hammering it out sounds like a very bad idea (easily to elongate the hole so that a new stud won't fit in tightly). It would be better to use an actual press...or at least try using a vise or two (slowly tightening the vise(s) so as to act as a 'press').

You have to remove the brake drum to get access to the space behind the flange that the studs are mounted in. To remove the drum, you may have to back off of the brake adjuster through the oval opening, covered by an oval rubber plug, on inboard side of the backing plate. After backing off the adjuster, if the drum is still stuck, use 2 bolts in the threaded openings on the outboard face of the drum, tightening the bolts alternately a few turns at a time until the drum pops off.

Tap the shank of the stud to push it back in the hole. To replace the stud, just use your fingers to push it as far as you can in the hole in the flange, thread a lug nut on the new stud, and pull on the nut. You can put a stack of washers on the stud, install the lug nut, and tighten the nut until the stud pulls through all the way and seats itself.

How much torque does it take to twist off a Toyota lug bolt? I don't think I've ever twisted off a Toyota lug bolt, they are pretty good sized.

There is a special service tool that looks like a c-clamp, with the base of the clamp being more of a c-shape. Screwing down on the clamp on the top of the stud pushes the stud through, and the opening at the base of the clamp allows the stud to move past. I've never looked, but auto parts stores might sell or lend the tool.

A press or vice would theoretically be better than a hammer because the force would be applied perpendicular to the flange, but to use a press, the flange and hub would have to be disassembled, which is more work. The stud is made of softer material than the flange, so it should deform before the flange does.

I don't know how much torque it takes to twist of a Toyota wheel stud but I would imagine it takes well north of 100 foot pounds.

A more common problem is cross threading.

On my previous Corollas that has happened to me three or four times in 8 years, when loosening the nuts. The cause was probably combinations of some of the following:

- too high tightening torque from the tyre shop,

- binding from corrosion (road salt),

- badly designed wrench (angled arm).

Asbjørn

...

Yep it started with a cross-threaded nut... then it came off, taking off maybe 1/4 inch of threads on the stud with it.

I'm tempted to just Dremel off the bad 1/4 inch of the stud, and get another lug nut... should be better than just 4 out of 5 lug nuts... ???

Michael

I throw a little bit of Dielectric grease or soap-based brake grease on the lug nuts.

They don't come loose when properly torqued, and it saves a lot when the wheel needs to be removed!

This helps a bit (visuals):

in

Oh whoops I get it now... just remove the brake drum, but not the brake shoes, right? I thought I had to remove the brake shoes, springs, etc. But the drum itself, that's pretty easy... did that before.

Absolutely right.. Use a press or special tool whenever you can.

You forgot inferior quality lug nut and bolts.

Oh whoops I get it now... just remove the brake drum, but not the brake shoes, right? I thought I had to remove the brake shoes, springs, etc. But the drum itself, that's pretty easy... did that before.