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1990 240 front end story and Q

First the Q: What is the thread size/diameter/pitch for the front wheel studs on a 1990 245?

I know it has been some time since I posted here. Been busy with life and enjoying my 1990 240 wagon, 5 spd. stick. What a wonderful car to drive. My two German Shepherds love it as well. If I leave the tailgate up and turn my back they are both inside just that fast. The car has 196,000 miles on it and it literally runs better than when I bought it a little less than two years ago.

Going to finish up rebuilding the front suspension tomorrow- strut cartridges, ball joints, tie rod ends, strut bearings, anti-sway links and bushings, and new control arm bushings. Was loose as a goose, now tight as a drum. The rear left side control arm bushing had separated and the car wandered and knocked. Just need to reinstall the calipers and bleed the brakes tomorrow to get it back on the road and down to the alignment shop.

Wife is driving the 965 now and she loves it. Had to do an alternator the other week (not terribly easy) as well as an ignition switch (easy). The lower retaining bolt for the alternator is tough to reach, and working when there is 9" of snow on the ground and your breath condense under the hood for over two hours doesn't make it any easier. I don't like the 960- too insulated from the road- that is, the thing feels the same at 55 as it does at 75. If I had to drive it all the time I would lose my license for speeding in under a year.

Reply to
Randy G.
Loading thread data ...

1/2" UNF (20 threads per inch)
Reply to
Mike F

Thanks, Mike. I had some lugnuts that came off with difficulty even with the air impact wrench, and I was thinking that I needed to clear the threads. As it turns out I think that they were over-tightened a number of times over the years and it has distorted and/or softened the ends of the nuts, so torquing them causes the inner-ends of the nuts to distort. off to the pick and pull to grab some replacements.

I finished the front end overhaul yesterday and am heading off to the alignment shop this afternoon. I drove the car up and down my driveway just to be sure the brakes were properly bled (let's hear it for Mity-vac hand pump!) and even just the 200 feet or so of driving I could feel the difference in the front end- tight and responsive. AND NO MORE KNOCK!

__ __ Randy & \ \/ /alerie's \__/olvos '90 245 Estate - '93 965 Estate "Shelby" & "Kate"

Reply to
Randy G.

My theory on lug nut and wheel stud failure: It's cause by mechanics using impact guns to remove the nuts. After the nut is disengaged, the gun spins it very quickly with the ends of the threads touching each other. This is especially bad if the socket is short and the nut is bottomed out, so the force of the mechanic pushing is transferred to the end threads. This slowly damages the threads at a critical point - where they start mating. Eventually the damage starts being transferred down the length of the thread due to this damage.

Reply to
Mike F

I used to work with a guy who, in the interest of speed, would pull spark plugs with a 3/8" impact gun. Then he started complaining about all the plug hole threads being messed up...

Reply to
<fargo

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