My left rear wheel lug nuts loosened while riding and damaged a couple Axle Flange Studs/Lug Bolts. Anyone ever replaced them before? Looks like the axel will have to come out and the bearing removed using a hydraulic press to remove and replace the studs. Don't know how the lug nuts got loose, but they did. The trike has run 10,000 miles since the last time that wheel was off when I changed the brake pads. I always torque the nuts to 100 ft/lbs. Anyway, I need to replace lug bolts/Axle Flange Studs. Any advice will be appreciated.

 

After you torque the nuts , run them for a couple hundred miles and re-torque.

 

Glad you are ok...there are instances where the wheel has come off while riding.

I don't have my Service Manual with me, but would follow the instructions in it regarding replacing the studs. Off hand, hard to picture how to do it without removing the axle.

In the owners manual, when the wheel comes off, it says to torque them down, ride 100 miles and re-torque them down. Most problems I hear of occur when they are not re-torqued after riding 100 miles.

Personally, I re-torque them after riding 50 miles....then I periodically check them after that.

Never had any loosen up, but it has the potential to not be pretty.

 

.....I bought my tri G in aug of 09....have been reading this forum for about the same amount of time.......and have read of some wheels parting company with the trike....after have read this a time or two......I have started to mark many of the fasteners on my tri......on the face of the nut....I paint a line easily visible from either side....the line starts and the canter closest to the axle and ends away toward the outer edge......I use fingernail polish in a little bottle ......works great.....and ....no detectable movement !!!!!!!.....additionally.....I paint dots on different parts of the tri....as well as my two wheeler........another part I paint is the two bolts that hold the reverse motor in place.......I check it by looking down thru the frame...with the seat off of kourse...!!! hope this helps others....

 

Have changed axle studs on many cars without removing axle. If you have room to get the old stud out and the new stud in the axle flange from the back you can do it without removing axle.
Get a some regular lug nuts. Knock out the bad stud install the new stud. Try and line it up with the splines of the old stud in the flange. Install a lug nut with the tapered end facing you. Works best with an impact gun. Tighten the lug nut the stud will press in when it stops if there is still a gap and the inside flange is not seated against the axle? Remove the lug nut put on a couple very large washers and tighten it again until stud if seated against the axle flange. Throw the lug nut away don't reuse it. Lug nut is softer than the stud it will strip out before damaging stud.

 

+1 to what Moe55 said.

If you get a stubborn stud that won't come out, apply a little penetrating oil to it, leave it sit 5 minutes and try. Still no go? Put one of those spare lug nuts on just so it still sticks out further than the stud, wrap the stud in a few rounds of aluminum foil, and GENTLY but quickly heat the area on the flange outside of the stud with a propane torch. Gently, no Mapp gas or Acetylene; don't go making it glow red or anything, just a couple hundred degrees if that, it won't take long.

The put something heavy behind the flange and give the lug nut a good solid rap. 97% of the time it will pop right out. Now for the 2%'ers, give a mild whack or two to each side of that lug nut and then try again. If it doesn't pop out at that point, 1% of them if that, don't go any further and screw up the flange, you were going to have to pull the axle and have it pressed out somewhere anyway.

 

Tks for the input. Removed the axle bearing retainer plate and the axle slid out an inch with out any problems. Removed the Studs, cleaned everything up and now waiting for replacement Studs and nuts. Shoulda just rolled my sleeves up and jumped in without making this post in HDForums. But I was hoping I would get some input about changing the Studs. Thanks again.