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Replacing 521 wheel studs


josh817

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Sometimes I get frustrated with the confusion over certain topics on this board so I figured I would quit being a lurker and contribute. Greasing up my phone as I took pictures of the process.

 

This write up is for 521 wheel studs. My truck is a '71 so if Datsun had any discrepancies within the 521 model then just beware when you do this...

 

Take of your wheel obviously and I suppose taking off your drum would be good as well.

 

You're going to whack the existing studs out with hammer. Mine didn't take much effort, just two good whacks and then a few small ones. I was trying to take it easy on mine so I wouldn't crack a hub or something horrible. You may have to apply some PB Blaster if they're a little rusty. If some just won't come out then use a press or a ball joint separator as seen below.

 

Once they're out, they should measure a "knurl" of .453". Keep in mind there isn't really a knurl on it. They were just press fit and had that flat on them.

5aglyr.jpg

 

Dorman PN 610157 is a 7/16-20 thread/.487" knurl/2.125" length/.1875" knurl length wheel stud. You can find them Rockauto under "Tools & Universal Parts" tab as "lug studs". I found Rockauto was the cheapest source from ebay to amazon to napa. This is the correct PN, no discussion... I had read in other threads but there was a slight typo that drove me insane trying to find. I didn't want to tear down my truck just to find the measurement, since I daily drive my truck. Don't touch until you're ready to touch otherwise you get stranded! There was some talk about ARP studs but these studs should for what you need. I am running the disk brake setup with 1.25" spacer hub things and these studs are a perfect length. In fact they stick out past the hub by .25" but the back of the wheel has reliefs in it so I was ok.

 

I didn't want to risk pulling threads due to a .034" larger knurl and I didn't want to take a drill to my hubs so I put the Dorman studs in a bench press drill and held a file to the knurl for a few seconds. I removed material down to .457-.470". Most came out to .465" which was pretty good.

2hn6kow.jpg

 

Don't forget to grind flats into the heads. Grind down to the knurl but don't grind the actual knurl itself. Don't be afraid! It's not as crazy or ridiculous as it sounds.... taking a wheel stud to a grinder...

4gnspl.jpg

 

20krwxt.jpg

 

Pop the studs in the back of the hub. If you have drums then you will need to drill a hole in the back plate for the studs to slide through. Can't get them in there with the back plate in the way due to their length. Make sure you flats are lined up as they should be, facing the hub! I almost start wrenching my studs in facing the wrong way. I used some bearing thing our shop neighbor had. I don't think it's the Leslie tool that has been mentioned before. Anyway, you don't really need it. Even at a knurl of .468" they don't take a ton of force to pull through. I didn't need an impact gun or a really strong porn arm to get these guys in, just a breaker bar. You will feel it pull through and when it has bottom out you will most definitely feel the difference which is why I think you should use a breaker bar or a regular ratchet rather than an impact.

286uykh.jpg

 

2usv90j.jpg

 

Method #2 if you're too lazy to pull hubs and axles and use a press ten feet behind you, ball joint separator. Although sometimes the studs won't go in straight. It was good for pulling studs out if you didn't want to use a hammer.

b68oyb.jpg

 

Reminder concerning the picture above:

Don't pull all the studs at once on the front hubs. It will spin on you, and you will feel stupid. Because of my setup, I was able to put a bolt through one of the holes so that it ran into the caliper bracket and prevented the hub from spinning. You could just as well do each stud on at a time, using a bar of some sort between to studs to hold the hub. No, it won't fargle the threads. No, with these clearances, the threads on your stud and the nut will not be stripped. You are not torquing past 70ft-lbs during this process.

 

Entire process took a few hours and that was with typical shop bullshitting, music, and eating. Definitely doable within daylight hours.

 

 

By the way, I am using Xterra wheels, the four spoke ugly kind. With a 205 tire, the rears seriously rubbed the leaf spring. The front would rub only at full lock. That's why I am using 1.25" spacers all around.

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Was your goal to get longer studs? Or just to replace the existing studs?

 

I just got a bunch of stock Datsun studs from Pick-N-Pull. I used a drift and hammer to get them out w/o damage, and checked the threads for damage against a lugnut before I bought them. $1 each at PnP.

 

You could get 521 studs that are the right diameter and have the flat already, however, Nissan charges $4 each

* 40221-04101 BOLT-road wheel, rear 521 (they are different from the 620 studs)

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Both. With a rotor, or a drum, plus the Xterra wheel, I was a few threads short of stud sticking out the lug nut. With a rotor and a big spacer, I now have plenty of stud sticking out of the lug nut.

 

 

 

I don't like torquing down old studs anyway.

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521s dont use the standard M12x1.25 wheel stud thread? I thought all Nissan-Datsun used that, at least until recently. I do know the 521 has a lot of SAE on it though (which makes it so annoying to work on when you expect everything to be metric)

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