Dually wheel studs

[CoyleJR]

Later this week I will be installing rear brake pads and rotors on my 06 dually. Can anyone tell me if the wheel studs will be a headache to remove and reinstall in the new rotors? I will be doing the work in an RV park camp site and will only have the bare basic tools.
Thanks
John

[DmaxMaverick]

You will need an arbor press, or a stud extractor/installer tool (portable hydraulic press). Be careful to not mushroom the threaded ends (press them squarely). If you try to hammer them out, they might not survive. Using nuts to seat them will usually destroy a few nuts, and possibly stud threads. It's best if you take them to a shop for the R/R. They don't usually charge too much for 20 minutes of work. Once you get everything back together, be sure to fully torque the lug nuts (175 ft/lb for steel duals), evenly in small steps. Then, retorque them often for the first couple hundred miles. Newly installed wheel studs can, and most often do, loosen while they seat, even after properly installed and fully torqued. If you are towing, this is especially important, with the additional load. Get a few miles on it unloaded and retorqued before hooking up and heading down the road, then retorque again a few times. It may sound tedious, but can help extend rotor, hub and wheel life, and may prevent a very bad incident.

Just curious....
Why are you servicing your brakes? How many miles, and what type of service? Salt, or other damage? The brake systems on these late model GM trucks are uncommonly effective and long-lived, in most cases. How far can you have driven in Hawaii? In only 3 years? 150K+ miles is not uncommon, even with heavy hauling use.

[CoyleJR]

DmaxMaverick, thanks for the information on the wheel stud removal. It confirmes that I will need to find a way to deliver the rotors to the local machine shop when I replace the brakes. You ask why the brakes need to be replaced; because, I made the mistake of crossing Monitor Pass Ca. (South of Tahoe) on a 100 degree day. The Pass is 8'300' straight up and 8'300' straight down the other side. Even though I stayed in low gear between 10-15 mph on the down side of the Pass, the rear rotors are heat cracked and the front rotors are warped. The brakes have 141,000 hard towing miles on them and the lining is getting thin. There is no shame in the service these brakes provided.

I am a DoD civilian retired from Pearl Harbor, currently in Las Vegas. We are living full time in our 5th wheel and loving it. The DP lists my location as Hawaii but these days home is where we park the RV.

[DmaxMaverick]

I've been up/down that pass a couple times (family in Tahoe area). Heavy, near GCWR with my rig. That'll do it, for sure. Most of my RV travels takes me through the worst of CA's mountain passes. 141K is nothing to complain about, and I'm about due with the same mileage (just took me longer). Rotors/pads is a cheap price for the service you received. Older/other models would have had 3 or 4 sets by now under the same conditions.

You might try a yell out to other TDP members. Perhaps someone in the area can offer a hand, or a solution to what you need.