On the way back from the first trip of the year, I noted the left wheel bearing temperature was high. I had checked on the way out, and it had been fine. When I looked a the wheel more closely I realized that:
1. The lug nuts were more than halfway off the studs.
2. The studs had severe wear on them.
3. The holes in the wheel were elongated.
Oops. There is a retaining wall on the downhill side of our driveway. I thought I would remember to torque the left wheel during spring commissioning. I didn’t.
The fix was removing the hub and then finding replacement studs. This isn’t as simple as it would seem, as other studs have the same diameter and pitch but narrower bases than the Dexter. The first trailer shop and Tractor Supply place I visited only had narrower ones. Fortunately, another trailer shop had the right studs and a replacement wheel.
The studs were removed by hammering them out. I put the new ones in by using an open-ended wrench as an oversized washer and using a socket with a breaker bar to pull them into the hub.
We took the old and new wheels to the local tire shop to have the tire mounted on the new wheel.
The torque wrench I have had for years was a shorter beam type. It was hard to read while torquing the nuts and near the limit of my old man’s arms. After this fiasco, I splurged on the click type with a much longer handle.
Now I check the torque before every trip. Of course, they haven’t budged the last few times, but it’s a quick check and not a bad habit to develop.
This all ran around $200, plus a lot of aggravation. Pretty sure I won’t forget again.