I was taking the front tires off my 97 neon and I managed to shear one of the wheel studs off.. The tire is back on minus one stud. How do I go about fixing this without dropping it off at the dealership and getting a bill for a few hundred $$$? And is it safe to drive around on for a while? I've been checking online but I haven't found any info relating directly to the Neon. Thanks for the help!

 

go and buy a new wheel stud, take off the tire, beat out the broken stud, put the new stud into the hole, put a few larger nuts over the new stud then put on the nut for the new wheel stud and tighten it up enough for it to start to take a bite into the hub, take nuts off of stud, put wheel on car, tighten all wheel studs.

yes it is safe to drive for a little while,you still have four wheel studs.

 

You might have a rattle or it might feel like it's not aligned but it's allllright to drive with. I wouldn't myself just to keep it on the safe side just in case. I'm not sure but you might be putting extra pressure on the other studs.

 

listen to catman.

 

Yes you are putting extra load on the others as one is no longer soing its job. Sears now sells the proper kit(Same one as on the Matco, Mac, and Snap-On trucks) to install it properly. Just pound out the old one and then use the wheel stud tool to install it. No biggie except the tool is about $40 and then you need a 1/2" impact and a 1 1/8" impact socket (Not sold at Sears). you could probably use a very large ratchet and regular socket but that is a bit of work. Or jusr go to a tire shop and they can do it. We do it for about $40 a hub a plus studs and new lugnuts.

 

I just did mine, they were 99 cents a peice at autozone. Just bang the old one out and the new one in.