Well, truth be told I'm reluctant to say "THIS IS THE REASON", but I *am* happy to provide you with the relevant portion of the factory manual. This scan is from the 88' manual but I've also spotted the same notice in the 87' manual and can/will scan & post it for you if you'd like to see that one as well. If it were mine I'd read the info & give it some thought, that's as far as I'm willing to go without a set of 86' manuals to refer to. I have the factory manuals for 78/79/87/88 but outside of those I'm clueless. anything that falls in-between those years I can't honestly offer a difinative answer for, not with proof anyways. But I *would* read this and give it some thought since it applies to all PRE-85 vehicles and as an 86' yours would be effected. If I HAD to guess I'd say the lugs may well have caused the failure since this is something that Ford *specifical* states could happen if old/new lugs & rims are intermixed. I hate to say that you maybe did this to yourself but read the info and make your own decision and if nothing else walk away knowing more than you did before. To be honest with you I'd had no idea this issue existed until I started reading the manual for myself just a few weeks ago. after reading *your* experiences and understanding what the manual has to say I'm putting my other books aside for now so that I can read thru the *complete* set of manuals. there's a lot there but it's some good reading. Anyone interested can shoot me a PM and if more than a few of us are interested I'll scan & post the info chapter-by-chapter, or topic-by-topic as interest demands. I can't cover *everything* but I'm sure others here the other manuals that fill in the missing gaps and we can get this done. As we scan & post the info the moderators can segregate & pin the threads so everyone has acces to them before they get lost in the background clutter. But, that's not up to *me*. If not I'll try to fill in the gaps in my library and post the info as I get it. I have the 87/88/89 EVTM manuals & wiring diagrams en route, I'll purchase & post the others as needs dictate. Anyone here is welcome to shoot me a PM if there's something I can look up for them.
Aw, jeez. I feel stupid for forgetting this. The fact is that you *still* need to repair the effected hub. If you want/need the relevant scans for replacing wheel lugs then let me know. I'll scan & post the info for you. In a nutshell, it's pretty easy. use a hammer & drift to knock out the broken studs. Fit the new studs into place and pull/press them into place by pulling them in with the lug nuts. Put a lug nut on there and tighten it as far as you can, loosen & remove it. The first time should get the stud splines engaged with the rotor. Next time around place a stack of washers over the stud and then use the same lug nut to tighten it again. This will "pull" or press it into the splined portion of the rotor. Keep increasing the height of the washer stack until the wheel stud has been completely "pressed" or "pulled" into the rotor. Ck frequently to be sure but once the stud has "bottomed out" in the rotor your work is done and it can now be used to mount wheels. For the next few months always ck the wheel studs for looseness. Better safe than sorry.
sorry its taken so long to respond. i just moved and my internet was down for a while. you have me a little concerned now because when i got the new lug nuts i opted for the cheaper acorn style lug nuts. are you saying that these are the ones that break the studs? it originally had the longer ones that cover the whole stud. i'm pretty sure those are factory for that year. and its got factory rims. but now it has 4 new acorn lug nuts. i havent been able to take it out and test my work yet but you've got me curious if i should put the old style bigger lug nuts on first.
/emoticons/
