Broken wheel bolt. Can I drive without one lug nut?
 

I noticed that one of the lug nut is very loose (sticking out). So, I checked and found out that the thread of the wheel bolt is damaged and I cannot put the lug nut on. I think I need to replace the wheel bolt.

I'm going to replace it asap, but I don't have any time going to the dealer right now. Is it fine to drive for a day or two without one lug nut?

Also, does anyone know how much does it cost to replace the wheel bolt?

Thanks!

You can get by with one missing just be careful about your driving habits and watch out for any drastic evasive maneuvers. I've never done it on one of my Jeeps but I changed wheel studs on other vehicles and it's pretty easy you may be able to handle it yourself. It's only a few bucks for the stud, labor time is what's expensive.

One of my wheel bolts shore off when the dealership was doing a tyre rotation on my JK CRD. As luck would have it I was going away next day for a canoing trip which involved 700 Miles. They couldn't get a bolt for a week.
Did the trip with one bolt missing. Towed a canoe trailer. No real offroad driving as I kept things within the comfort zone as it was in the back of my mind. No problems.

I did that on my Tacoma..
1st I broke one as I was taking it off. As I had 6 lugs on each wheel, I felt fine leaving it off for over a year.

Eventually I decided to rotate my tires or something silly like that, I got the 1st of 4 wheels off, but on the 2nd one, I broke another lug trying to unscrew the nut.. I could live with this but couldn't get the next lugs on the 2nd wheel off.. so I said ::grrr:: and put the 1st wheel back on, but now the lugs got stuck on the way back on, and I couldn't screw them on all the way...

Then I mistakenly figured the wheel was tight enough and started on down the road....

20 miles later, the wobbling and loud knocking freaked me out enough that I pulled over and called a for a tow. I had lost 2 more lugs on the knocking wheel...

I paid a couple hundred in repair work, and towing was extra on top.

Oh, to answer your question... 1 out of 5 missing, you should be OK.

Yeah no problem.Just get it fixed asap.I drove to AZ and back a couple of times with a broken stud and no problems.

Thanks guys! Glad to know. Now, I don't have to worry driving without one lug nut. I called the dealer and they don't have the bolt in stock. I need to wait 3~5 days to get it.

where did you buy the stud? and how hard was it to take off?

OK I'm calling it, it's a ZOMBIE THREAD

Over 2 years dead!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Brought back to life

and this one I really don't know why.:eek2::thinking:

Because a newbie (first post) did exactly what we ask everyone to do: Used search and raised this from the dead. Now don't go getting onto him for doing the right thing. :D

JKLimo: You should be able to buy a wheel stud from most any auto parts store. Here are a couple videos to answer your second question ...

Removing a Broken Lug Nut Stud

How to Replace Wheel Studs

You can probably order a wheel stud from here: http://www.wyckoff-mopar-parts.com/
And here is a simple write up on replacing it. Wheel Stud Replacement