Wheel stud installation apparatus

In combination with the spindle of a vehicle wheel, said spindle having at least one hole therein adapted to receive a threaded wheel stud having threads at one extended end section and a knurled portion adjacent a shoulder at the other end, which shoulder of the stud abuts against the inside surface of the spindle and which stud is maintained in the spindle hole in an interference fit between the knurled portion and the hole, an apparatus for installing the wheel stud in the hole comprising:

• (A) a collar having a bearing surface at one end and a support surface at the other end positioned on the outside surface of the spindle, the collar including a longitudinal bore therethrough, said bore defining a central axis in alignment with the hole in the spindle and being adapted to receive therein the lower section of a puller;
• (B) a puller having a lower section inserted into and removable from the bore of the collar and an upper section which extends transversely beyond the bore of the collar to the area of the bearing surface of the collar, the puller including an interiorly threaded bore having threads corresponding to the threads of the wheel stud such that the threaded end section of the stud can be inserted into and maintained therein;
• the upper section of the puller having means for receiving a rotational force input and having an abutment surface at the location thereon which extends beyond the bore of the collar, said abutment surface of the upper section of the puller being capable of engagement with the bearing surface of the collar,
• said puller being rotatable in the bore of the collar as the abutment surface engages the bearing surface of the collar,
• and in which combination the threaded bore of the puller, the bore of the collar and the hole in the spindle are in substantially concentric alignment.