Just snapped my front wheel nut

I would not be very concerned about it. Old trick - if you lose your wheel nuts when changeing a wheel take one nut off of each of the other wheels.

Of course you can get around safely with one missing wheel nut.
Ensure the others remain tight & you will have no problem .
cheers...oldbaz.

Pan

This is a difficult question for anyone to answer. Yes you see cars running around with one nut missing and yes you can take them off other wheels in an emergency but, while working for three Toyota dealers many years ago, I saw a few cars come in on the back of tow trucks with all six studs broken and a few other parts on the cars broken as well.. The question with yours is why did it break?

You could have over tightened it and snapped it off but that is not easy to do on a something the size of a Landcruiser. If the stud was new you would need a long piece of pipe on the end of the wheel brace to do that. Your studs are far from new if they are the originals. This means it is more likely a combination of tightening it coupled with over twenty years of stress and metal fatigue. If that is the case then what is the condition of the remaining five and how long are they going to last now that five are doing the work of six?

If it was my car I would replace it immediately but I would also go one step further and change all 24.

Brian

As splits has said, I would be at least checking, and if necessary replacing, all the wheel studs on a vehicle that age.

A common fault found on Toyotas in the mining industry is that the wheel studs corrode over time in the section that is never covered by the wheel nut (immediately outside the wheel hub). When tightened, the wheel nut never goes fully home to the hub, and over time, water and dirt build-up at the "base" of the stud outside the hub will eventually result in corrosion. I have replaced studs in Toyotas on many occasions doe to this cause. Recently had a 79 series in for service and it was found that almost all of the studs were close to breaking.

The environment on many mine sites, where salt water is sprayed on the roads for dust suppression, will no doubt speed up this process, but a 60 series is not a new vehicle, so the problem could have been developing over a longer period.

This problem is not limited to Toyota either - I broke one on my Land Rover about three weeks ago.

Thanks everyone for your great advice. I will be replacing all the studs on the broken corner this coming sunday with the remaining 3 wheels the week after. Just wanted to assure my wife she can still drive the cruiser until then. Thanks again everyone for your time. Cheers Pan.