REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum

f. · 01-25-2012, 04:37 PM

Last night I had my tire pop and was changing the tire with my spare, when I couldn't get 2 of the lug nuts off, they're in there pretty good. I've had 3 of my buddies try and help get it off but it's still stuck. I've tried WD-40, didn't work, I bought a power wrench, and that didn't work either. The nut is starting to strip and I can't drive on the wheel because it's literally rim on cement. Does anyone know anything I can try? I called for quotes to get it towed to the closest tire shop and it's $100 for 6km! It's the rear drivers side tire of a '01 Jetta. Any help is much appreciated TIA!!!!

GabAlmighty · 01-25-2012, 04:41 PM

Welder. If you've exhausted everything you say you have... Just get it towed, no way it should be $100 to go 6km, not even at Coquitlam Towing's rates.

edit: breaker bar

bensta · 01-25-2012, 04:42 PM

ahh those are the stud/lugnut in one. those can be a real bitch to get out.

Dragon-88 · 01-25-2012, 04:47 PM

Sign up for BCAA. Worth it.

MK-EK · 01-25-2012, 04:56 PM

ohhh its euro ... best take it to a shop

Prolowtone · 01-25-2012, 05:22 PM

Pound a slightly smaller socket on and use a breaker bar to work it off.. or if you have access to one, use an impact gun. You are going to need a stud/lugnut or whatever the hell its called... to replace those 2 stripped ones

1exotic · 01-25-2012, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragon-88

Sign up for BCAA. Worth it.

Yep for sure.

After taxes I think I paid close to $150. Can use them up to 6 times/year.

Before getting them I paid about $500 it towing in a 4 month time frame. Shit happens -_-

fliptuner · 01-25-2012, 06:15 PM

Get a 3' long pipe and put your back into it.

donjalapeno · 01-25-2012, 08:17 PM

this use to happen all the time with my old car....i would just kick the shit out of the tire side wall and then i would unscrew the lug and it would come off but be careful don't go goku super saiyan on the tire since the car is on the jack and might make the jack shift and boom comes down the car.

ps: not sure if its the same problem i had but its worth a try.

MindBomber · 01-25-2012, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WolfGang

this use to happen all the time with my old car....i would just kick the shit out of the tire side wall and then i would unscrew the lug and it would come off but be careful don't go goku super saiyan on the tire since the car is on the jack and might make the jack shift and boom comes down the car.

ps: not sure if its the same problem i had but its worth a try.

Who taught you to work on cars?

Break the torque on lug nuts when the car is on the ground, then jack it up.

smoothie. · 01-25-2012, 08:48 PM

post story how you popped the tire plz

yot065 · 01-25-2012, 10:33 PM

try heating up the lug...? but not enuff the stud gets heated too? metal expands when heated

????

taylor192 · 01-25-2012, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fliptuner

Get a 3' long pipe and put your back into it.

Seriously! My aluminium jack has a 4' pole that fits perfectly over my breaker bar. Even then I've had to almost stand on it to get some lugs off that shops have tightened with air guns.

OP, have you tried tightening the lug a bit first? It seems silly to tighten, yet sometimes its easier to break rusty bolts loose by tightening, then loosen... yet I have my doubts this is rusted, probably just over tightened by shop air guns.

melloman · 01-26-2012, 08:28 AM

Afew things you can do.. Get a punch:

and try slamming the punch into it afew times to try and unseat the bolt. If not put heat on it (torch if you have one, if not borrow from a friend... or go buy from crappy tire)

And last but not least.. take it to a shop. I had 1 bolt stuck on my wheels, it took me $40 and a guy who knew his shit to get mine off. Had to take a isopropylene torch to it, damage the paint on the rim and everything.. But the sucker got out.

GL!

Gridlock · 01-26-2012, 11:17 AM

breaker bar man. When I first did the brakes on my rx7, it was literally all 10 lug nuts that were seized and over tightened. I just went to CTC and bought a length of galvanized plumbing pipe, and cranked on each one until done.

gars · 01-26-2012, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taylor192

OP, have you tried tightening the lug a bit first? It seems silly to tighten, yet sometimes its easier to break rusty bolts loose by tightening, then loosen... yet I have my doubts this is rusted, probably just over tightened by shop air guns.

^this

My shop teacher in HS taught me this - sometimes, you just need to torque it tighter just a smidge, then it should loosen off.

but if that still doesn't work, then I'd go with BCAA as well. even the basic membership (which will tow 3km or the closest shop) will be cheaper than $100.

jnesss · 01-26-2012, 01:55 PM

get a saw:

Kid gets owned by lug bolt.. Saws off wheel. - Pelican Parts Technical BBS

Kayci · 01-26-2012, 02:03 PM

There are kits that you can get to help you remove lug nuts. Some people put a socket one size smaller than your lug nut and jam it in, then torque it off.

I was in a similar case but my tire wasn't leaking air too fast....so I pumped it full of air and drove to fountain tire. They removed the lug nut for me for ~$26. If your tire isn't leaking too badly, try one of those 12v car socket pumps you can get for 20$?

fliptuner · 01-26-2012, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by melloman

If not put heat on it (torch if you have one, if not borrow from a friend... or go buy from crappy tire)

And last but not least.. take it to a shop. I had 1 bolt stuck on my wheels, it took me $40 and a guy who knew his shit to get mine off. Had to take a isopropylene torch to it, damage the paint on the rim and everything.. But the sucker got out.

GL!

I would rather break the bolt than ruin my wheel (unless it's a steelie w/ hubcap). Break the bolt, grind flat, punch it, drill it out and chase it with a tap.

I've only had to torch off two wheels in my life and the only reason was that the lugnut was cross-threaded /seized to the stud so bad that it spun the splines on the hub. If the lugnuts were exposed, I would've tried cutting or cracking them off but in these two cases the lugnuts were recessed in the rim.

OP the other thing you can try is:

-get a 2-3 foot long pipe on your tire iron
-roll your car to a position so the stuck bolt is at 4 o'clock
-put the tire iron with the pipe on the stuck bolt
-roll forward til the pipe touches the ground
-drive forward 4 inches or so
-try to remove the lug bolt now

Anjew · 01-27-2012, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gars

^this

My shop teacher in HS taught me this - sometimes, you just need to torque it tighter just a smidge, then it should loosen off.

but if that still doesn't work, then I'd go with BCAA as well. even the basic membership (which will tow 3km or the closest shop) will be cheaper than $100.

family member with bcaa would work too... even a friend..

melloman · 01-27-2012, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fliptuner

I would rather break the bolt than ruin my wheel (unless it's a steelie w/ hubcap). Break the bolt, grind flat, punch it, drill it out and chase it with a tap.

I've only had to torch off two wheels in my life and the only reason was that the lugnut was cross-threaded /seized to the stud so bad that it spun the splines on the hub. If the lugnuts were exposed, I would've tried cutting or cracking them off but in these two cases the lugnuts were recessed in the rim.

OP the other thing you can try is:

-get a 2-3 foot long pipe on your tire iron
-roll your car to a position so the stuck bolt is at 4 o'clock
-put the tire iron with the pipe on the stuck bolt
-roll forward til the pipe touches the ground
-drive forward 4 inches or so
-try to remove the lug bolt now

If only mine was that easy.. these are bolts, not a lugnut on a stud.. Once the bolt gets seized into your rotor.. your pretty much fubar'd. I had a 17mm bolt head, in a 20mm hole. No chance of getting a extractor bit on it or anything. I went to 3 shops to try and get it done, nobody had the balls to use the acetylene (not isopropylene like I said before) torch.

I even went to a heavy-duty truck shop I know, and the massive 1" impact guns have so much torque, they would just skip and spin off the bolt. It was seized... BAD.

Yes i left a small black scar on the paint, but the faces of my AMG's needed a paint anyway, so I wasn't terribley worried, it was more the fact of if I get a flat, I'm fucked like the OP sounds like he is now.

Your method could work, but for mine, it would mean, a chip in my garage floor, a bent up pipe, and another headache.

Worst comes to worst, get it torched out.

fliptuner · 01-27-2012, 08:57 AM

Haha, yeah, that sounds pretty bad. So was he able to back it off after heating it up or did he actually melt the head off and deal with what was left after the wheel was off?

In my case, I had to literally disintegrate the lugnut with oxy acetylene. This was after using a 1/2", 3/4" and 3/4" breaker with a 4' pipe. Of course the customer was not happy.