Asked
Modified 6 years, 1 month ago
Viewed 571k times
How do I loosen car tire lug nuts (so that I can change a tire) when they are really really stuck?
I have tried turning the provided wrench, even standing and jumping on it. This worked for 4 of the lug nuts, but not the bottom-most one.
I have heard of using a rust remover/blaster, but I do not see much rust at all, and the tires are not too old if I recall correctly.
Another recommendation I see is to use a long pipe on the handle of the wrench for more torque. But even with just the wrench I seem to be warping the stock wrench with my efforts!
Some forums recommend using a 4-way lug wrench, but they do not say how to use one, or why they are better than the stock wrench. Can they provide me more torque than jumping on a standard wrench?
Finally, I am hopeful for an answer other than take it to a shop. I know I can do that, but I am trying to avoid the expense of a tow.
3
Remember that lug nuts are exposed to literally every element that could possibly cause corrosion. It sounds like your last nut is stuck due to some rust or oxidation that you can't see. Here's how I generally approach a badly stuck nut:
Check your safety gear: eye protection, jack stands, everything to keep yourself from getting killed when this wheel finally comes loose.
Get out the penetrating oil (AKA rust blaster). Really soak the bolt and nut. Now walk away and let it soak in, possibly for hours.
Affix the correct socket to your breaker bar. This is a totally different beast from the stock tire iron.
Its handle is much more durable and is very unlikely to bend under the torque that you're about to apply. Remember, think carefully about what's going to happen when the nut lets go. If you're pulling, it's not hard to end up punching yourself in the face. If you're pushing, don't let your fingers bash into the garage floor or other components.
I've hurt myself using both methods when battling bolts (never worse than giving my wife an excuse to eyeroll me, thankfully).
Try getting the nut off.
Didn't work? Take a longish piece of steel pipe, stick it over the end of the breaker bar to increase the moment arm of the lever and try again.
Once I get to this point, I usually cycle between penetrating oil and a super long breaker bar. Things eventually come loose after a sufficiently long period of HULK SMASH time.
NOTE: when working with exhaust nuts and bolts, the bolt will eventually snap under enough torque.
This is less likely with the much more robust wheel studs.
12
There are a number of things you can do to unstick the nut before turning it:
a lubricant or rust blaster. Keep things wet and give it time to work.
heat cycling. Heat it up (gently) and let it cool. Repeat. If you oil it up and point a propane torch at it, you may start a fire, so be careful. It's not so important to heat just the nut or just the stud - the cycles will do a lot of good.
vibrations and shocks. Rap the nut with a wrench. You don't have to hit hard; hitting over and over works. This can break the corrosion as well as help the lube work its way in.
There are several tools designed to make good use of shocks.
A handheld impact driver ($30) is a simple tool for around for just this purpose.
You attach a socket, put it on the lug nut, twist, and hit with a hammer. Repeat. You could do this once a minute while the lube works its way in, and apply heat in between.
There are battery-powered impact drivers under $100 that I use for carpentry that can also do this job. If you already have a cordless drill, you can get an impact driver that uses the same battery. Loud!
Finally, you can do what the pros do - use a pneumatic impact wrench. You may be able to rent one for a single use.
Impact tools should be used with special impact-rated sockets. These use tougher steel and no chrome, so they are less likely to shatter. Eye protection is still a good idea.
Whenever I change a tire, I first break each lug nut while the car is still on the ground, with parking brake set, so everything is stable.
When a stud is in really bad shape, even after you break things lose, you may have to fight the rest of the way off the stud.
It's a lot like cutting new threads. In that case, back off after every 1/4 turn or so, and keep adding lots of lube.
If you're trying to use the stock wrench, go out and buy a proper one! I've never seen a stock one that is any use, and some of them are so bad they may as well be made of chocolate...
A 4-way wrench is simply a cross-shaped bar with 4 different sizes of socket on the ends. You use the appropriate size one for your nuts, and then have effectively a t-bar, which means you can use both hands to get more leverage.
My preference, however, is for a telescopic bar wrench. These typically extend from around a foot to 2', and come with a selection of sockets for different sized nuts. Again, they simply allow you to get more leverage than the stock wrench, but are easier to store than a 4-way one, and by using the shorter length to re-tighten the nuts, avoids over-tightening (although as the comment above suggests, you should really use a torque wrench to tighten them correctly).
Another tip is to make sure your tyre supplier uses a torque wrench when they fit your tyres - many will use an air-gun which results in the nuts being done up excessivley tight (most likely the cause of your current problem).
2
Learn from my mistake!! I attempted to use four different chisels to 'counter rotate' the stuck nut. NEVER do this. What happens is that the chisel force drives the annular ring of the lower portion of the nut into the well where the curved face normally sits. You get the rest of the nut finaly chisseled off and you are STUCK with the measley shxxty annular ring driven and wedged into the small well. Then you have to drill and drill with, like a 5/32 drill, a whole bunch of holes and finally drive out pieces. You can drive it around the block with all nuts very loose and this shxxty annular ring is wedged way in there. Try all the other methods, heat it up, smaller socket driven on and turned, welded 2nd nut to bad nut and removing them together, whatever, BUT don't get out your chissels!!!!! You will blow nearly a day using the chisel method and have to buy a new stud and perhaps a rim as well !!!
As Bob Cross mentioned, use the breaker bar.
I've had to use them to remove brake calipers in the past. In the past, I have not seen such a thing as a breaker bar readily for sale at the hardware stores where I live.
I have improvised a breaker bar using one of those metal pipes that are used for running electrical wires. Simply take your ratchet to the hardware store with you and find a suitably sized pipe that fits nicely around the ratchet handle.
2
All of the answers work.
But what works best for me (esp. on the side of the road!) is a 4 way tire wrench in conjunction with the screw type jack found on all cars.
Place the correct size socket on the wheel lug (nut). Position it as close to horizontal as possible. At the other end of the 4 way tire wrench, place your screw type jack and raise the height so that it supports the 4 way tire wrench in a horizontal position.
You now have a stable platform. The two free arms of the 4 way tire wrench are available for work.
Place your foot on the free arm that will turn the lug/wrench counter clockwise. With one hand on the car for balance, stand on the free arm, as close to the end as possible, with all your weight, and "kick" down if needed.
I like this method b/c you don't have to worry about stripping the edges of the lug/nut, and ruining it.
2
One. Dont jump on it. You risk stripping the lug and stud then you can't remove the tire and Have to replace the stud.
Two. Never supposed to use grease, silicon, or wd40 on tire lugs or studs. The stud remains lubricated and the lug can work itself loose when driving after having the tire changed.
You just need to not overtighten them in the first place. Some shops do this. And have a good tire iron with leverage. Apply firm gradual torque, not sudden aggressive torque like jumping on it or hitting with a hammer. These things can cause more harm than good and people that read this and follow this advice will be stranded on the side of some highway after stripping the lug or stud.
my $.02
Turning the tire so that the stuck/frozen nut was at the top (12 o'clock) did it for me. Another try with a pipe extender on the tire wrench and the nut "cracked" and loosened. This is actually the easiest and should be the FIRST alternative in any of the answers above. I had already put nut loosener fluid on the stud and almost "rounded" out the corners of the lug nut with forcing the wrench, which could have made it impossible to remove except by an expensive garage repair.
1
Last resort... Heat the nut, and it will expand. This might help loosen it, but try this only after you have sprayed it to deaf with corrosion removing stuff. If you can see the other side, cool the lug and it will help the process. Again, last resort.
3
I just had this problem. I got all of them loose but one at the bottom.
I tried everything it wouldnt come loose. Jacked it up took it out of gear spun the tire around so that the nut was on top. It came right off without a problem.
Heating the stud up with an acetylene torch worked great for me. Worked for days and days with breaker bars up to 8 feet long and nothing worked. Even broke 3 heavy duty 1/2" drive impact sockets. Took me a few try's to remove the nuts with the torch and then the tire iron but the heat definitely works. I wouldn't try unless it's a last resort.
A large T-bar may be the answer. I've found that if you tilt the thing at about a 45-degree angle, get a foot on the lower end and a hand on the upper, you can use your body weight to put tremendous torque on the nut without seriously misaligning the socket/nut.
I put a pipe on the handle of the standard wrench and jumped on it. I thought I was turning the nut, but I snapped the wrench (1/2 inch diam handle). Then I tried better wrenches, without success. I put the other nuts back on gently and drove about 4 miles.
That did it. But if you have a flat tire its not a solution! Maybe if you drove 30 feet on the flat that would loosen the nut without harming the tire.
I had some stubborn nuts on my Range Rover. I always have trouble. Some nuts won't accept the the socket on the wrench as they have become deformed over time. I now use a ring spanner.
In frustration I tried using my jack. I place the ring spanner over the nut and used the jack to loosen the nuts enough to turn by hand. But this has failed to work on one nut. The pressures involved made me very nervous, so I backed off and have come on here for other ideas.
1
If you didn't take the other four off in the right order, it might help to put them back on and tighten them, then try busting the stuck one loose. Then crack them all loose in the right order. For five nuts, the right order is like you're drawing a star: go around and hit every other nut.
After each one just starts to turn, then go back and loosen them more.
What can happen is if the wheel isn't heels on evenly, it can start tilting a little and this could put uneven forces on the last nut that could make it harder to remove.
In addition to going in the right order, use a 4 way tire iron and plenty of torque. See other answers.
Had a slow puncture so pumped up the tyre with my electric pump then drove to the garage to get it repaired but forgot to take my torque wrench with me. Got the fitter to use a T bar and 21mm socket to tighten the nuts then drove home to set the nuts to the recommended 80 lbs ft only to find out the first one I tried wouldn't move even with standing on a long T bar. Finally resulted in winding up my 21" long torque wrench in increments until it was at 185lbs ft and standing on it, before the nut slowly moved without the torque wrench breaking. Luckily the max setting is 220lbs ft as I was getting concerned that it was going to be back to the garage.
1
Asked
Modified 1 year, 7 months ago
Viewed 72k times
A neighbor friend of mine offered to change my brakes on my Pontiac Torrent, well my husband had the proper tool to remove the lug nuts off my car in his truck, and the neighbor along with some other helpful bystanders took it upon themselves to crank, strip, smash, hammer, melt tweak and literally beat the absolute hell out of one of my lug nuts. My husband came home and popped off all the other lug nuts with ease because he had the proper tool. But the final one that had been damaged beyond recognition is still on.
My vehicle is completely undriveable as well as one side has brakes and the side that the lug nut is stuck on doesn’t. So I can’t even drive it to a mechanic!
My lug nut has been chiseled, hammered, torched, and drilled and it’s still not going anywhere. What else can I do? It’s been a week since this fiasco started.
12
The first thing I'd establish is to work out if the hub can be removed from the car with the wheel still attached. I encountered a similar scenario some years ago working on a car with locking wheel lugs and no key. I was able to remove the hub cap, dust cover and large castle bolt which allowed me to put the wheel and hub assembly on the bench. Doing this may also mean you can drill the wheels stud out from the back which may be easier.
Failing that, I'd order a "locking wheel nut removal kit" which is essentially a selection of sockets with a reverse thread in them so as you turn it in the direction required to unscrew the lug nut, it tightens itself onto the nut until it binds at which point the nut begins to unscrew.
Another option to try is finding a sacrificial deep or semi-deep socket that is an interference fit for the nut then welding through the centre of the socket onto the lug nut. You can then turn it off normally.
It may be worth calling your local auto shop. Yes, you can't drive it to them but some may be happy to come to you with a selection of tools or recover it to their shop on a tow truck or trailer.
Good luck, it's an awful pickle to be in.
10
For stubborn nuts , heat the nut with a torch, then move the flame away and immediately apply WD-40 or any other penetrating oil against the heated bolt threads. The quick change from high heat to to the cool oil will cause the nut to retract and expand, allowing the penetrating oil deeper into the threads to create a slippery surface. You can do this multiple times. Just make sure there is nothing flammable around when torching.
After doing this a couple times, use a breaker bar to pull it free.
If that fails, I would then use an angle grinder to cut a groove in the nut, and use a flathead bit on an impact to get it out.
Good luck!
4
Getting a nut off in this case can be done, how you would attack it depends on access to it. If the nut sticks out you could use a nut breaker to crack it off, or get a big pair of locking pliers, tightening the damn thing down as much as you can.
If you can't get a pliers or nut breaker on then I'd try to use a rotary tool and a metal cutting disk to cut a deep groove on the top of the nut, then use a big, fat flathead screwdriver on it. Be careful not to cut into your alloy doing it though, and protect the alloy from the sparks with some tape.
Last you can also buy special socket tools which wind on.
Before you do anything though spray the nut and the area around it liberally with penetrating fluid like WD40.
Do that several times and give it an hour to soak in. Works wonders.
Well, the only thing I can suggest is to drill it out with a sharp drill, but for that to work there will need to be a drill-guide so that the wheel does not get damaged (anymore...)
3
Get a socket you don't mind ruining and weld it to the nut. Then use a pipe on the end of the socket wrench for some leverage. As messed up as that lug already is, use a decent quality socket wrench or that thing could break under the force (I've done that a couple of times). If you don't have access to a welder you can try some JB Weld (lots of places sell it). Use the JB Weld as a "last resort" though, because if it doesn't hold the socket there may be residue on the nut itself making things even tougher.
Just know that you are probably going to lose the bolt (wheel stud) as a result of this. It isn't a huge deal: assuming nothing else is damaged, it can be replaced without too much difficulty.
The safe way to do this is put all tires on as well as you can, as many lugs as you can, and get a tow to a shop. Let them do the socket welding trick. Also, please egg your neighbors' house.
8
I bought a car that had wheel locks. Basically weird shaped lugs with special sockets to remove them. Of course the previous owner lost the unlock sockets.
On 1 wheel I put a socket over it and hit it with a sledgehammer. The socket split. I tried again with thicker sockets. It worked...eventually.
The other 3 I took a grinder and cut a flat edge on 2 sides of the lug nut until I could slip a good size (I want to say 11/16) wrench on it. That seemed easiest, the other 3 locks were off in about 20 mins.
1
Get the kind of cutting wheel that fits on a drill motor so you can cut almost flush with the wheel.
Cut off both the nut and the lug. Then you can drive with the other four lugs/nuts to a place that can replace the cut-off lug.
3
The hard part is that if it's stuck hard enough that it didn't come off before, the various normal methods for removing a stuck bolt may not get enough grip. Also it looks like things are bent enough that maybe it's touching the hub rim...
But, if the other methods fail, short of buzzing the whole thing off with a grinder and then drilling out what few threads remain and replacing the stud, you might be able to split the nut. Take a dremel-type rotary tool and carefully slice down either side of the nut but not so deeply that you damage the threads, then stick a large cold-chisel (metal-cutting chisel) in the notch and give it a couple good whacks with a large hammer. With luck you can break the nut in half without too much damage to the stud.
Otherwise, buzz it off, drill it out, replace the stud.
Should take less than three hours if you have the tools and are good with your hands. Put some PTFE tape on the threads when you put the nuts back on to keep them from rusting in place next time since your lug nuts don't have caps.
Im going to try a hole saw cutting enough of the outer portion of the nut to break it out (hopefully) using a hole saw small enough to pass threw the hole in the rim. Basically cutting the threads off. If that doesn't work I'll hole saw right through the rim big enough so the nut will fit through. 4 out of 5 still there is good enough for me. ;)
Torch it. Melt the lug to slag and remove the wheel. Replace the stud yourself or drive to a mechanic with 4/5 lugs on and have them do it.
2
Urban motorists are used to the fact that in case of problems with a tire, a tire fitting station will be nearby.
There is no such thing on country roads, and even dismantling a punctured wheel can turn into an insoluble problem.
Maxim Stroker
In fact, car owners living in cities have become lazy and relaxed. They have long been accustomed to the fact that there are a lot of all kinds of service centers around, ready to instantly solve any technical problem with the car. The general pampered service can play a cruel joke with a city driver when he finds himself somewhere on a country road. A banal tire puncture can become an insoluble problem if, for example, the edges of one of the nuts that fix the wheel are jammed. Because of this, it will be impossible to unscrew it. Fans of bolts and nuts - "secrets" on wheels, by the way, this applies in the first place.
The design of these gizmos often does not withstand the force that has to be applied to loosen a pretty rusty thread. As a result, the driver finds himself in a stupid situation: almost in an open field, one on one with a flat tire that cannot be replaced because of a single stubborn nut.
The saddest thing in his position will be that colleagues passing by, most likely, will not be able to help in any way. Indeed, to combat such a scourge, special devices are needed, which no one carries with them due to the reason indicated at the beginning of the text. You can, of course, try to “hobble” at a low speed on a deflated wheel to the nearest car service. But this is almost guaranteed to mean a torn to shreds tire and, most likely, damage to the rim.
Test of the original device capable of replacing tiresomontate
267307
Test of the original device, capable regularly travel out of town (to the country, for example), we recommend that you prepare for “wheel” troubles in advance. In the simplest case, it is enough to put an ordinary gas key and a water pipe in the trunk, which can be mounted on the handle of this key.
But first you need to try on this wrench to the wheel nuts of your car. The design of the disk may not allow, in which case, to grab the nut with a gas wrench. In this case, you will have to take care of a special tool, invented just for such cases.
There are special wheel wrench sockets for removing bent wheel nuts and bolts. Such a head has a special shape that allows it to be mounted on any nut or bolt of one or another diameter. Complete with a "universal" head in the car, you need to have a hammer or something that can be used as a replacement for it. After all, our "special head" should firmly grab the ill-fated nut. Without a hammer, this can not be achieved, as a rule. Having the described lifesaver and a hammer in the trunk, in the event of a tire puncture on a deserted track, you will at least save on buying a new tire and repairing the disc.
No one is immune from the fact that you have a flat tire on a trip.
The main thing is to notice this in time and prevent the rubber on the wheel from “jamming”. After all, every self-respecting motorist has a spare wheel and a tool for installing it. But first you need to remove the punctured wheel, and to do this, unscrew the mounting bolts.
Before starting work, secure the vehicle against forward/reverse movement. To do this, turn on a lower gear, put the car on the handbrake and install two corners - anti-recoil - under the front and under the rear wheel. Do this so that one prevents the car from moving forward, and the other back.
Position the jack in a location closer to the wheel you are about to remove. Raise the car slightly until the jack is loaded.
Use the wheel wrench to start loosening the bolts by turning them ½ -1 turn.
Raise the vehicle with a jack until there is a free space of 3-5 cm between the wheel and the surface where the vehicle is standing. After that, unscrew all the wheel bolts to the end.
Remove the wheel.
The work does not always go smoothly, sometimes unforeseen difficulties arise - the wheel bolts do not unscrew. There may be several reasons for this:
What should I do in this case?
The most reliable thing is to entrust the work to specialists. Take pity on your strength and nerves, and if some bolt does not want to unscrew, put the turned out bolts in place and go to the service station.
If you are used to overcoming difficulties on your own, try using a few tricks to unscrew the "naughty" bolts.
Step One: Lubricate the bolts with WD-40 penetrating grease or kerosene brake fluid. To do this, soak a rag with them and put them on the bolts. Hold for a while and try to break the bolt loosely, i.e. turning it one way or the other. You can lengthen the wrench handle, thereby increasing the torque.
Second trick: heat the bolts. It is better to do this with a gas burner. Before heating, tap the bolt with a hammer. Heated bolts try to unscrew.
