stuck lug nuts

[green 'n stinky]

I got a new set of wheels and tires to replace the rusty wheels and dry rotted hodge podge of old military tires that came on my land rover, but I can't loosen the lug nuts. I've been spraying PB blaster on them every so often for the past few weeks and I've tried a longish breaker bar. Is there a secret to this? More brute force? How about heat? I've been afraid of using heat for fear of damaging something, and I'm afraid I'm going to round off the nut or shear the bolt with too much force.

Thanks in advance for any advice. I really appreciate all that I've learned since I joined the forum.:thumb-up:

[gambrinus]

IF PB Blaster won't break them lose, you may as well just order some replacement wheel studs right now to save yourself some time. You'll end up pulling the studs out at some point during this process. BTDT


RW

[leafsprung]

http://www.topix.com/news/weird/2007/11/man-shoots-lug-injures-legs

[BackInA88]

Since the wheels are a mess anyway have you thought about putting a little heat to the lug nuts?
Just don't heat up the studs to much.

[sven]

You could try a cheater pipe on the end of the breaker bar.

[galen216]

On the truck I just bought I had to have about 2' of pipe on the breaker bar to get the lug nuts to break loose.

Must have been a big gorilla that put them on....thank goodness I didn't discover how tight they were on the trail.

[yorker]

You can heat them - then hit them with PB, and repeat.

[green 'n stinky]

thanks, I'll try again with more PB blaster, more leverage and some heat. I'll skip the shotgun, however.

[Jeff Aronson]

Try heat on the nuts, quick and high, after you've drenched them in PB Blaster. The stuff works even better hot. I once had to use the handle to my Hi Lift as a pipe extention, and then jump on it, to loosen lug nuts.

Is the car running? Why not drive to a gas station, have them loosen them with an impact wrench and then tighten them by hand?

If not, the hand impact screwdrivers can take a socket. Whacking it with a small sledge will help loosed the nut. I know because I had to do that on mine recently.

Jeff

[thixon]

Have you tried an impact gun yet? Had this happen plenty of times. I'm 50/50 between a long a$$ breaker bar and an impact gun. While I like Ike's shotgun approach, I would'nt recommend it here.

[green 'n stinky]

I have a small, cheap air impact wrench and it didn't budge them. I didn't think to try the manual impact wrench; I may give that a whack, too. Otherwise, I might just take the truck to a shop (once I get my clutch fixed) and let them deal with it.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[thixon]

I've had one instance where I could'nt get 'em off with an impact gun. I made a breaker bar out of a peice of iron pipe about 6 feet long. Instead of using my arms to break them loose, I rotated the rachet so the bar was just above parrellel to the floor, and then stood on the end of the bar, and jumped up and down till they broke loose. It was a total PITA, and I was exhausted. I took about an hour. The possibility to royally F&*^ yourself up is an extreme possibility if you try this. Also, I broke two ratchets getting them all off. I got suckered into to continuing by the truck. The first couple I tried, came off pretty quick. The rest did'nt go so well, but I was deteremined at that point to continue. I'm not recommending it, just letting you know I did it, and it worked.

Good luck.

[green 'n stinky]

Well, the combination of some heat, PB Blaster, and a 4ft jack handle over the breaker bar did it. I broke a socket extension and it was a bit disconcerting each time the nut broke free, but it worked.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

[Jim-ME]

Remember to put a dab of never seize on the lugs when you put the nuts back on and you'll not have as much trouble next time.
Jim

[I Leak Oil]

I broke a socket extension and it was a bit disconcerting each time the nut broke free, but it worked.

There's always that splt second where you're not sure what made that horrible "CRACK"! Was it the nut, the stuck, you're tools or YOU?!

Use a little anti seize when reassembling and never go through that again.
Jason T.

[Eric W S]

Remember to put a dab of never seize on the lugs when you put the nuts back on and you'll not have a much trouble next time.
Jim

x2. I had a similar incident when I blew a tire coming home from a New Years party. Expensive tow. Breaker bar didn't work.

Anti-seize is great. I also got into the habit of loosing the lug nuts at home before wheeling as well. Gave me a bit of confidence on the trail if I had to change a spare.

EwS

[thixon]

Congrats! I was curious how it would work out for you.

[pepe]

Torch and bees wax. don't melt the nut though.

Its done all the time on merchant ships, which experience this problem all day. just heat the nut up and hold the wax to it-it will wick in. strange, but works.

i don't know who sells blocks of bees wax.

Erik

[greenmeanie]

My preferred way to get big nuts hot is to use a mig or arc welder. Strike an arc a couple of times and the nut/bolt gets very hot very quick. It is much faster and more effective than playing around with anything other than a gas axe. Hit the stud in the center with some WD40 or whatever smells nice for some rapid cooling and it all comes apart.

Of course if it gets that hot you'll be buying new nuts but it breaks the grip of almost any rust. Are you sure it is only rust or did some tyre place get lazy with an impact gun putting the wheels on?

Cheers
Gregor

[green 'n stinky]

I think it was a combination of rust and overtightening. Strangely, it almost seemed as if the nuts were seized to the wheel where they meet, rather than to the stud (although there was some rust in there too). The "crack" was scary; each time I assumed it was my tool breaking and wondered where the shrapnel got me. Also, each crack was accompanied by a little puff of smoke or dust. Fortunately, nothing broke except for one socket extension, and that piece flew off in a different direction.

As it's been a struggle to remove almost anything threaded on this Rover, I decided early on to use anti-seize on pretty much every fastener, including the lug nuts.

As an aside, it's amazing what some new wheels/tires will do for the look of an old truck!