It doesn’t help in this case, but last time I got new tires, I requested/demanded the mechanic use the minimum torque specified by the manufacturer, rather than just cranking all lug bolts to 11 the way they like to do.
Might as well add a 4-way lug wrench and a propane or mapp gas torch to your bag of tricks.
The 4-way allows you to apply pressure directly around the axis of the nut and is more secure than the 45 deg handles on most of the OEM wrenches.
In a pinch, or with aluminum wheels, put the lug wrench over the stuck nut and use the torch to heat the lug wrench. Heat transfers from the wrench to the nut which expands before the stud making it easier to break free.
Why?
Even better: apply heavy torque to a breaker bar + socket while an assistant raps on the socket with a hammer. Safety glasses recommended for all participants (this would be true for a high-torque situation even without the hammering).
I’ve participated in many arguments over this on other discussion boards, and my position is this: it is a bad idea to use lubricants on threads that do not call for it. Lubed threads generate a higher preload for a given applied torque. You can reduce the applied torque from that specified in the owner’s manual, but by how much? Nobody knows, because different lubricants behave in different ways. Finally, applying lube of any kind to wheel stud threads presents the chance for the lubricant to migrate/transfer to the mating surface between the wheel and the hub. That’s the mate that takes all of the shear loading from drive/brake torque and vehicle weight, and once that mate starts sliding - even a little bit - you end up with cyclic lateral loads on the wheel studs, and they will break after a while.
Impossible-to-remove wheel nuts are almost always caused by being overtightened in the first place. To avoid, make sure that they are tightened to the torque specified in the owner’s manual - and no tighter. If you’re really fastidious about this, then any time the vehicle has been in for professional wheel-related service, you will loosen and retorque the nuts yourself at home with a torque wrench.
In salty/winter environments, corrosion can make them more difficult to loosen after a while (though generally not so much that you have to stand on the tire iron arm). If you don’t switch between snow/summer tires every spring/fall, you can just loosen/retorque your lug nuts every couple of years to break any corrosion that’s been forming.
Tcha. The garages use hydraulic wrenches to put the lug nuts on - far tighter than necessary. I keep a couple of lengths of pipe with threaded connectors that fit over the 3-inch lug wrench that seems to be standard these days. Slipping 2 feet of pipe onto the lug wrench really increases the mechanical advantage.
I could strip the nut, sure, but I have a freaking chance of taking the tire off so that I can put the spare on.
Good lord people. Garages don’t use hydraulic tools to put tires on a car, they use air powered impact drivers. That’s exactly what you need to get the lugs loose. Don’t heat them. Take them down to a tire store and ask them to bust the nuts loose for you. Then torque them back to the factory specifications when you’re done.
Bolding mine. Rotating your tires at the recommended interval can help keep the lugs from getting too crudded up.
If you have a floor jack like mine, the handle has two pieces. The extension is basically a steel pipe and fits around a tire iron for a handy breaker bar.
If the shop tightens the nuts with a heavy-duty impact wrench set to deliver its maximum torque - and then a couple of years’ worth of corrosion happens - then an impact wrench alone won’t loosen them again, unless you’re lucky enough to find a shop with an even bigger, more bad-ass impact wrench.
Remember, they also remove and service tires off large trucks, which are attached with far more torque than a passenger car. They can handle it.
Great points. Another reason to properly torque or retorque the lug nuts is uneven torque is one of the main causes for warped brake rotors.
When tightening up the lug nuts, just don’t go around in a circle. Tighten them down in a ‘star’ pattern where you go from 1 - 3 - 2 - 4 for wheels with 4 lug nuts or something like 1 - 3 - 5 - 2 - 4 for 5 lug nuts. I also recommend tightening them down to half the torque value the first time around then the full torque the second time around.
:smack: I never even noticed that.
I don’t know, but the general consensus from a rudimentary Google search seems to be this.
All British built trucks and buses had left and right hand wheel nuts until about 1980. Left hand were on the nearside so that they were tightened with the direction of the wheels rotation, the idea being that they would not work loose in operation. They were known as coned wheel nuts because they had a taper on the end of the nut that sat in a recess in the wheel.
About 1980 they changed to what are known as spigot wheels where the wheels locate on spigots on the hub preventing the wheel from working loose so there was no longer any need for different threads. However they too have their problems, in that if left on too long, they sometimes seize up
Don’t worry about breaking a lug. Lugs cost about a buck apiece at the auto parts store, and a shade tree mechanic or a tire shop can pop it into your wheel in a couple of minutes.
We have four vehicles, and it seems I am always doing brake jobs on them. So I am always messing around with lug nuts / lug bolts. I have come up with a “wheel reinstallation procedure” that eliminates the problem described in the OP.
There are two varieties I am aware of:
a) Traditional lug nuts that screw onto threaded bolts that are connected to the brake rotor or hub. One end of each lug nut is tapered (conical-shaped), and the holes in the wheel are also tapered.
b) Threaded lug bolts that screw into tapped holes in the brake rotor or hub. Each lug bolt has a tapered section on it, and the holes in the wheel are also tapered.
Note that, for both varieties, there are threaded bolts, tapered sections on the lug nuts / lug bolts, and wheels with tapered holes.
Here’s how I reinstall a wheel:
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Before reinstalling the wheel, clean the bolt threads.
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Clean the tapered/conical section on each lug nut (or lug bolt) and the wheel holes using a small amount of alcohol or acetone. Make sure these tapered sections are clean and dry before proceeding.
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Apply a *small *amount of wheel grease to the bolt threads. When doing this, make sure no grease gets on the tapered/conical section of the lug nuts (or lug bolts) and the wheel holes. As mentioned in #2, all tapered/conical sections must be clean and dry.
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While the vehicle is still jacked up, hand-tighten all of the lug nuts / lug bolts. Spin the wheel and jostle the wheel back-and-forth while tightening them in a star or crisscross pattern. This will help “seat” the wheel and lug nuts / lug bolts. Keep spinning and jostling the wheel while hand tightening the lug nuts / lug bolts until they’re all tight.
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While the vehicle is still jacked up, use a wrench and socket to tighten each lug nut / lug bolt a little bit more. You’ll need to hold on to the tire when doing this in order to keep the wheel from spinning.
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Completely lower the vehicle so the tire is on the ground.
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Final tightening: do not use a pneumatic or electric impact wrench to tighten each lug nut / lug bolt – use a torque wrench, and tighten them in a star or crisscross pattern. I will “go around” at least three times. If, for example, the torque spec is 100 foot pounds, I’ll tighten all of them to 50 foot pounds, then 75 foot pounds, and then finally to 100 foot pounds.
That’s true on some designs, but certainly not on all. There are some designs that require a fair amount of disassembly to replace a lug stud.
Thanks, Bob++.
A lot of people think mechanics go crazy installing your lug nuts super duper tight. In my experience that’s usually not true. Yeah we use impact tools to install wheels. It’s because it’s the most efficient and accurate way to do that job. Every tech I’ve worked with uses a torque stick on their impact that automatically limits the torque to 80 or 100 ft lbs, whatever the manufacturer recommends. There is no benefit to us to over tighten your wheels, it doesn’t make it any faster for us.
On the other hand, the last time I had my tires replaced, the “tech” managed to cross-thread a lug bolt all the way into the mounting plate. I can safely say that it took over 200 lb-ft for several full rotations to unscrew.
Penetrating oil is designed to evaporate quickly. It is not lubricant and should not result in problems with the nut loosening; in fact, if you put a nut on a stud with wet pen oil it may result in overtightening the nut. Nuts and studs should always been cleaned of debris and residue before tightening, and should only be tightened ‘wet’ if so specified. Automotive lug nuts are intended to be tightened ‘dry’ (without lubricant) and the torque specs reflect this condition.
Jesus good heavenly fuck, do not ever do this on automotive lug nuts! Friction is what keeps the lug nuts in place against vibration and varying loads. Anti-seize should only be used on joints that are intended for regular disassembly and are not subject to varying or vibrational loads.
An extra stubborn lug nut is usually the result of either a deformed stud thread or (more likely) and overenthusiastic technician installing the lug with an air wrench set to an excessive torque setting. A good tire shop may remove wheels with an air wrench but should perform final tightening with a hand torque wrench. Overtightening lugs not only makes the wheel harder to remove but can deform disc brake rotors.
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