# You're Really A Worthless Sack of Shit Aren't You? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 18, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-really-a-worthless-sack-of-shit-arent-you/295108 "2005-03-18T03:59:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-really-a-worthless-sack-of-shit-arent-you/295108/21 "2005-03-19T20:09:40Z")
It’s probably to late now, but a can of ‘fix a flat’ may have saved you a lot of trouble. At least until you felt better and could get it to someone that had the tools to pull the wheel. While it can be a drag to find yourself with a flat tire, it can turn into a major pain in the ass to have a lug nut seize up on you. Been there. I tried the breaker bar, the liquid wrench, heat, and finally the chisel. Man, the chisel is really a last resort. It’s very hard to position it properly and get a good swing at it. I ended up cutting it off with a torch and replacing the stud. With that said, in all respect, I’m curious about a few things. > [@](#): > > > [@Harmonix](#): > > > > hum… some liquid wrench perhaps? How about a huge ass breaker bar? > > That’s how I split the sockets and the tire iron was the breaker bar. The tire iron was a used as a breaker bar? How did you manage that? Can you describe the tire iron? > [@](#): > > I try supergluing the socket to the lugnut :dubious: I’ve been working on cars for a long time. I have never split a socket. And a chisel shatered? Sure you won’t using a wood chisel? Did it have a plastic handle? With that said, If there is anything left of the lugnut, go to NAPA and buy a socket made for an impact wrench and use that with a breaker bar. You will not split that socket. With any luck there is still enough of the lugnut left to get a bite on it. Or like I said at first, a can of fix a flat (read the instructions, you will still need to put air in the tire). ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-really-a-worthless-sack-of-shit-arent-you/295108/22 "2005-03-19T20:24:22Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > It’s probably to late now, but a can of ‘fix a flat’ may have saved you a lot of trouble. At least until you felt better and could get it to someone that had the tools to pull the wheel. Nope. When I discovered the tire was flat (as I was backing out of the driveway) it was off the rim. No idea of what had caused the tire to go flat as I had checked it the night before and it was fine. > [@](#): > > The tire iron was a used as a breaker bar? How did you manage that? Can you describe the tire iron? I’ve got a cheater pipe that I slid over the end of the tire iron and the socket at the end of the tire iron split. > [@](#): > > :dubious: > > I’ve been working on cars for a long time. I have never split a socket. I’ve split 4 now. > [@](#): > > And a chisel shatered? Sure you won’t using a wood chisel? Did it have a plastic handle? It was a wood chisel, but it was the only thing I had handy. My decent chisels were at work, and I didn’t feel like walking the four miles to get them. Even using a decent chisel on it a few days later didn’t make much of dent in the damned thing. > [@](#): > > With that said, If there is anything left of the lugnut, go to NAPA and buy a socket made for an impact wrench and use that with a breaker bar. You will not split that socket. With any luck there is still enough of the lugnut left to get a bite on it. > > Or like I said at first, a can of fix a flat (read the instructions, you will still need to put air in the tire). There’s not much left of the lugnut. Roughly half of it is gone down to the bottom ring (i.e. only one side of the nut is more or less intact) and the other side of it is chewed up pretty badly. To be honest, I have no idea how the thing’s still on there. I even tried jacking up the car and whaling on it with my cheater pipe, thinking that might jar it loose, but nothing. I picked up some center drills at work today, and I’ve got an index of cheapo bits that I don’t care if they get ruined or not, so tomorrow, if I’m up to it (I plan on crawling into bed here in a few minutes) I’m going to try drilling the bitch off. If that doesn’t work, well, I’ve got this big hunk of magnesium in my toolbox at work. . . ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-really-a-worthless-sack-of-shit-arent-you/295108/23 "2005-03-19T21:23:31Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Nope. When I discovered the tire was flat (as I was backing out of the driveway) it was off the rim. No idea of what had caused the tire to go flat as I had checked it the night before and it was fine. So much for fix-a-flat. Just a thought. > [@Tuckerfan](#): > > I’ve got a cheater pipe that I slid over the end of the tire iron and the socket at the end of the tire iron split. Huh. That’s pretty bad. I was thinking that you had a socket wrench/socket-breaker bar on the lugnut and somehow used the tire iron as your cheater pipe. > [@Tuckerfan](#): > > I’ve split 4 now. My :dubious: was directed at the superglue. Where you running a fever? 😉 I’ve always used Craftsman tools for mechanical stuff (not construction). I’ve lost more of them than I’ve broken. > [@Tuckerfan](#): > > It was a wood chisel, but it was the only thing I had handy. My decent chisels were at work, and I didn’t feel like walking the four miles to get them. Even using a decent chisel on it a few days later didn’t make much of dent in the damned thing. I don’t doubt it. I’m going to get an air chisel for my compresor, just to have. They aren’t that expensive. > [@Tuckerfan](#): > > There’s not much left of the lugnut. Roughly half of it is gone down to the bottom ring (i.e. only one side of the nut is more or less intact) and the other side of it is chewed up pretty badly. To be honest, I have no idea how the thing’s still on there. I even tried jacking up the car and whaling on it with my cheater pipe, thinking that might jar it loose, but nothing. I picked up some center drills at work today, and I’ve got an index of cheapo bits that I don’t care if they get ruined or not, so tomorrow, if I’m up to it (I plan on crawling into bed here in a few minutes) I’m going to try drilling the bitch off. If that doesn’t work, well, I’ve got this big hunk of magnesium in my toolbox at work. . . Is It a 5 bolt wheel? I would feel pretty comfortable with 4 holding on a 5 bolt wheel but uneasy about 3 holding on a 4 bolt wheel. Do you have, can you borrow a [small angle grinder?](http://store.weldingdepot.com/cgi/weldingdepot/MT1215.html) You should be able to grind down one side of the lugnut to the bolt threads. This will take a little time, but I think it would be a hell of a lot easier than drilling it. At that point, if you have effectively turned the lugnut from an ‘O’ to a ‘C’ a wack or ten with a chisel should pop it off. A lot of the above recomendation depends on the shape of the wheel. You may not be able to get a grinder in there. And you will need eye protection to do this. And it does produce a lot of heat. Plus your very own 4th of July show. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-really-a-worthless-sack-of-shit-arent-you/295108/24 "2005-03-19T22:42:16Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > A lot of the above recomendation depends on the shape of the wheel. You may not be able to get a grinder in there. And you will need eye protection to do this. And it does produce a lot of heat. Plus your very own 4th of July show. I had to cut off a lug nut before. It’s hard to get a 4" angle grinder in there, but a dremel works. The trick is to use the reinforced grinding wheels, not the cheap thin cut off wheels. You’ll break a ton of those, but the reinforced wheel will hold up. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-really-a-worthless-sack-of-shit-arent-you/295108/25 "2005-03-20T02:32:40Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > My :dubious: was directed at the superglue. Where you running a fever? 😉 Yes, but I thought that the superglue might enable the socket to hold on just long enough to break the nut free. Unfortunately it didn’t work. I have to admit, though, that it was quite a sight watching the extension on the socket and the wratchet twist as I tried to get the nut loose. > [@](#): > > I’ve always used Craftsman tools for mechanical stuff (not construction). I’ve lost more of them than I’ve broken. I’ve got a set of Husky tools. Not exactly bottom of the barrel Wallyworld specials, but certainly not top quality either. > [@](#): > > I don’t doubt it. I’m going to get an air chisel for my compresor, just to have. They aren’t that expensive. Yeah, I hope to have a decent set of tools one of these days. > [@](#): > > Is It a 5 bolt wheel? I would feel pretty comfortable with 4 holding on a 5 bolt wheel but uneasy about 3 holding on a 4 bolt wheel. Yeah, it’s a five bolt wheel, and I’ve got extra studs laying around here, so if I’m able to wrestle the wheel off and it’s not too much trouble I can replace the stud. > [@](#): > > Do you have, can you borrow a [small angle grinder?](http://store.weldingdepot.com/cgi/weldingdepot/MT1215.html) You should be able to grind down one side of the lugnut to the bolt threads. This will take a little time, but I think it would be a hell of a lot easier than drilling it. At that point, if you have effectively turned the lugnut from an ‘O’ to a ‘C’ a wack or ten with a chisel should pop it off. Sadly, I can’t get in there with a grinder of any size, unless I want to grind off a good chunk of the wheel as well. Having ground a fair bit of aluminum parts in my day (I’m a machinist in a foundry and the wheel’s aluminum) I think I’ll pass on that. > [@](#): > > A lot of the above recomendation depends on the shape of the wheel. You may not be able to get a grinder in there. And you will need eye protection to do this. And it does produce a lot of heat. Plus your very own 4th of July show. Tell me about it. I’ve set myself on fire so many times now that when someone says, “Do you smell something burning?” the first thing I do is check myself, before looking around to try to identify the source. 😃 **Dag Otto** , unfortunately, I can’t get the arbor out of the Dremel to use one of the grinding bits I have, so I’m stuck using the cut off wheels. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-really-a-worthless-sack-of-shit-arent-you/295108/26 "2005-03-20T13:55:59Z")
> [@TuckerFan](#): > > Tell me about it. I’ve set myself on fire so many times now that when someone says, “Do you smell something burning?” the first thing I do is check myself, before looking around to try to identify the source. Ha. I’ve set my self on fire twice once welding, another time painting. I had a propane heater going, and a ‘wipe up’ rag hanging out of my back pocket. Got a little too close to the heater. brain - ‘Something smells funny’ enipla - ‘looks around’ brain - ‘your butt is decidedly hotter than it should be’ enipla - ‘that’s odd, the heater is over there and FIRE FIRE I’M ON FIRE’ I was by myself and I remember that very conversation with myself. I yelled fire out loud. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-really-a-worthless-sack-of-shit-arent-you/295108/27 "2005-03-20T20:03:37Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > . . . I split two sockets and my tire iron trying to get the damn thing loose. . . > > . . . I try heating the lugnut up with the torch, that doesn’t work. So I end up laying on the cold ground, jerry rigging my Dremel tool to hold a cut-off wheel, and use that to cut on the lugnut. When the wheel shatters, I grab my hammer and chisel, and start whaling away at the lugnut, until the chisel shatters. Then I take the flashlight, find the Dremel tool, jerry rig another cut off wheel, use that until it shatters. I then grab the hammer and another and pound away at the lug nut until my arms get tired. Man. If I ever need body armor for some reason, I’m making it out of whatever super alloy that lug nut’s made of. I’ll be invincible. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-really-a-worthless-sack-of-shit-arent-you/295108/28 "2005-03-20T20:57:30Z")
Were you turning the right way? just kidding. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-really-a-worthless-sack-of-shit-arent-you/295108.md?page=1)