Removing stuck wheels+stuck lugnuts

[ryan roopnarine]

Long time, no post, I know.

About three months ago, I found that one of the back two wheels on my e34 was not coming off using any amount of single person persuasion. I was able to get the other side off by kicking and pulling and liberal application of PB blaster. What further complicates things on the stuck side is that the tire has gone flat several times, and that only 3/5 of the lugs on the stuck side came off (with about 300+ lbft of torque). I broke a torque wrench, a good sk 1/2 inch drive, and rounded out a 17mm wheel stud to make progress thusfar. I don't know how these bolts became as tight as they are, perhaps the pb blaster ate away at a protective coating? At any rate, does any one have a reliable method of getting stuck wheels off? These things came off multiple times over the past two years and were only fastened back on using a 4 post lugwrench, so I know that they were not overtightened. Thanks.

ps...oh, and I can't really move the car easily because i removed the caliper on the opposite side to rebuild it, and have not checked to see if that wheel has re-corroded, as well, so I might just be SOL as far as making the car "whole" again for the time being. I'm just looking to get this SOB off in the interim.

[Tiger]

Corrosion on bolt thread and cone. The real solution to prevent this is to put a dab of grease on the thread before you tighten it up. Even if it is dried grease, it work.

Surefire way to knock the lug off is to use the factory lugwrench... put it on so it is at 9 o clock or lower position... make sure it is inserted properly... and use your foot to strike ot loose.

Next step up is 6 point socket with flex breaker bar... 18" is all you need... grab it with both arm and use your upper body weight to push it down... up down up down....

Now if you rounded it off... it is because you used 12 point socket... find next size smaller SAE socket and whack it on and see if you can loosen it up. Otherwise, you are gonna have to get a socket that grabs the middle of the nut to get it out. Harbor Freight used to see this.

I don't care what impact gun you got at 300 lb/ft is nothing. My Earthquake (harbor freight) has 600 lb/ft reverse and it sometime struggles but does get it out. Breaker bar will get out whatever impact gun cannot do... pure and simple.

[bsell]

How 'attached' are you to the wheel that is stuck?

You could cut the lugnuts off via air chisel or some other cutting device, most likely ruining the studs and wheel in the process.

The chisel might would free up the nuts if used in place of a socket to turn the nuts off. Fire down on the nuts is such a way as to get the rotating the correct way. This will take quite the touch and will most likely make you the bane of the neighbor hood. :D

Drilling down the center of the studs to hollow them out so they collapse/snap off is an option, if you are built like the Hulk and had diamond tipped bits...

In other words, this ain't a pretty job.

[Tiger]

No need to do this at all. You can easily break the lug bolt by simply put an extension on the socket... put it on the lugbolt... and rock it up and down. it will break! But then you are gonna have to deal with trying to get that stud off.... which is rusted in place.

Never had to do this in my life... There is not a bolt I cannot get off and that is using only hand tool. Breaker bar really is a requirement for toolbox.

[ryan roopnarine]

Gentlemen, (thanks for your replies), I do not mean 300 ftlb by impact gun, i mean 300 by means of attaching a 4 post lug wrench to it, having one guy hold the unused end that is sticking out away from the wheel as a fulcrum, and a 220 lb pound guy pull down on a 4 foot length of pipe with his feet off the ground (it is way way over 300, but I was using that as a rough figure) on the post that is parallel to the car. I have a 1.5 gallon air compressor that won't run an impact enough to do jack. We tried using the breaker with a 16mm socket hammered on (1mm smaller), but I inadvertently became a criminal witness in the interim, so I packed up for the day (long story).

Brian, I'm attached to the wheel. they are style 10s and I can't get a used set to save my life. they seemed to be more popular in australia and NZ, and availability is nil.


I think this whole mess is predicated by the rusting of the wheel to the hub, as I was able to loosen these lugs by hand about 2 months ago. I am more concerned about getting the wheel off than the lugs, as I assume that, push come to shove, we can snap those SOBs off with a socket and a breaker bar. also, I need to do rear rotors, so once I get the wheels off, I can discard of the old corroded stuff and can apply a liberal coat of antiseize and to both surfaces, as well as sand the nasties off the back of the wheel.

[Tiger]

The key is sharp impact... that is what breaks the bolt free. The 4 point lugwrench is too car away from the wheel... I don't think I ever used that thing in decades.

Otherwise, get a friend with bigger compressor to come help you out... 3 or more gallon compressor can handle it but the gun got to be powerful one.

4' pipe?! And you still can't get it off? Something is wrong...

[whiskychaser]

If all else fails have a word with a mobile tyre fitter. One that also does trucks. They will have the kit to shift anything. Know one that only charges about £10 to come out and repair a puncture

[632 Regal]

Call AAA insurance and have them send out a guy that rips the bolts off and then call and complain about how much he cost you to fix the damage. Then cancel AAA because of the trouble and bad experience you had with them, maybe ask for a return on your application fee also.

JMO

[Ross]

Ahh, the joys of electrolytic corrosion. Steel hub/aluminum wheel.
Brute force is your only ally. Ideally an impact gun as the shock will make it easier to break the bond. In lieu of that a strong SIX POINT socket with a long bar and as short an extension as you can get away with so it's less likely to rock off the bolt when you apply the force.
Don't be surprised if you break the bolts and also if the wheel sticks to the hub. I've had luck using strikes of a ball bat, BFH etc. on the rim's inner edge. You risk damage but iof you smack the tire it absorbs all the force. If you have any bolts remaining you should thread one a couple of turns to catch the wheel when all hell breaks loose.
No room for finesse here, just brute force.
Anti-sieze paste on the hub and a little on the bolts will prevent this from happening again.


Good luck. Back in the late seventies Ford had an alloy wheel on Thunderbirds that sometimes had to cut to pieces to get it off. Just a had a similar experience on an Expedition with a stuck brake rotor. Corrosion can have an incredibly strong bond. I was amazed at the amount of force required on that brake rotor.

[Tiger]

Speaking of that... the new silver coatings on brake rotors eliminates that problem completely. You still have to contend with the hub surface... easily corrected with anti-seize or simply light coating of grease.

I never had problem taking the wheels off other than just kicking until one car... can't remember what it was, my friend said go ahead and do all you want... and I tried and treid and can't get it loose! He then showed me how he did it... a 40 oz hammer on the inner rim... I watched in shock....

There was another instance while I was n FL... couldn't get the darn wheel off... so this is what I did... I put the lug nut/bolt back in... leave it loose by 1/8 to 1/4" from contact... put the car back down on the pavement. I then rocked the car sideway by grabbing the fender or pushing the bumper.... sideway not front to back... and the wheel popped off!

If that doesn't work.... put a paper on dash... written on it... LUGBOLT LOOSE!!!! and drive the car into speed bump, puthole or around parking lot... it definitely will come loose... Never tried this...

Prevention is the key here... I have always used grease... maybe I'll try anti-seize to see what happens. I know with grease... the bolt will never come loose... grease will dry out and the corrosion at the cone/ball and wheel will lock it in... but always easy to remove. I suppose anti seize on threads only is the same thing.