stuck lugnut

[bicsintegra]

I have a stuck lugnut on my sport rim and I cant get the lug off without damaging the wheel hub, does anyone have an idea how to get it off? any help would be appreciated.

thanks

[steve_c]

Most of the time my B&D Bulldog electric impact gun removes stuck lug nuts nicely.
I always use it on low torque, I never "let er' rip"
Do you have a shop you can take it to that will put a gun to it (low power) to get it off?

Another method that has worked for me if the above fails is application of thin oil (rust-buster, wd-40, liquid wrench, etc.).
Apply it repeatedly & let it soak in for 24 hours.
Use it sparingly, be careful not to contaminate other areas (like brakes & rotors) with it.
Used in combo with an impact gun (if you have one) works great.
Remove all oil residue before re-assembly. Never leave that stuff on your wheels, lugs & nuts!
I have drilled holes into the center of cap type lug-nuts (you cannot see the lug, the nut is capped) in order to expose the lug & get penetrating oil onto it.
I am careful not to drill into the lug itself, and always replace the lug-nut with a new one.

Most important, proper torque on re-assembly. Drive & re-check torque again!

[Ilya]

I've had time where even my basic impact gun can't remove a lug and the only way to do it by hand (tire wrench plus HUGE pipe for leverage).

[BlackCat81]

Stuck as in really tight or stuck as in cross threaded? If it's cross threaded, you'll have to impact it off, possibly breaking the stud. You'll just have to press a new on in the hub. Not a huge deal. If it's cross threaded and the stud is spinning in the hub, chances are the hub is going to be bad since you'll never be able to have a new stud pressed in since the splined hole is damaged.

[bicsintegra]

I did try my impact gun my electric one not the air compressor maybe I will try that next on low torque.

[bicsintegra]

still did not come off might have to break the stud.

[Ilya]

That stinks...

[The00Dustin]

When you say hub, I assume you mean front wheel, but I'm not sure that's really a safe assumption. However, if it is a front hub, I feel it is worth pointing out that you don't indicate how many miles said hub has on it. It may be about due for replacement anyway.

Regarding that, my 06 M45 had a front hub bearing assembly go bad and destroy a tire before it ever made any noise, and while it had pretty high miles on it, I believe a lot of other members of this forum have indicated the hubs needing replaced as low as 70K miles.

Back on the lug2 my 06 M45 didn't have capped lugnuts when I got it in 09 and I didn't switch to them until last winter when I put on steel wheels with snow tires. Over the course of the winter, I had two lugnuts break and a third lug stuck, all on the rear, so I went ahead and replaced all of the rear lugs to prevent continuous issues. Depending on the driving and parking environments, age could play a bigger factor than mileage here, and that might be an advisable thing for you to do as well if this is actually on the rear end.

[steve_c]

.....if it is a front hub, I feel it is worth pointing out that you don't indicate how many miles said hub has on it. It may be about due for replacement anyway.....

Dustin,
Very good point you bring up!

I did my front hubs awhile back. I cannot recall if there is enough room to squeeze a lug out from the hub while attached to the car.
Were you able to service the rear hub lugs without removing the hub?

If I could get a lug in while on the car, that's one thing....but like you say, multiple lugs and an old hub, good time for a hub overhaul indeed!

[The00Dustin]

Were you able to service the rear hub lugs without removing the hub?

If I could get a lug in while on the car, that's one thing....but like you say, multiple lugs and an old hub, good time for a hub overhaul indeed!

I actually had a mechanic take care of the lug replacement for me, so I couldn't tell you whether or not they had to remove the hubs. However, I can tell you that a local tire place replaced the lug the first time I had a break, and I believe they did that outside of their garage (in the parking lot). That may be a good sign that it is possible without hub removal, but I can also tell you that another tire place looked into replacing one as well and said they couldn't do it with their tools (even though they sometimes can), which could imply the hub has to be removed.

[bicsintegra]

the hub has about 30k miles on it as it was replaced 3 years ago when I did the 90k mile tune up. for right now I hope to have a resolution by this weekend just been real busy.