Help on lug nut

I had a lugnut seize up on the stud on the front right wheel. A older guy I know told me he could get it off and tried while I was at school one day. He managed to grind and drill all over the nut and wheel stud so the is no possible way to get any thing on it. It is on the stock aluminum wheels with the lugnut recessed down inside there. I need help figuring out how to move on. Thanks for the help in advance.

I had a over half my lug nuts on our new to us commander were seized, not even my air gun could bust them lose, and it's no light weight.
The factor lug nut wrench bent rather than bust lugnut lose.
Ended up getting deepwell socket and a large breaker bar, this worked on all but one of the seized lug nuts. What finally got the last lug nut was a size smaller deepwell socked slammed home with a sledge then the large beaker bar, and I mean it Barely broke lose, and this was after days of soaking in all sorts of break free. Never got the socket free of the nut just thew it away.
If you can't get the lug nut lose you'll have to cut the rim away, either with a cutting torch or cutting discs.



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If you can get the axle shaft out, you can grind away the back side of the bolt too

So part of the lug nut is still on?

Is your a 2wd or 4wd?

Use a torch to heat the nut, hammer a socket on it then try to break it loose.youll have to work fast. Or youll have to try and drill the stud out. If you for some reason have to cut the wheel off tho, a torch and cutting discs are not how you cut aluminum

Avoid using too much heat on the wheel, it can cause catastrophic, life (yours) threatening problems at the tire.

You can absolutely use cut off wheels on aluminum. They make special disks for cutting aluminum, but you can also "wax" cut off wheels designed for steel to prevent clogging.

Special circumstances lead to special solutions, but I would NOT cut the wheel off, even as a last resort if it has a tire on it. Pulling valve stem core's, or even the entire valve stem is not enough.

I would drill out the stud until it's hollow and then knock it out with a chisel and then replace the stud. I don't know what kind mess that guy left you with but a dremel can flatten it out and dimple it to start the drilling process. If you don't know how to drill out a stud, watch some youtube videos. Very little pressure and oil are the tricks. And good bits. I would position the drill on some wood or a jack stand so you're not holding it up, so you can drill as straight as possible.

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A picture would help you get more specific instructions / recommendations. That said, I'm going to have to side with the do not cut the wheel crowd.


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I'm not pro-wheel cutting myself. I really wasn't thinking of alloy, but when someone is as stuck as the OP seems to be the options run thin.

I do like the idea of sliding the axel shaft out.
Oh the method that worked for me (smaller sized deepwell hammered on) I did heat the hell out of it before slamming on the smaller socket.

Of course I'm thing like some who has experience with these impossible auto conundrums. If the OP is new to this I would say maybe call around and find a shop to deal with it.

Any solution for this starts to get tricky, someone could easily get hurt even with the simple solutions.


Other thing is the oem lug nuts are crap. They have that crown(?) covering that slips off or become mangled above the center of the lug nut.



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Green Mesa XJ said:

Other thing is the oem lug nuts are crap. They have that crown(?) covering that slips off or become mangled above the center of the lug nut.

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Costco sells very nice single-piece lugnuts for under 50 cents apiece. I also detested the sheetmetal coverings on the factory lugnuts because they kept falling off.

I got solid chrome ones on ebay cheap

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A series of 1/8" (or slightly smaller ) holes on opposite sides of the stud the depth of the nut and then split it with a cold chisel. Maybe three rows 120ish° apart.

Ou2mame said:

I would drill out the stud until it's hollow and then knock it out with a chisel and then replace the stud. I don't know what kind mess that guy left you with but a dremel can flatten it out and dimple it to start the drilling process. If you don't know how to drill out a stud, watch some youtube videos. Very little pressure and oil are the tricks. And good bits. I would position the drill on some wood or a jack stand so you're not holding it up, so you can drill as straight as possible.

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X2 on that, one of the smartest things I've heard on this website.
Good drill bits or the ability to sharpen them by hand is the key.
I use a corded 1/2 inch millwaukee when I do this.
You'll be able to drill them easily until you get to the part closest to the axle, at that point if you drilled through the center good and removed enough of the stud a couple wacks with a hammer and punch will knock it off.
Remove the wheel, punch out the rest of the stud and use a wheel lug nut and a washer to reinstall the new one.

Btw, start with a 1/8 or 3/16th's inch bit, step up about .075 to .100 per hole(I.E. you don't want to burn up the bit by running it into a slightly larger hole).
Yeah you'll have to do some math.
And the smaller the drill bit, the faster you spin it.
This comes up all the time w/ wheel lock's that have "no key"
Sucks.

An oxygen/accet torch set to the correct flame size should easily scarf off the old nut and stud, without any risk of heat damage. If heat becomes a problem pour water on the wheel and axle bearing hub while cutting the nut and stud.

If the torch is oxygen/propane the flame won't be as hot and take longer to cut metal.

A torch should be able to cut off a stud and nut off up to around ~15 seconds (+/-) if it doesn't the flame probably isn't correct. You can experiment with a torch with a used stud and nut in a vice. If it appears it's going to take longer have some water handy to pour over the wheel and axle bearing hub.

With proper use of a torch you should be able to cut into the reassessed part of the stud. However this can become tricky and requires some knowledge of using a torch, which is able to heat up and liquify specific areas of metal when used correctly. It's similar to welding in reverse, you want to heat the metal so it drains off a specific area.

Once the stud is cut off it's easy enough to install another one. If the wheel isn't already damaged you should be able to scarf the stud and nut off without damaging the wheel. If the wheel for what ever reason becomes damaged then it's a matter of replacing the wheel.

The wheel should protect the axle bearing hub from any damage. Water over the wheel and hub will provide additional protection.
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If there's enough nut expose you can try a nut cracker or a nut remover. There are several types. The type I found works best looks like a drill bit chuck that's surrounds the entire nut and uses drill, impact gun, wrench, or bar for leverage. Another type is a socket that uses blades that try to grib a nut.

A nut cracker basically uses one blade that is part of a bolt and support, that's placed over the nut. The bolt is tighten to crack the nut in half.

Using a grinder there's risk damaging the wheel. You can try cutting off the outer part of the nut and stud then use a V, round or oval shaped grinding attachment to remove the remaining metal reassessed inside the stud hole to prevent damage to the wheel and stud hole.

FWIW I had 2 lug nuts stuck on my wifes Liberty. Using a breaker bar actually broke the outside "hex" part of the nut off leaving just the threaded crown part down inside the wheel. I didn't have a spare wheel and didn't wanna buy one so I just used the cutting torch and melted the stud out of the center of the lug nut. That was over a year ago and the wheel never suffered any "overheating" problem. It too is alloy.

xcm said:

Avoid using too much heat on the wheel, it can cause catastrophic, life (yours) threatening problems at the tire.

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I too have used Oxy-Acetylene to remove a seized stud from an aluminum wheel. Maybe I should have bought a lottery ticket, but I did now know any better at the time.

Depending on your mixture setting, acetylene/oxygen burns at around ~6000 deg. F., propane/oxygen at around ~4000 deg. F.

A welder potentially can create temperatures from ~9000 to ~36000 deg. F. (5000-20,000° C)

Most welding unless tack welding requires you place an electrode on metal for a significant amount of time. Whereas when using a torch you can scarf metal within a few seconds.

I use to work with a torch, layout and other tools along with production welders on large vessels. Some of the steel required pre-heating in order to create a clean cut. We were working mostly with mild steel and HY-80, some of which was 3 inches thick, the lighter steel being around 1/4" to 1/2"

An acetylene/oxygen torch is going run much cooler than a welder, plus the amount of time with contact to metal is usually significantly less.

Yes I recommend being careful when using a torch around a pressurized tire, however it wouldn't be the same as using a welder. A torch can be used from a few to several seconds. If getting too hot and/or longer periods of time applying heat are required. I would use water too cool down the rim and wheel bearing hub and/or use the torch only for a few second then stop, allowing the metal to cool then restart again.

If you feel uncomfortable with any sort of torch just don't use it. Try another method to remove a lug or nut or have someone who knows about and how to use a torch to scarf out the lug. I recommend trying other methods before using a torch.

I worked once with a torch for years and became very familiar as it was a 40 hour week using various tools and a gas torch. A torch can become a dangerous tool if not used properly.

Years ago we I used to work separately inside different size metal tanks, compartments, double hull areas, etc. I remember once while working by myself in a compartment hearing a bunch of commotion. I put down my tools and shut off my torch, went up to the upper deck and found people pulling one of the workers out of another compartment. It turned out the gas from his torch or hose leaked up inside his coveralls, possibly for a few mins. When a spark hit him he went up in flames, survived but had some very bad skin 3rd degree burns, etc. I can't remember if he ever came back as he was laid up for months. When working with a torch, especially in small compartments you need to double-check for hose and/or torch leaks, making certain your torch is off when it's not burning and in use.

Yep, I work in the rail industry. I am reluctant to tell some high-school kid to grab a torch and "go for it!"

The three people who posted and said, "I have done that" do not have any special powers over the laws of physics. They have been well within limits while applying heat to aluminum wheels, whether I knew it or not.

Op could probably blow a lug nut off w/ a torch too but.
It's safer, easier, and smarter to drill it.
I don't think anyone's ability to operate a oxy/acy torch is in question.
He's probably already rollin' it anyways.