Bought a 2016 Honda Accord and before the fly and drive the PO was trying to be kind and had the tires rotated. I was doing my once over and sure enough, one of the left fronts isn't coming off with all of the impact ugga-duggas. In all of my years I've never had to tackle this challenge. Any advice? It's a nice wheel, I really don't want to damage it in the process.
If ugga dugga doesn't work, it time for a breaker bar and a piece of pipe.
Breaker bars create way more torque than an impact gun. If you are lucky, the stud will snap.
It may not be cross threaded, just torqued down way too much. A breaker bar with a pipe on the handle is probably the best choice to get it off. Hopefully it hasn't been stretched beyond its failure point.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:Breaker bars create way more torque than an impact gun. If you are lucky, the stud will snap.
Yeah, it's probably obvious, but just in case you want to do this when you have a replacement stud waiting to be installed. :)
Yeah I've had several that were just on way to right from the impact gun. Breaker bar worked. Hopefully that's the case here.
If it were a Subaru, I'd have made a joke about the particular family of Colby cheese they used for their studs.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
The only time I had a problem with a Subaru stud was when the j-off who we hired who refused to use torque wrenches got the lug nuts down to about 160ft-lb, pinching the taper in one of the nuts and galling the threads. Fortunately it galled at the very end so I could just repair the threads. No way in hell would I have been able to get the rear upright off so I could press the hub off to remove the ABS ring to change a stud.
Shortly after that there was a new policy that you were not allowed to torque your own wheels, someone else had to do it. I left very, very shortly after that.
The part I found funny was that he said he had to reef them down that tight because we only had 150psi in our air system. I still can't wrap my head around that excuse.
...the whole episode still pisses me off because I had been servicing that car since new, and j-off berkeleys it up the first time he touches it. And his whole attitude was "yeah, that happens". No. It doesn't "happen", you actively caused it and damaged MY customer's car.
Why not make it Jiffy Lube's problem? Take it back with receipt and they remove and fix if needed.
Pipe and a breaker bar.
If it's cross-threaded, you're not going make it any worse and there's no way to make it better except replacing the bad parts.
No one else been around here long enough to suggest shotgun yet? But yes all my suggestions have been stated previously.
johndej said:No one else been around here long enough to suggest shotgun yet? But yes all my suggestions have been stated previously.
We definitely slacked on the shotgun or angle grinder recommendations 
.
Friends don't let friends use Jiffy Lube.
Stampie said:Why not make it Jiffy Lube's problem? Take it back with receipt and they remove and fix if needed.
Good suggestion, but I wouldn't put it past them to do more damage.
Maybe call around and see if any of the local shops have one of these?
Lug ripper - pricey, but will save the wheel if the breaker bar won't do it.
I always insist that all my cars have the wheels fitted with a torque wrench. The torque limiting extensions (torque sticks) normally used with an air gun are fairly good, but proper use is to use one that is a lesser value than the final setting requires and finish the last 20% or so with a torque wrench anyway.
One of my cars has alloy wheel nuts with a lower torque spec than most wheels (my car is a Jensen but I believe that some Porsches use alloy nuts as well). I never let and air tool nar them!
In reply to wspohn :
I love the typical move I see at most tire places... big air impact to install the wheel, then they go back around with a torque wrench only for all the lug nuts to be tighter that the set value on the torque wrench already.
Thanks for ensuring my lug nuts are somewhere between the correct value and 350 ft-lbs.
WillG80 said:In reply to wspohn :
I love the typical move I see at most tire places... big air impact to install the wheel, then they go back around with a torque wrench only for all the lug nuts to be tighter that the set value on the torque wrench already.
Thanks for ensuring my lug nuts are somewhere between the correct value and 350 ft-lbs.
Haha true, the average Joe's car is driving around with the lugs on at damn near 200ft/lbs because of this I'm sure.
BTW it's less likely that it's actually cross-threaded than it is that a little splinter of metal peeled off in the threads and is acting as heavy metal loctite, locking the two together at least as tightly as if they were crossthreaded...BTDT, had to get the nut split in half with a dremel to get it off.
I install my lug nuts with my impact, set on the lowest setting. I can keep it from turning with a gloved hand. I crisscross to tighten them up this way, then put the car on the ground and follow up with my torque wrench. I assume that's not a problem, I change tires twice every time I have an autocross.
Type Q said:Friends don't let friends use Jiffy Lube.
Wasn't me. The previous owner took it there. He was trying to be nice before I picked it up. It was washed with a full tank. He put the new tires on 5k ago and thought it would be good before my 900 mile ride home.
CyberEric said:Yeah I've had several that were just on way to right from the impact gun. Breaker bar worked. Hopefully that's the case here.
It broke free with a hand wrench like normal. About two more turns and it locked up and got super duper tight. I then tightened it back. A little turn then it made a free rotation and got clicked at 80 ft lb.
In reply to glueguy (Forum Supporter) :
Sounds like the sliver of metal issue described above.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Yep, probably so. They are recessed into the wheel so this is gonna suck.
I once had a "pro" mechanic do something similar. We lost two studs when trying to remove the wheels. Not fun.
You'll need to log in to post.
