Title is pretty self explanatory. So I was removing the wheels on a car this weekend, and front driver wheel wouldn't come off since the stud was just spinning with the lugnut. They are steel wheels and I have a bit of access to the stud/lugnut so its not like it is recessed into a well of an alloy wheel.
How can I remove the lugnut? And this is the first time anything like this has happened to me, so what do you I do after I get the wheel off? I imagine the stud needs to be replaced, how do I do that?
Edit: Car is AMC Eagle. I also don't have any sort of torch, welder, plasma cutter.
The car in question is an AMC Eagle I very stupidly bought.
Can you pull the other lugnuts and pull/pry on the wheel to put tension on the bolt? Not likely but its worth a try. Lots of penetrating oil applied every few hours.
Sucks that it's the front, the rear would've been easier. Sometimes I've had luck by taking the other 4 lugs off and have a buddy put a prying force on the side opposite to the spinning stud, while I held an air impact on the lug. I've also had to take a cut off wheel and cut a slot across the stud where I could hold it with a big regular screwdriver, and use an open end wrench to loosen the lug, if you have the room.
Anyway, yes the stud will have to be replaced and maybe even tack welded if the hub hole is wallowed out
Can you get a wrench on the lug nut? If so: use wrench to hold the nut and drill out the lug. If you are lucky the bit will catch on the lug and spin it out of the nut.
Try an impact wrench, if that doesn't work, drill it out and break it off.
use a good fitting impact socket and a breaker bar to break the stud off with a quick downward motion. the hardened stud will snap right off.
In reply to novaderrik:
And
In reply to Kenny_McCormic:
How do you drill out or break off a stud that just spins?
mw
Dork
10/15/12 7:19 a.m.
tpwalsh wrote:
In reply to novaderrik:
And
In reply to Kenny_McCormic:
How do you drill out or break off a stud that just spins?
Vise grips on the nut. (that sounds painful)
tpwalsh wrote:
In reply to novaderrik:
And
In reply to Kenny_McCormic:
How do you drill out or break off a stud that just spins?
you don't use the breaker bar to spin the nut- you use a quick downward motion to break the stud... just turn the breaker bar "sideways" so the end doesn't bend when you push down really hard and really fast. a spinner handle also works well for this..
Sounds like the splines on the hub are gouged out...you're gonna need a new one.
+1 for breaking off with lateral motion.
I had one do this once. I wound up tack welding the stud to the hub (just put some "bubblegum" weld on it, not looking for real good penetration). Once the stud was secure, I spun the nut off and whacked the stud out with a BFH, used a small file to clean up the hub, replaced all the studs with new ones.
YMMV, of course.
novaderrik wrote:
use a good fitting impact socket and a breaker bar to break the stud off with a quick downward motion. the hardened stud will snap right off.
Probably the easiest way out. If the hole in the hub is damaged you can see if there is a stud where the splined section is a little bit bigger and drill out the hole in the hub to the correct size..
