Bigger impact wrench or a larger compressor, or just a high quality impact wrench. The good ones put out a lot more power.

When I couldn't get my axle nuts off, I dropped by a local place that does truck service. Their impact wrench pulled them right off. I'd already broken a breaker bar and tried my lower cost impact wrench to no avail.

 

I found a shop in town I'm going to take it to but I was trying to avoid that. Would anti seize solve this lug problem permanently.

 

Over-tightening the lug bolts will cause the problem that you currently have.

Anti-seize will help the wheels not sticking to the wheel hubs. Once you get the bolts out you will find out if the wheels are stuck to the hubs... Ron

 

My lugs were stuck on my back wheels, they wouldn't even come off with my impact gun set to 350 ft. lbs. I ended up using a 20" breaker bar with about a three foot steel pipe added on, that finally got mine off. Try a pipe before taking it to a shop.

 

That's my dilemma, I can buy a steel pipe and run the risk of breaking my lug wrench or I can take it to a shop in town and probably pay close to the same price and have them out and reinstalled with anti seize. My impact driver is set to 250 ft-lps and made no difference. I can always use a rubber mallet to break the wheel free and if that doesn't work a sledge against a block of wood will work. I do not trust and will not do the driving trick, that just sounds like a bad idea waiting to happen. Overall, I will have to pay a few bucks for a steel pipe with no guarantees or about $20 or less with a guaranteed removal.

Any suggestions or links to replacement lugs. I hate to say it but advanced auto parts stocks black painted steel replacements for $1 each.

 

You might also spraying the back of the hubs (where the bolts come through) with PB Blaster. Spraying the front of the bolts won't get through to the threads, where the lubricant needs to be... Ron

 

That's the real problem with this stud mount design: the bolts rust into the hub from the back. You can try some PB-Blast overnight back there if you can get in to the tips. WD-40 doesn't do much as a penetrant.

As to those $1 replacements... Chinese made. I don't know that I want to use Chinese made bolts in this setup. When they seize, they may snap off. The quality of Chinese steel varies greatly. The problem I see is that most every replacement bolt you buy will be Chinese made nowadays. Who knows if the $3 Chinese bolts are better steel or not.

Antisieze? I dunno. I use it almost everywhere reasonable when working on an older car, but I wonder if your lugs will loosen when driving. I know of a friend of a friend who oiled his VW lug bolts and said he could not keep them tight after that. I doubt he was using a torque wrench... YMMV. I usually wire wheel the threads on mine back to "clean" and re-install. Maybe the best choice is just to break them free every six months or so and re-torque.

I definitely suggest cleaning up the center (and face) of the hub with a heavy duty wire wheel cup brush and maybe a file, then use the wire wheel on the back side of the alloy wheels. Put a thin coat of anti-sieze on the center of the hub where it locates the wheel so that they don't stick to the hubs next time.

 

I weight 153# soaking wet, yet it is surprising how often this works when NOTHING else will:

1. The car has to be on the Ground; the car's weight needs to be on the tire.

2. 24" Breaker Bar with a Deep 6pt socket, placed as close to horizontal as possible.

3. Put one of your feet on the Breaker Bar, then balance yourself so that nearly your full weight is on it. Gently bounce on the Bar while making incantations such as 'Come on baby... Come on baby... Come on baby...'

4. Let out a string of obscenities because nothing happened.

4a. Move to another Lug; repeat #3.

5. When it goes 'skrtchhh', repeat #4a.

6. Continue until all have budged a little, then jack up the car and take them off with the Impact Wrench.

A side note:

For most Impact Guns having a select-able Torque Range: This applies to put-ON force. Take-off force is whatever the Gun's max rating is.

Any Air Tool which is not performing well probably needs lubrication. This should be the FIRST action you take when the Tool isn't giving you results.

 

Any Air Tool which is not performing well probably needs lubrication. This should be the FIRST action you take when the Tool isn't giving you results.

Obviously you've never tried my cheap-asp impact wrench

 

Most tire places (the chains anyway) are now having the techs check the lug(nuts in most cases) bolts (in ours) with a torque wrench to ensure they are tight enough. Would guess this is to deal with the liability issue. This in no way prevents them from being overtorqued. IMHO most tire techs have no idea what torque they are applying. The proper way is to handtighten (or stop before the Air gun applies full force) and then use the torque wrench to finish. Whenever I get tires put on I retorque everything myself when I get home so that if I'm ever stuck on the road needing to get a wheel off off I know they will not be overtorqued. Rarely do I not have to use a breaker bar to do that re-torque

 

PB breakfree would be a better option I need to go pick some up. I will try penetrating oil from the inside of the hubs, I didn't even think of that. As for my impact wrench it is part of the entry level starter set and nothing professional grade. My compressor isn't professional grade as well, it's a 20gal enough for auto hobby and household work. I do also oil my air tools, I don't want to burn them up. My next step will be to buy some pb breakfree and a pipe from the hardware store, as well as a 3/4" drive 17mm 6 point. Once I get these loose they are getting a good scrub down and some anti seize on the threads. However this will be on hold, because I'm pretty sure my fuel pump died so a new thread regarding this will be started lol. thanks for the input and updates will follow.

 

I've searched around and have not found a straight forward real solution to this issue. My lugs are rusted and stuck, I cannot get them off. I broke a 1/2" drive ratchet with a breaker bar trying to remove them after a day of WD-40 treatment. I bought an air compressor with impact driver setup and did a WD-40 treatment and still they will not budge. I've hit the heads of the lugs with an air hammer, as well as used a 20" lug wrench. They are stuck and stuck good. I need the wheels off for a rotation and to adjust my parking brake. Any advice is appreciated, and after they are removed I will be purchasing new lugs and using anti-seize.

You need a good-quality breaker bar and a three-foot steel pipe. You probably won't break the breaker bar, at least the first time someone overtightens your lug bolts.

I've been through this a few times, and my longer breaker bar's forks are starting to spread. Uh oh. Maybe I need a 3/4" breaker bar, but where will I find a 3/4" 17mm socket?

WD40 will do nothing, and I doubt an actual penetrating oil such as PB Blaster or Kroil will do anything either. The bolt is unlikely to be rusted in place (though it's possible). It's much more likely to be overtightened beyond mortal understanding.

Unless that's a $200+ professional-quality impact wrench, I doubt it will do anything close to 250 ft-lbs. And, for reference, the last time I was faced with overtightened lug bolts, I put my 250 ft-lb torque wrench on the 'loosen' position and it clicked without budging the bolts one iota. So they were a bunch tighter than 250 ft-lbs.

You should buy the good-quality breaker bar and 17mm impact socket, will cost you maybe $50 (I don't know what a good brand and price would be in the US). Yes, having a shop loosen them once may be cheaper, but what will you do the next time a shop overtightens them?

It's also worth getting a torque wrench. I run my lug bolts up in three steps, 40 ft-lbs, 60 ft-lbs, and 86 ft-lbs (I have the older design lug bolts).

I have a set of Febi/Bilstein lug bolts on order. I hope they're not made in China.

 

I have a 4' 3/4 drive breaker bar but only a snap on 3/4" 6 point, I was given this in exchange for some electrical work at this bike shop when I lived in Japan. I needed it to remove a crank pulley on a honda motor I built. These lugs are on ridiculously tight from the previous owner. I'm going to try some PB on the inside of the hub but I'm going to get this 3/4" drive 17mm and try that as well. My main concern is that I will break the studs and be in a bigger mess. This is all on hold because my fuel pump went out last night.

 

You know, I am all about saving a few bucks, but this is one area where time needs to be taken into consideration.

A shop will rotate your tires for, how much? $25? $40? You may even be able to find a place that will rotate your tires for free with an oil change -- supply your own oil and filter if this is the case.

Fifteen minutes in the shop, and you're done. Test the lugs when you get home, and if they are on too tight to remove, drive it on back.

 

The idea was just a tire rotation for a few bucks, the tires are new and I changed the oil less than 100 miles ago.

Better yet, invest a couple of bucks in your tires and find a shop that will balance the tires -- chances are they need it anyway.

That said, good luck with the fuel pump replacement. It looks like a fun job!

I should just do a balance, it probably wont cost that much more and I could give them anti seize to put on the lugs and my problem will be solved. Thanks for the good luck, I just got finished prepping the fuel pump for when it arrives tomorrow. It took me less than an hour with all cutting, filing and sanding the metal, paint and putting my fascia panel back up. The Air hammer makes all the difference.

For future ref, WD-40 does nothing in ways of a true penetrating oil like PB Blaster. WD-40 is just fish oil it doesn't soak into metal oxides just lubricates them.

WD-40 is a penetrating oil just not as potent as PB and WD-40 should not be used for lubrication. I personally like WD-40 because it is a mild penetrating oil and has many automotive and household applications.

 

Better yet, invest a couple of bucks in your tires and find a shop that will balance the tires -- chances are they need it anyway.

That said, good luck with the fuel pump replacement. It looks like a fun job!

 

For future ref, WD-40 does nothing in ways of a true penetrating oil like PB Blaster. WD-40 is just fish oil it doesn't soak into metal oxides just lubricates them.

 

The origin of WD-40, is that it's name comes from it type: Water Dispersant. The formula they sell today is formula #40. In other words, the first 39 formulas didn't work very well... Ron

 

LOL.. I like it for certain things too... but for rusty parts, PB is the man!

 

I had the same issues on my 1999 and 2002 - but NEVER on my 1997. Weird.

First thing - I broke 2 breaker bars - one SK one craftsman - before taking the car to the shop - they had to use a force multiplier wrench to get them off - then we retightened by hand - 3 months later - they had to use that force multiplier wrench again - as air tools would not cut it.

I use never seize liberally and that helps - BUT I also went to the junkyard and got NG900 lug bolts - and that cured it for the 1999. For the 2002 - I replaced them with 9-5 bolts that have a captive collar - which is a really nice solution.

I would say for the easier route - get some earlier lug bolts and try that with some never seize.

I think it is they used cheaper steel on the 1999+ or perhaps the angle of the taper is not exact.....

 

WD-40 is a penetrating oil just not as potent as PB and WD-40 should not be used for lubrication. I personally like WD-40 because it is a mild penetrating oil and has many automotive and household applications.

Never said it wasn't a penetrating oil but if you are dealing with something that is rusted and corroded and is something important like a lug in your hub, its best to use a much more powerful one. WD-40 is good for rusty hinges on your doors or panel bolts versus something like his lugs or exhaust bolts which it's relatively worthless at.

 

I have had best luck with Kroil and and butane torch. Soak it down with the kroil, let it sit for a minute or so and than heat it with the torch and repeat. It may take a while of doing this. I read in another forum a home brew solution of automatic tranny fluid and acetone evenly mixed is the best (here is the link if you want to check it out http://www.fordification.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=44934) , but I am not sure it would be a good idea to use a butane torch with this mix. Good luck.

 

Honestly, I think it's a case of "needs more force" than all the rust hypotheses. That's assuming the wheels have been off once or twice in their life. I'm in the middle of the rustbelt, and the lugs on my three-year-older car aren't that rusty. I don't see an Alabama car having a whole lot of corrosion.

And yes, the bolts do sometimes tighten up. I just cleaned the conical seats on the lug and in the wheels, and put on a bit of antiseize on the seat. Not on the threads, though.

As for using a torch, I think that's got the potential to create a big mess. Remember that the threads are in the hub; this isn't a nut on a stud that can easily be heated. Not to mention damaging the wheels.

 

In case clarification is needed, the purpose of heating the lugs is to enable the oil to wick farther down the threads. There is no need to roast or char anything. I have found a small, butane torch to work the best.

 

You can also go the other way: Loctite has a product that freezes the bolt and applies penetrating oil. The idea is that freezing the rust causes small fissures and that the oil gets in the cracks and breaks it free.

The Loctite stuff is a bit expensive, so I purchased some electronic freeze spray that takes parts down to -50. I then applied PB blast. I can't say that it worked when I tried it, but I was working with small 6mm fasteners and they were very, very rusty, so it might have been beyond salvage. I may try again on larger bolts.

You could try that if you can get to the studs on the back.

 

My fuel pump got overnighted and will be here soon, so I will have time to work on this again. After I get the studs out I would like to clean the threads on the hub as well as the studs. I would like to put anti seize on the actual threads of the studs. I have only used anti seize when I worked on F-16's, 4 bolts were used to hold a 300 pound pod to the side of the aircraft. My understanding of anti seize was that it was used to prevent corrosion between the threads and allow easier disassembly without compromising the initial torque value. If someone could chime in on the official uses for anti seize.

I did call a reputable service shop in town, I was told they would balance my tires for $34. I was also told they would remove my studs clean up the studs and threads as well as put them on at the correct torque for $20. I'm already down $20 for the 20" lug wrench and $5 for the PB

 

Anti-seize is literally as you said it and how it sounds. It prevents corrosion from building up on the parts. Usually has copper graphite and some other metals in it. So it lasts much longer than any kind of normal grease and is much more temp resistant. I don't know the physics of it though if that's what you are wondering.

 

I know that any lubricant affects the torque values... although rusty wheel studs are so far off it probably gets you closer to the right value. I know that in cases where items can be lubed or not, the manufacturer will often provide a torque value for both situations.

I know a mechanical engineer. I'll see if he has any input on it.

 

I used to Anti-Sieze Lugs until this one time at Band Camp when the wheel of my CRX tried to come off at Interstate Speed. Since then I just pass them over the Wire Wheel.

An important thing to note is that the wheels should be torqued UNLADEN, meaning, while the car is off the ground. There are several ways this can be done: Ideally you have a buddy hold down the Brake Pedal. If not you can Trap the Pedal with a brace of some sort. Or you can overtorque one, then put a Breaker Bar/Socket on it, trap it against the ground, do the other four and retorque the first the same way.

 

An important thing to note is that the wheels should be torqued UNLADEN, meaning, while the car is off the ground.

Since I usually work alone, I try to get as much torque as I can with them unladen by holding the wheel while torqueing the nuts with my other hand. On a practical basis, that means I can get up to about 50lbs in the air. I bring them up to spec after I lower the car. Not perfect, but at least they are settled properly on the hub before any weight goes on.