Rounded off wheel nuts

Chisel or one of those sockets with loads of pins in that form a fit around what ever the socket is inserted over.

For what a replacement wheel would cost don't rule out butchering the wheel to get getter access to the nut remains.

Lee D

Grind a sharp edge on an undersize socket and welly it on to the nut to cut into it.

Peter.

Grind a pair of new flats on it to take the largest spanner you can manage ?

Take it to your nearest tyres ales place, they have all the gear to get them off. Something small/back street will be cheaper! If your a member of a breakdown service then give them a call.

Remember to buy your replacement nuts before you get the wheel off ;)

Jinx

You can try hammering a socket onto it, grinding some more flats to take a spanner, using a nut splitter, welding on another nut so you can get a socket onto it, using a cold chisel to drift the nut around or maybe just to split it, drilling out the stud, using epoxy to glue a socket onto the nut, cutting the wheel away which should then enable you to remove the socket by hand.

Or just take it to a garage who will usually have suitable tools to do the job quickly, cleanly and safely and they'll probably have a spare nut too.

I've had success with hammering on the closest socket i can find and then either using a big powerbar, or getting someone with an air ratchet to go at it.

On or around Tue, 07 Dec 2004 01:37:37 +0000, Tom Woods enlightened us thusly:

welding a larger nut to it and turning that was the solution the garage used on the locking nuts on my Sierra which some tw*t had tightened up too tight, so that the key broke when trying to undo 'em. smaller nuts, too, and in very tight holes.

I think what he used as an old hub-drivedshaft nut from some FWD car. But it worked, anyway.

In article , Dom J writes

Whichever method you use to get the nut off (lumps of weld where the corners were has to be a good-un, then grind to approx. hexagon again), use Plus-GAS (*not* WD-40!) on the threads first. When you get the nut off, run a blowlamp lightly over the threads to burn off the residue (don't want it coming undone again) and then replace the nut.

Regards,

Simonm.

Wheel nuts/studs *should* be lubricated - preferably with an anti-sieze compund or failing that ordinary oil works fine. There's no danger of them coming loose as long as they are tightened correctly.

I use copper grease usually, BUT Plus Gas is releasing fluid - hence the caution.

Regards,

Simonm.

I was told by someone that the nuts/studs should not be lubricated as this can make it easy to over tighten them. The only place you should put anti-sieze stuff is on the mating faces between ally's and the hub.

Thinkin about it it may only apply to ally's as they may be more easily damaged themselves by overtightening, steels probably don't mind so much.

get another wheelnut of any scrap vehicle , one thats slightly smaller than the rangie one in diameter . arc weld the nuts to eachother but use plenty of amps to get penetration , ie

by using a 1" AF or similar nut you should have enough surface on the RRC nut to get a good weld to and then you should be able to use a knuckle bar to get it off .

series 2a wheel nuts would be ideal and you can even stick a welding rod down thru the hole to get an extra weld in place .

i would have thought though that the original RRC nut would have some flats left on it down inside the hole in wheel with which you could get a decent hexagon socket onto .

no need for tig welder but keep rod away from ali rim and have water by youre side so you can cool off the weld quickly .

you should be able to save the wheel and not damage it

Wheel nuts are only overtightened by lack of care. If you're doing the job properly you'll use a torque wrench, or at the very least a torque limiting extension on an impact wrench.

Practical experience says if you try not lubricating the studs/nuts then playing in the mud and water a bit, then leaving it a few weeks before you want to undo them - it's a guaranteed recipe to snap a couple of studs.

I was quite pleased to see the local tyre place using a torque wrench when putting the wheels back on SWMBO's Astra a few months ago. Unlike the idiots who put the wheels on before we got it, I don't think they could have known what a torque wrench was!

I've never had any trouble with getting wheel nuts off and I don't lubricate them, I just make sure they're clean.

Mind you I've got some tyres/rims arriving today I need to fit so there could always be a first time!

On or around 9 Dec 2004 08:58:09 GMT, Simon Barr enlightened us thusly:

amazing.

I tend to put copper grease on 'em.

Halfords sell nut splitters. Probably the easiest course.

They're basically a steel eye with a wedge driven into the nut by a threaded shaft.

Try it. I think it will work.

P.

The problem is that a nut-splitter big enough to handle a typical wheel nut is big ans awkward, and it may not be practical.

But where they can be used, they're pretty good.

Not if the nut sits in a recess within the wheel.

Steve. Suffolk. remove 'knujon' to e-mail