What's the best remover for stripped lug nuts/lost wheel lock keys?

N8N wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:

I almost never have one I can`t just break off with the impact wrench, spin it up and snap. easy to replace lugs. KB

you must have a better impact than any of his guys... I know there's two o f whatever the classic IR gun is (the aluminum one with the 5 position dial on the revering slider thing) in that shop, plus whatever the new top of t he line Air Cat is, I have removed lugs with my breaker bar that none of th e air guns will touch. What gun are you using and what pressure is your sh op air?

Original question still stands as well, as unfortunately some lugs come in pre stripped for your convenience. If only people would only let competent mechanics touch their cars...

If you want to avoid the wheel damage from using the torch you can drill the wheel stud out. I have used this method before and it works well.

The kids at the tire store never seem to have any problem just snapping them off with the impact wrench. They even manage to snap them off when they are putting them on, let alone when they are taking them off.

--scott

Why not just hammer on the next size smaller (using inch and metric to not have such a severe step) impact socket and remove it like a stripped/lost lock lug?

. Usually it's not a lost wheel lock key but a lug nut that's been overtor qued and then left on for a year or two, head strips, uncomfortable call to owner, then carefully blowing the head of the lug off with a cutting torch (destroying the finish of the wheel in the process.)

in a less than affluent neighborhood and the local parts/tool stores are wo rse than worthless; purchasing something that will work locally is not poss ible. I've tried using some of my Craftsman and Snap-On regular stripped b olt head extractors and while I think they might work, the problem is they are all 3/8" drive and I cannot find a 1/2" to 3/8" adapter that won't shea r the 3/8" drive before loosening the fastener, so I need something minimum 1/2" drive and strong; will have to be mail-ordered. MAC LT-4200 looks go od and is inexpensive on the 'bay. Is there a Snap-On equivalent and is it better? anything else to look at?

Tried that, actually have used 12 pt hand sockets, problem is even using a

12 point socket you can't always get enough bite on a lug nut (which tend t o be really soft) to shift it if it's been grossly overtorqued and then str ipped. Had that happen to me once; I think the nominal hex size was 19mm a nd we got down to a 16mm 6 point socket and the damn thing still wouldn't b udge, out came the flame wrench. Hence my question about specialty remover tools...

I've been around for a couple of these exercises; problem is that he's in a less than affluent neighborhood and the local parts/tool stores are worse than worthless; purchasing something that will work locally is not possible. I've tried using some of my Craftsman and Snap-On regular stripped bolt head extractors and while I think they might work, the problem is they are all

3/8" drive and I cannot find a 1/2" to 3/8" adapter that won't shear the 3/8" drive before loosening the fastener, so I need something minimum 1/2" drive and strong; will have to be mail-ordered. MAC LT-4200 looks good and is inexpensive on the 'bay. Is there a Snap-On equivalent and is it better? anything else to look at?

thanks,

nate Recently had all 4 wheel locks overtorqued and the key stripped trying to get them off. When the guys in the Dealer's service dept gave up (after about and hour) trying to get them off they turned to the Used Car shop. Apparently there, they run into this off and on and had some special tool. Using this tool they finally got all 4 locks off in about 15 min. My point here is that this may point you to a source for some help or advice. MLD

You can get a set of universal removal tools.

For the locks without a key and some rounded nuts (size dependent) M980 Emergency Lug Nut Remover Sockets

For others SK TurboSocket® Kit - 920

There are also the sets with more sockets available from other sources.

Or you can grab one of these.

I'm not experienced in this (never ran into it on my own cars or friends' cars) so I'm assuming you just don't have access to the nut in full depth? Around bicycles, we slit the nut and open it. I could do that if needed on a 1965 Chevy lugnut, not sure about modern wheels.

yeah, on steel wheels it is not a problem at all, just cut it with an air c utoff tool and done. Most modern alloys have the lugs recessed in a hole. Some aftermarket wheels are a horror where you can't even get an impact so cket in the hole, you have to use a deep hand socket to remove/install whee ls. Don't even get me started on splined lug nuts.

nate

yes, that is the kind of stuff I was looking for. Any personal opinions on which one is "best?"

thanks

nate

yeah I need to hang around those kinds of guys I guess. My problem is that my friend has a shop that has those kinds of problems, and looks to me for advice because he's the business dude and I'm the car guy, what he doesn't realize is that my expertise is really in ancient barn cars with steel whe els where this isn't a problem, and all my modern stuff I don't let morons touch so I don't have these kinds of issues.

nate

Like Colt 45, works every time:

I've used the SK master set a lot. They work great on rounded and rusted stuff, but they are somewhat thick walled. The drill unit looks like it would do a good job on the rims with clearance problems. May see if I can find one of the core bit's they use.