I’m short on money, so I was thinking I could try doing this myself with a drill and chisel. This is for the rear driver side wheel… I’m trying to figure out if I can drill out the lug nut instead of the wheel stud, which seems to be made of harder steel.
8 Likes
I had a wheel nut that got stuck, and I tried all the usual tricks—like hammering on a smaller socket and using a special socket for removing seized nuts—but nothing worked. They just messed up the outside of the nut. In the end, I had to drill it out.
I was surprised by how deep I had to drill before the nut finally came loose. I thought I must have drilled through the whole stud, but when the nut came off, I saw I was only halfway through.
It’ll be easier for you because you can start with the clean end of the stud. I had to drill through the end of the locking nut, which was much harder.
Find someone who has the right kind of induction furnace. A local tire shop might be able to help.
Remove the wheel from the bearing. Drill out the lug nut from the back. Replace the lug.
Or you can remove the part of the axle that holds the wheel.
I had the same problem with my ZJ. I kept bothering a local mechanic until he said, “Just get it here; we’ll get the wheel off!” He used a die grinder with a special bit and ground off the stuck part. It took him less than 20 minutes.
Was the wheel ruined after that?
I don’t remember exactly, but the mechanic might have damaged the wheel a bit. It was already old and corroded since it was a 20-year-old Jeep at the time, but it was still usable. I had no choice since I snapped the lug in half, and nothing could get it off. It was way over-torqued before I tried to remove it.
I might be wrong, but doesn’t the caliper need to be removed before the axle shafts can come out? I thought the caliper bracket goes over the rotor and rear wheel backing plate.
I had the same problem recently. The easiest way for me was using a 5/8" (or 16mm) hole saw. It fits around the stud and cuts off the lug nut. Just don’t use the center bit and let the saw do the work—don’t push hard or move it around too much, or the saw might break. If you’re lucky, you can save the stud; if not, one stud isn’t too expensive. I used this method to remove three on a parts car I bought.
Drilling is the way to go without damaging the wheel.
I had this issue a few times too. A careful combination of a chisel and drill worked well for me, though I did have to replace a wheel stud. I also had some success using a rounded nut removal socket.
It looks like your factory lug nuts have a thin stainless cover. Once that comes off, the hexagon underneath might not fit standard sockets. You might find that once one nut starts having problems, the others will too, even if you torque them correctly and use anti-seize.
I ended up replacing the factory lug nuts with McGard solid ones, and I haven’t had any issues since.
Anti-seize reduces friction, which can make nuts over-tightened, Hampy.
However, if you tighten the nut without anti-seize and note how much it turns from being finger-tight to the correct torque, then use an angular torque wrench after applying anti-seize, you should be able to get close to the right torque.
I had a similar issue a few weeks ago with a Lexus SUV. I used my air chisel to get it off, but I had to hammer it for a few seconds before it moved. What’s an induction heater? I’ve worked on cars all my life and never heard of one. Are you talking about a heater for my shop in the winter?
We do have acetylene torches, which could also work for this.
1 Like
An induction heater is a handy tool that uses electricity to create magnetism. It has a coil that fits over the nut. When you use it, electricity flows through the coil, which makes the nut get very hot.
I did this a few months ago. The easiest way is to use a few small drill bits, starting with the smallest and gradually using bigger ones. It’s really simple. It took me about 20 minutes to do two of them.