How to open very tight wheel nuts?

[amitasdhir Member Find all posts View Profile Close amitasdhir]

I am replacing my steel wheels with alloys and the wheel nuts that my mechanic had tightened were so badly tightened that I broke 2 wheel studs in the process. Wheel studs from dealer only cost $10 each but replacing them is painful as brakes and discs have to come off first so that is going to cost me around $50 labour per wheel. To avoid breaking more nuts I decided that I need to loosen up the nuts before trying again. I tried spraying them with WD 40 and silicone grease spray from WD 40 and left it over night but that didn't work either.
Solution:-
Finally I came up with an idea to boil kettle if water and slowly pour the boiled water over thenut to see if that loosens up the nut. I tried one litre water on one nut, retried opening it again and it worked like a charm. So since 9pm this evening I had boiled the kettle about 11 times to get 2 wheels changed. It is a lot of patience but it is almost guaranteed to work. Just make sure you pour the boiled water slowly over the nut and also keep the cold water hose running on the tyre where boiling water falls to avoid any tyre damage.

[pajflareo Member Find all posts View Profile Close pajflareo]

I am replacing my steel wheels with alloys and the wheel nuts that my mechanic had tightened were so badly tightened that I broke 2 wheel studs in the process. Wheel studs from dealer only cost $10 each but replacing them is painful as brakes and discs have to come off first so that is going to cost me around $50 labour per wheel. To avoid breaking more nuts I decided that I need to loosen up the nuts before trying again. I tried spraying them with WD 40 and silicone grease spray from WD 40 and left it over night but that didn't work either.
Solution:-
Finally I came up with an idea to boil kettle if water and slowly pour the boiled water over thenut to see if that loosens up the nut. I tried one litre water on one nut, retried opening it again and it worked like a charm. So since 9pm this evening I had boiled the kettle about 11 times to get 2 wheels changed. It is a lot of patience but it is almost guaranteed to work. Just make sure you pour the boiled water slowly over the nut and also keep the cold water hose running on the tyre where boiling water falls to avoid any tyre damage.

I have heard that jacking the entire axle (whether it is front or back) can unload any potential tension in the diff. This pre-tension can put a greater load on the studs making it hard to remove the nuts. But if the water is working keep at it!

[LVB Member Find all posts View Profile Close LVB]

Good solution, seems to be working for you. It shouldn't take too much heat to crack the nut from the stud. You could probably get away with using less than 1 litre per nut. The more heat you put into the nut the more will get through to the stud & expand it as well. Might save you some time as well.

Cheers,
Lance

[dolphin Valued Member Find all posts View Profile Close dolphin]

yes the mechanics fun toy; Rattle Gun. they just wake the wheel nut on and press the trigger until they think , that shouldn,t come off.
allways ask the mechanic [NOT TO USE ] the rattle gun on your wheel nuts, please use the wheel brace only thanks. also apply some water proof marine type grease to the wheel studs before fitting the nuts.

[Elwood Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Elwood]

Hey buddy, how tight are we talking? When I rotated the wheels on my NW for the first time they were tight... I did them back up with a torque wrench and the second time around they weren't anywhere near as tight. Have you considered using an electric impact wrench on a lowish setting? Might help loosen them without breaking the studs so easily.

Also, do you do any driving on or near salt water? I've heard that salt water can cause fasteners to become really really hard to undo (read: impossible) if not thoroughly rinsed with fresh water.

I was careful after my beach trip to Bribie Island and I washed my car with loads of water... when I did the second wheel rotation last weekend they came off with about as much effort as they did going on when I did the first rotation.