Lug nut removal

[William DAmbra]

What’s up all,
I have a 2010 EB and ran into the dreaded lug nut issue. I recently went to get my tires rotated and balanced and the quick shop guy couldn’t get the rear passenger side tire off. So I did some research here on the forum and went ahead and ordered a set of the gorilla lugs. I brought the truck to Goodyear figuring a “tire shop” would be equipped to handle this and much to my disappointment they were able to get 22 of 24 lugs off and replaced.
So based on the pics, I’m trying to understand what I can try. I’ve seen vids that showed drilling them out through the stud, and others using a torch but the rims will not hold up to that. Has anyone had any luck with these stripped nut extractors? At first glance they don’t look like they’ll fit over the nuts.

I’d rather spend a few bucks on the tools then give the truck to my mechanic. I just paid his mortgage last month when my front brake locked up and actually caught on fire. After seeing that I had him replace all the pads, calipers, rotors, and lines. So needless to say I’m interested in saving a few bucks to fix this myself if I can.

 

[William DAmbra]

I had the problems on my 07 , couldn’t get half of the lug nuts off at tire plus, I had a 4 foot pipe , I just put the pipe on my breaker bar and they all came off!

 

[Utah Driver]

Like trainmaster said, take it to a truck shop. They wouldn't even think twice about taking that off.

 

[D Hook]

What’s up all,
I have a 2010 EB and ran into the dreaded lug nut issue. I recently went to get my tires rotated and balanced and the quick shop guy couldn’t get the rear passenger side tire off. So I did some research here on the forum and went ahead and ordered a set of the gorilla lugs. I brought the truck to Goodyear figuring a “tire shop” would be equipped to handle this and much to my disappointment they were able to get 22 of 24 lugs off and replaced.
So based on the pics, I’m trying to understand what I can try. I’ve seen vids that showed drilling them out through the stud, and others using a torch but the rims will not hold up to that. Has anyone had any luck with these stripped nut extractors? At first glance they don’t look like they’ll fit over the nuts.

I’d rather spend a few bucks on the tools then give the truck to my mechanic. I just paid his mortgage last month when my front brake locked up and actually caught on fire. After seeing that I had him replace all the pads, calipers, rotors, and lines. So needless to say I’m interested in saving a few bucks to fix this myself if I can.

Maybe take it back to the guy that did the brake job. He must've gotten if off somehow.

 

[Mmart]

Maybe take it back to the guy that did the brake job. He must've gotten if off somehow.

The stuck lugs are on the rear passenger side wheel. I had the front brakes done. He was willing to do it but I wanted to see what options I had out there to and give him a little less money. He said “I’d most likely drill them out”. To me that means “I get to charge you to take the tire off and replace the studs etc”. I have been lucky with the few mechanics I’ve dealt with over the years but not one of them ever gave me a break.

 

[garett]

I have same issue. I have been carefully chiseling off the tin jackets on the lugs that won’t budge, so I can get to the actual lug. If/when the actual lug starts to round off, you can try the “chisel torque” method (see attached), where you: place your chisel off-center on the edge of the lug, 2) strike down on the chisel to create an impact torque. I’m using this method on a lug right now that’s so stubborn, I think the chisel method will end up splitting the lug nut before the nut will crack loose. The lug nut steel is pretty soft compared to a chisel. Either way, I’m gonna win this fight!

 

[Motorcity muscle]

Couple things you can try.

From your pics, you can see where the lugs are rusted, which prolly caused this issue. Before you do anything further soak the inside of the nuts / face of the lugs with PB Blaster or WD40, Several applications over a 24 hour period. Next obtain a female nut extractor or extractor set - sometimes referred to as lug nut extractors, some examples here ( https://www.amazon.com/lug-nut-extractor/s?k=lug+nut+extractor ). https://www.amazon.com/lug-nut-extractor/s?k=lug+nut+extractor

You will need to make sure that the extractor you use has an inside diameter that will work with what is left of your lug nut and an outside diameter that will fit inside the lug nut opening in the wheel. If you can borrow these from a friend or shop, you can try out several until you find the one that best fits. It may be necessary to carefully heat the nut (so as to not damage the wheel or expand the lug too much to further bind it to the lug nut. A fine tip Acetylene or Oxy / Acetylene torch will concentrate the heat in a small area.


BTW, Whenever swapping or rotating wheels, make sure you use a healthy amount of anti-seize on the lug studs and you will not run into this problem, that is, unless some idiot uses the wrong size socket (like an SAE socket close to the metric size required).

Good Luck

DO NOT USE antisieze on lugs, clean dry threads.

 

[garett]

“Ford Ugggh! nuts“. 2 remaining.
Tin jacket on lug nuts: destroyed
Multiple WD-40 soaks: done
Hexagon shape: long gone

This is the first time in my life that creating enough torque with a hammer/chisel didn’t work.

Suggestions for my horror story?

 

[JasonH]

Drill baby, drill.

 

[Yupster Dog]

Suggestions for my horror story?

Bolt Extractor