Ever had to drill out a lug nut?

[BrazenC5]

Had a diificult time removing over torqued lug nuts after a tire shop put on new tires with a 24" breaker bar. Then one proceeded to spin in place. Spent the next 3 hours drilling out the nut/stud until enough material was removed to snap the stud. I don't wish that experience on anyone.

At least I got a new toy out of it!

All this just to replace some squealing brakes.


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[mailman]

Not quite. I did snap a stud off once so I feel your pain

[joli160]

I know the problem all to well.
Quite easy to fix with a sharp drill and a left tap

[crew]

I broke one off once that had “frozen” to the nut. When the nut wouldn’t budge with my lug wrench I put a 3’ pipe onto the wrench for leverage. Snapped the stud right off.
I took the car to a garage that said “No problem”.
They removed the broken stud and inserted a new one in less than 30 minutes and for about $30. Money well spent for me.

[RW16610]

Many years ago I broke one on my E36 328is. I got SO lucky it wasn't fully torqued in so I extracted it with a much easier process.

[mibi]

I always use anti seize on the lugs on all my cars. especially the older ones. you will never have a problem.!

[TC94]

Shops that over torque lugs are a huge pet peeve of mine. Imagine trying to get one wheel off with a flat tire.

I swap out my own snow tires and wheels every year, and torque to specs. However, anytime any of our cars are in for service, I have to specifically instruct them in exactly how I want things tightened. Why? Because not only have I broken or drilled out over-tightened lug bolts during my winter swaps, I have also encountered the exact same problem twice in the last 5 years out there on the roads with flat tires.

Taking 30 mins just to get a wheel off on the side of the road or limping home with 3 or 4 lug bolts shouldn’t happen when using a high end German car dealer’s shop.

Inexcusable really.

[Valenciawatchrepair]

Originally Posted by TC94

Shops that over torque lugs are a huge pet peeve of mine. Imagine trying to get one wheel off with a flat tire.

I swap out my own snow tires and wheels every year, and torque to specs. However, anytime any of our cars are in for service, I have to specifically instruct them in exactly how I want things tightened. Why? Because not only have I broken or drilled out over-tightened lugs bolts during my winter swaps, I have also encountered the exact same problem twice in the last 5 years out there on the roads with flat tires.

Taking 30 mins just to get a wheel off on the side of the road or limping home with 3 or 4 lug bolts shouldn’t happen when using a high end German car dealer’s shop.

Inexcusable really.

SO MANY shops do this. It's ridiculous. Why does the consumer have to instruct the shops? It's pathetic. No one is willing to take the time to do things right, or further their education once they have a job. Just all around laziness. I can't stand it.

[enjoythemusic]

Having helped with engineering and maintaining a Championship-winning SCCA-spec Formula 2000 car... have done many things.

[BrazenC5]

Originally Posted by mailman

Not quite. I did snap a stud off once so I feel your pain

Yep, luckily only beating on the rotor hat for a couple minutes with a 4lb sledge freed the rotor to change the stud...I have no idea how the stud splines got rounded off to make the whole thing spin in place. First for me.

Originally Posted by crew

I broke one off once that had “frozen” to the nut. When the nut wouldn’t budge with my lug wrench I put a 3’ pipe onto the wrench for leverage. Snapped the stud right off.
I took the car to a garage that said “No problem”.
They removed the broken stud and inserted a new one in less than 30 minutes and for about $30. Money well spent for me.

That's well worth the money right there.

Originally Posted by joli160

I know the problem all to well.
Quite easy to fix with a sharp drill and a left tap

Interesting, although the stud head still intact is behind the rotor and wouldn't have worked in my situation. Do you find the left tap easier, more successful than screw extractor bits, or just used what you had in your shop?

Originally Posted by RW16610

Many years ago I broke one on my E36 328is. I got SO lucky it wasn't fully torqued in so I extracted it with a much easier process.

Nice to hear that some folks run into similar issues...whenever it happens to me it wrecks my schedule and sometimes wonder "why me!?!" 30min brake job turned into a 6 hour ordeal.

Originally Posted by mibi

I always use anti seize on the lugs on all my cars. especially the older ones. you will never have a problem.!

I thought about this, but was worried to apply on lug studs...do they make specific anti seize for lug stud applications?

Originally Posted by TC94

Shops that over torque lugs are a huge pet peeve of mine. Imagine trying to get one wheel off with a flat tire.

I swap out my own snow tires and wheels every year, and torque to specs. However, anytime any of our cars are in for service, I have to specifically instruct them in exactly how I want things tightened. Why? Because not only have I broken or drilled out over-tightened lug bolts during my winter swaps, I have also encountered the exact same problem twice in the last 5 years out there on the roads with flat tires.

Taking 30 mins just to get a wheel off on the side of the road or limping home with 3 or 4 lug bolts shouldn’t happen when using a high end German car dealer’s shop.

Inexcusable really.

Wow, I thought I had it bad...never would I try in winter snow or side of the road...AAA for me. I agree with you, about the reliance on impact wrenches to tighten lugs at tire shops. This happened to be the second time I had a destroyed lug stud. First one was cross threaded and bent, luckily that was remedied with heat and force. I figured it was a random situation, but now I know to specifically confirm the use of torque wrenches in the future.

Originally Posted by Valenciawatchrepair

SO MANY shops do this. It's ridiculous. Why does the consumer have to instruct the shops? It's pathetic. No one is willing to take the time to do things right, or further their education once they have a job. Just all around laziness. I can't stand it.

Sad but true finding out the hard way. I would say the vast majority of customers today probably don't ever remove tires and wouldn't notice either way.

Originally Posted by enjoythemusic

Having helped with engineering and maintaining a Championship-winning SCCA-spec Formula 2000 car... have done many things.

I bet you have the "ultimate set of tools."

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by BrazenC5

I bet you have the "ultimate set of tools."

I learned from the very best, Spicoli's dad.

Ok, well, ummm... do have a, dare i say this in public, tool.... problem.

Actually my head engineer helped with the Rahal's cars and another friend of mine used to do shock rebuilds at Hendrick Motorsports. You have no idea the cost and how often you need to rebuild your shocks during each season, it's insane!

Have two ultimate set of tools. One for the main garage area and another, which of course would be in the 21 foot V-nose enclosed trailer.

Then you have stuff for my watch habit, electronics diy habit, camera habit....

Nothing feels better than the right tool in your hand

[sokoloka]

Being cheeky from another thread - but did you wear your rolex while doing it?

[BrazenC5]

Originally Posted by sokoloka

Being cheeky from another thread - but did you wear your rolex while doing it?

Actually I did wear this one! From reading the other thread, wouldn't be the popular choice.

It's ok, I was using the impact wrench with the other hand. ;)



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[FTX I]

Originally Posted by BrazenC5

Actually I did wear this one! From reading the other thread, wouldn't be the popular choice.

It's ok, I was using the impact wrench with the other hand. ;)



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Beautiful watch.

[-lenny-]

Originally Posted by BrazenC5

Actually I did wear this one! From reading the other thread, wouldn't be the popular choice.

It's ok, I was using the impact wrench with the other hand. ;)



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That is beautiful. And I would have been one handing the impact too!

[R!$]

Originally Posted by BrazenC5

Actually I did wear this one! From reading the other thread, wouldn't be the popular choice.

It's ok, I was using the impact wrench with the other hand. ;)



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Great watch

[BrazenC5]

Originally Posted by R!$

Great watch

Thanks, you end up reaching out to C&T on the daytona?

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[GB-man]

Been there done that!

[bdex75]

Bought a car once that had locking lug nut on each wheel and had no key. Had a flat, in the rain, in a really seedy neighborhood. Jacked it up, removed the 4 I could and just snapped it off. Tightened up the spare and had the tire shop replace the broken one the next day.


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[toxicavenger]

Shitty job. I use a nut cracker on the one I had to do.

[Sperry]

A similar issue I had on a '94 850 Turbo. A tire shop flubbed it.

Went to my 'usual' guy, gave him $50 USD, and asked him to get it off. Not to worry about nicking up the 850T's alloy rims.

He put the car on a lift, hooked his chisel bit to his air hammer, and had the lug nut off in 30 seconds. No damage to the rim or the bolt.

[TheVTCGuy]

Did Jocke work on it? That would explain the problem...

[breitlings]

I prefer impact wrenches to breaker bars. I think they actually are more effective at removing stuck bolts and have less of a chance of stripping the bolts but my experience is limited to cars and SUVs. My old range rover 4.6, lugs were basically impossible to take off after fording water/offroading/salt without an impact gun.

Interestingly on my prius once I had to replace a lug and a lugnut, just felt it start to wobble a bit and had to break it off, I think with an impact then a 4 pound hammer to the lug but don't remember exactly.

[BrazenC5]

Originally Posted by breitlings

I prefer impact wrenches to breaker bars. I think they actually are more effective at removing stuck bolts and have less of a chance of stripping the bolts but my experience is limited to cars and SUVs. My old range rover 4.6, lugs were basically impossible to take off after fording water/offroading/salt without an impact gun.

Interestingly on my prius once I had to replace a lug and a lugnut, just felt it start to wobble a bit and had to break it off, I think with an impact then a 4 pound hammer to the lug but don't remember exactly.

Impacts for removing are definitely worth it...i finally broke down and bought one.

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[toxicavenger]

Originally Posted by BrazenC5

Impacts for removing are definitely worth it...i finally broke down and bought one.

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My electric impact seems to work better than my air impact.

[breitlings]

for me air impacts can be much better. while i guess it is possible a particular electric could outperform a specific air impact a high end air impact would destroy a high end electric in power and ability to use in tight spots.

[droptopman]

Hey Chris. That looks like a real PITA. Not a fun job. I had a 67 SS Chevelle in HS that we did a lot of work on. That thing broke studs all the time. Did a burn out one time and looking out the passenger window at my rear rim and tire going right past me...Certainly have had to drill out fixed lug nuts and resulting broken studs over the years.

[BrazenC5]

Originally Posted by droptopman

Hey Chris. That looks like a real PITA. Not a fun job. I had a 67 SS Chevelle in HS that we did a lot of work on. That thing broke studs all the time. Did a burn out one time and looking out the passenger window at my rear rim and tire going right past me...Certainly have had to drill out fixed lug nuts and resulting broken studs over the years.

Hey Mark!

Wow, what a pucker moment...haha!

The Merc still a joy to drive?

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