Lug nuts way too tight

random

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Ugh, this car (caliber) has been is a nightmare...

Wheel bearings seem to be bad, took it in to have it checked out. Estimate was $500 for bearings only, $1000 for bearings and hubs if those were also bad. I'm $1400 into the car and it's not even mine, so I say nevermind.

That's something of an aside, just setup. I'm guessing they must have removed the wheels, right? You would do that to check the bearings?

Anyways, I ordered the parts ($150 total) and am starting to get things ready to work on this weekend - and the lug nuts won't come off. Some of them are stripped nearly round, and they are insanely tight. I managed to get one wheel off finally using a bolt extractor socket and breaker bar, but even with that, the other side won't come off. My breaker bar is now a little bent.

I'm thinking I'll probably pick up some steel pipe and try again with more leverage, but it seems to me that with my 200 lbs jumping on the end of the breaker, and the only result is the bar bends, they're probably a bit on the tight side...

I think this is more just a rant than anything else, thanks for listening (reading)
 
Generally speaking you don't have to take a wheel/tire off to check the wheel bearings. Lift the car off the ground, grab the tire and try to wiggle it side to side and up and down

A smoke wrench is a beautiful thing when fasteners will not come loose. Have you tried to heat them up before you go to trying to turn em?

These are the reasons why I RARELY allow a shop to remove/install my wheels. I always end up with cross threaded lugs, lugs that are torqued WAY too tight, or just barely finger tight.
 
Some of those shop dudes get too happy with the impact guns. Can actually warp a rotor as well. Lug studs are cheap. If you damage them then its not very expensive to replace.
 
Little drop of oil on the lugs never hurt. Sorry they are stuck......it sucks bad. Hopefully you know someone with a battery impact and a stripped lug nut removal socket set.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
Replace the hubs also
Got the full set, hubs and bearings. More on that later.

It may be stating the obvious but in this situation a six point socket wold be preferred.
Nuts are too rounded. I got extractor sockets that got all of them off one wheel, and one of them off the other.

What kind of car? Some of the older Dodge cars had left handed threads on the lug nuts on the drivers side.
Definitely not the case, one of the driver side nuts came off the usual way.

But the other four WILL NOT come off. I got the extractor socket, a breaker bar, and a 4 foot pipe. Put a lot of pressure on it, and the damn breaker bar broke!!!

So, I guess this is no longer a rant - how do I get these off if even a breaker can't handle it? I'm actually considering the sawzall since I'm replacing the hubs too...

And on the subject of hubs:
The manual calls for using an arbor press to press the bearings into the hubs. I don't have one of those. I was thinking of just using clamps and applying equal pressure around it, but I've had it suggested that this could cause big problems. Anyone know about anything about that?
 
Got the full set, hubs and bearings. More on that later.


Nuts are too rounded. I got extractor sockets that got all of them off one wheel, and one of them off the other.


Definitely not the case, one of the driver side nuts came off the usual way.

But the other four WILL NOT come off. I got the extractor socket, a breaker bar, and a 4 foot pipe. Put a lot of pressure on it, and the damn breaker bar broke!!!

So, I guess this is no longer a rant - how do I get these off if even a breaker can't handle it? I'm actually considering the sawzall since I'm replacing the hubs too...

And on the subject of hubs:
The manual calls for using an arbor press to press the bearings into the hubs. I don't have one of those. I was thinking of just using clamps and applying equal pressure around it, but I've had it suggested that this could cause big problems. Anyone know about anything about that?

Pay the man.....:(
You should be able to take the steering knuckle off yourself. Take the steering knuckle and hub bearing sets to a mom and pop shop that has a shop press . Let them remove and replace the hub/bearings for probably an hours labor. Best money you'll spend.
 
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Pay the man.....:(
You should be able to take the steering knuckle off yourself. Take the steering knuckle and hub bearing sets to a mom and pop shop that has a shop press . Let them remove and replace the hub/bearings for probably an hours labor. Best money you'll spend.
Agree.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
You might have to cut the lugnuts off and get a new spindle/hub (whichever comes with new lug studs), that might be the only way to get them off now (cut off wheel). You might could use a torch to the lugnuts, but I wouldn't do that with aluminum wheels..... this is not to cut them off, but sometimes a stuck fastener will "pop" loose when some serious heat is applied (propane torch). Look up new lugnuts or similar online, they should indicate whether they are left handed or not. I don't know about your model, but sometimes you can buy a new unit with the bearings pressed in.

Be careful pressing bearings in bearings..... there is an inner race and the outer race. By hand, you can pull the outer race or cage and feel a slight amount of play..... this is normal. When pressing them on you need to support inner and outer race...… otherwise you will have a lot of play or a ruined outer race. A seal or bearing driver kit is a big deal here...…. You can get a cheaper set at HF for $40 or so that will do most everything you will need on a passenger vehicle. It will have the right diameter driver (something to hammer or press) for your bearing. If not the driver kit, sometime you can use a piece of pipe, the right sized block of aluminum or grind out the inner race of the old bearing to make a tool to seat the new one. Sometimes...… you can seat a bearing with a BFH, and sometimes you HAVE to use a shop press. Normally...…. clean up the shaft and lube with something thin (WD40, Penetrating fluid) and be sure to remove any protective coating on the inner bearing race with brake cleaner. It will have a tacky feel to it if there is a protective coating there.

When you replace the lugs, aluminum wheels usually need about 100 ft lbs or so of torque, and steel wheels usually need about 150...…… and like said above, apply a little anit-seize.

Good Luck, I know you've had a rough go with this one!
 
Son-in-law brought a friend over with some better removal tools and managed to get the lug nuts off.

But now there appears to be even more crap to pay for. I'm already $1500 into this thing (not including the $1000 I paid for it) which is why I decided to do the bearings myself, and I haven't had my truck for 2 months (he's been using it to get to work). Right now I feel like it would be more productive to use it for target practice.
 
This has got to be the most aggravating car repair I've encountered...

All of the bolts for the knuckle are too tight/rusted to remove too. At this point I have the calipers off one side. Caliper bolts won't come out the other side.

I suppose I could put it all back together and pay the $1000 to have the work done at the shop, but seriously if I have to do that I may as well just scrap the damn thing and buy another one instead of throwing even more money at it. (WRT to the other thread about paying pros, I have no objection to doing that, I object to paying yet another $1000 on a car I bought for $1000 than I now have a total of $3000 into)

Short of that, any suggestions on getting those parts loose? I bent another breaker trying to loosen one of them. Got them all soaking with some liquid wrench right now but so far that hasn't helped with anything else. A couple of them are bolts & nuts so I suppose I could heat the nuts.

Anyone have a cheap but vaguely reliable car for sale?
 
A propane or MAP gas torch like you would use for plumbing. Apply direct heat to the bolt/threaded area, it's OK if it starts to turn a slight orange/red ish color, once it gets there remove the heat. Just be sure you aren't too close to any brake or fuel lines. Clean up any spilled brake fluid before starting if you go this route and do this outside, away from the house!
 
Just be sure you aren't too close to any brake or fuel lines.
- figures, the biggest problem is the driver side caliper bolt :(

Actually, we've managed to get the knuckle off the passenger side, with copious amounts of wd-40's version of liquid wrench and various applications of torque and impact wrenches.

I'll see what I can do with that suggestion.
 
Might just buy an arbor press off Amazon. Looks like they're <$100-ish
Spend that $100 paying someone who knows what they are doing when it comes to the bearings and hub. I promise you, that $100 press special from amazon will at best, if you are lucky, just knock a couple teeth out and break a few ribs.

There is a reason the decent shop presses are $1000 or more. Our 20 ton press at times has a lot of trouble breaking free wheel bearings from the knuckle.

This is what I use
https://www.eagleequip.com/product/...OMm9vFuZuybqI7GWv6LEm29_8hHmbL-gaAtqcEALw_wcB
 
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A propane or MAP gas torch like you would use for plumbing. Apply direct heat to the bolt/threaded area, it's OK if it starts to turn a slight orange/red ish color, once it gets there remove the heat. Just be sure you aren't too close to any brake or fuel lines. Clean up any spilled brake fluid before starting if you go this route and do this outside, away from the house!
Or if you have a friend with an acetylene or oxyacetylene torch, that would be even better - gets the fastener hotter more quickly. With propane, it takes a long time, which heats up everything around it. From what I've seen, mechanics don't waste time trying to wrench off rusty fasteners under a car. They go right to the torch.
 
Or if you have a friend with an acetylene or oxyacetylene torch, that would be even better - gets the fastener hotter more quickly. With propane, it takes a long time, which heats up everything around it. From what I've seen, mechanics don't waste time trying to wrench off rusty fasteners under a car. They go right to the torch.
Yup the oxy acetylene works way better!
 
Spend that $100 paying someone who knows what they are doing when it comes to the bearings and hub. I promise you, that $100 press special from amazon will at best, if you are lucky, just knock a couple teeth out and break a few ribs.

There is a reason the decent shop presses are $1000 or more. Our 20 ton press at times has a lot of trouble breaking free wheel bearings from the knuckle.

This is what I use
https://www.eagleequip.com/product/...OMm9vFuZuybqI7GWv6LEm29_8hHmbL-gaAtqcEALw_wcB

I really do appreciate the effort to help, but at this point I just keep getting "pay the man" over and over, and I'm already somwhere around $3k into a car that I bought to help out my son-in-law get to work that turned out to be a pos. What **MAN** do I pay? The mechanic I THOUGHT I could trust who sold me this damn thing, that blew out the engine 3 days after I got it? Who sold it "As-is" claiming no knowledge of its history, then I found out it was his mother-in-law's car? The guy who installed an AC unit without even asking if I wanted it or telling me that he was going to?

And even if I find someone I trust (I'm still a bit hesitant) I'm supposed to throw away another $1000?

And THEN what?

I told my wife earlier tonight that if I ever feel like helping someone out again she needs to just make me withdraw $3k cash and burn it. It would have better results.

I'm stressed, pissed, and all around done with this crap. You want me to get someone to do the work, TELL ME WHO TO GO TO, because I don't trust anyone for crap at this point, and I'm sick of thowing my money away. I wasn't joking when I said just use it for target practice. I'll probably scrap the damn thing, get $300 for it, and end up buying something else from a dealer.

I really don't want to come across as unappreciative. Really. And I know this is doing just that. I'm just so done with this that I can't think straight anymore. I think I'm done with this. Please, at this point, don't reply to this thread anymore. It will just depress me more.

My apologies to everyone on this thread who has tried to help. This is not personal, nor is any of it directed at you. But I just can't deal with this mess any more. It's time to move on.
 
@random Hes not suggesting you pay someone to do all the work. He is suggesting you have someone press the bearings out, any machine shop and most auto shops would be able to do it, easy and quick job for someone that knows how and has the proper press. Cheap Chinese presses/arbors can be extremely dangerous and shatter if too much force is exerted on them or if they are used incorrectly, I know your stressed with this thing, trust me, i've been in the same spot but hes looking out for your safety. Your no good to anyone if your laid up with injuries.
 
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