WHEEL NUT PROBLEM

Took my caravan into a tire dealer for a wheel balance. Twenty minutes into
it he tells me there is a problem with the nuts stripping. THe nuts have
some sort of tin shield over them for purly estetic looks I believe but
anyhow what happened was that the shields came off. The guy doing the job
put the 19mm impact over the bar nut which is of course slightly smaller in
size now because the steel shield is missing. He rounds the edges over on 5
of the 10 nuts holding the two front tires on and then procedes to use a nut
extractor to try and remove one of the nuts. Now we have one nut that is
totally round and stuck solid and nine that are somewhat rounded and stuck
on. To make matters worse, I have alloys on the van. I stopped the guys from
going any farther and took the van home, didn't see any point in digging the
hole any deeper. I have been looking at the mess and it looks like drilling
the stud will be the only way to get the totally rounded nut off the dam
stud. Has anyone had this same problem and what did you do to resolve it.
The dealer is an option but I would like to give this one a go myself first.
If the nuts weren't down in a bit of a recess in the alloy rim a dremel
would certainly be the answer, and may yet be but it will be difficult to
cut the nut and not hit the rim. Suggestions please.

Any info appreciated.
Bill

In article <Pt1vj.45500$C61.7250@edtnps89>,
"Bill Falconer" > wrote:

> Took my caravan into a tire dealer for a wheel balance. Twenty minutes into
> it he tells me there is a problem with the nuts stripping. THe nuts have
> some sort of tin shield over them for purly estetic looks I believe but
> anyhow what happened was that the shields came off. The guy doing the job
> put the 19mm impact over the bar nut which is of course slightly smaller in
> size now because the steel shield is missing. He rounds the edges over on 5
> of the 10 nuts holding the two front tires on and then procedes to use a nut
> extractor to try and remove one of the nuts. Now we have one nut that is
> totally round and stuck solid and nine that are somewhat rounded and stuck
> on. To make matters worse, I have alloys on the van. I stopped the guys from
> going any farther and took the van home, didn't see any point in digging the
> hole any deeper. I have been looking at the mess and it looks like drilling
> the stud will be the only way to get the totally rounded nut off the dam
> stud. Has anyone had this same problem and what did you do to resolve it.
> The dealer is an option but I would like to give this one a go myself first.
> If the nuts weren't down in a bit of a recess in the alloy rim a dremel
> would certainly be the answer, and may yet be but it will be difficult to
> cut the nut and not hit the rim. Suggestions please.
>
> Any info appreciated.
> Bill

Happens all the time, it's either boogered up acorn nuts or lost
puzzle lock keys...

All that needs to be done is to weld a 1/2" nut on the end of the
problem nuts, then remove via method of choice.

It would have been nice if they had thought to use a 17mm socket
on the nuts that were missing the tin covers, but tire busters
aren't the brightest lot.

If you have the room, try vise grips on the nut, as tight as you can. The
place a pipe on the vise grips or even a long large box end wrench and see
if you can back it off. If you want you can even use a hammer on the vise
grips to get them moving.

I had the same problem but caught them before they got past number 2 nut.


Don

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"Bill Falconer" > wrote in message
news:Pt1vj.45500$C61.7250@edtnps89...
> Took my caravan into a tire dealer for a wheel balance. Twenty minutes
> into it he tells me there is a problem with the nuts stripping. THe nuts
> have some sort of tin shield over them for purly estetic looks I believe
> but anyhow what happened was that the shields came off. The guy doing the
> job put the 19mm impact over the bar nut which is of course slightly
> smaller in size now because the steel shield is missing. He rounds the
> edges over on 5 of the 10 nuts holding the two front tires on and then
> procedes to use a nut extractor to try and remove one of the nuts. Now we
> have one nut that is totally round and stuck solid and nine that are
> somewhat rounded and stuck on. To make matters worse, I have alloys on the
> van. I stopped the guys from going any farther and took the van home,
> didn't see any point in digging the hole any deeper. I have been looking
> at the mess and it looks like drilling the stud will be the only way to
> get the totally rounded nut off the dam stud. Has anyone had this same
> problem and what did you do to resolve it. The dealer is an option but I
> would like to give this one a go myself first. If the nuts weren't down in
> a bit of a recess in the alloy rim a dremel would certainly be the answer,
> and may yet be but it will be difficult to cut the nut and not hit the
> rim. Suggestions please.
>
> Any info appreciated.
> Bill
First off, that's exactly why you never want lug nuts with those dinky tin
covers -- it's well worth the cost to replace them with real, solid acorn
nuts. Also, always dab a little anti-seize on the studs before putting on
the lug nuts.
As for removing them now, you could try hammering a deep wall socket of an
appropriate size down over the rounded nut -- Once it's jammed on, attach a
breaker bar (maybe even with a length of pipe on it for additional torque)
and go to work. (I've seen this technique used on locking lug nuts where the
owner lost the key.) There are removers for rounded nuts -- sort of like
sockets lined with sharp left-hand angled teeth -- as you turn them
counter-clockwise they bite deeper onto the rounded nut. The only problem
might be their not fitting into the little well your rims allow around the
lug nuts (hence the idea of hammering a socket straight onto the nut).
Before you start, soak them down with Kroil...

Thanks for the suggestions. The nut extractor was successful on several of
the nuts but at the end four studs had to be drilled out and let me tell
you, that wasn't pretty. Anyhow all is done now and with very little damage
done to the alloys. Thanks again for all the suggestions

Bill
"Ron Seiden" > wrote in message
news:Rxqvj.8303$0%3.3945@trnddc06...
> "Bill Falconer" > wrote in message
> news:Pt1vj.45500$C61.7250@edtnps89...
>> Took my caravan into a tire dealer for a wheel balance. Twenty minutes
>> into it he tells me there is a problem with the nuts stripping. THe nuts
>> have some sort of tin shield over them for purly estetic looks I believe
>> but anyhow what happened was that the shields came off. The guy doing the
>> job put the 19mm impact over the bar nut which is of course slightly
>> smaller in size now because the steel shield is missing. He rounds the
>> edges over on 5 of the 10 nuts holding the two front tires on and then
>> procedes to use a nut extractor to try and remove one of the nuts. Now we
>> have one nut that is totally round and stuck solid and nine that are
>> somewhat rounded and stuck on. To make matters worse, I have alloys on
>> the van. I stopped the guys from going any farther and took the van home,
>> didn't see any point in digging the hole any deeper. I have been looking
>> at the mess and it looks like drilling the stud will be the only way to
>> get the totally rounded nut off the dam stud. Has anyone had this same
>> problem and what did you do to resolve it. The dealer is an option but I
>> would like to give this one a go myself first. If the nuts weren't down
>> in a bit of a recess in the alloy rim a dremel would certainly be the
>> answer, and may yet be but it will be difficult to cut the nut and not
>> hit the rim. Suggestions please.
>>
>> Any info appreciated.
>> Bill
> First off, that's exactly why you never want lug nuts with those dinky tin
> covers -- it's well worth the cost to replace them with real, solid acorn
> nuts. Also, always dab a little anti-seize on the studs before putting on
> the lug nuts.
> As for removing them now, you could try hammering a deep wall socket of an
> appropriate size down over the rounded nut -- Once it's jammed on, attach
> a breaker bar (maybe even with a length of pipe on it for additional
> torque) and go to work. (I've seen this technique used on locking lug nuts
> where the owner lost the key.) There are removers for rounded nuts -- sort
> of like sockets lined with sharp left-hand angled teeth -- as you turn
> them counter-clockwise they bite deeper onto the rounded nut. The only
> problem might be their not fitting into the little well your rims allow
> around the lug nuts (hence the idea of hammering a socket straight onto
> the nut). Before you start, soak them down with Kroil...
>

What the problem is the lug nuts have an aluminum cover and the metal under
them will rust and start to build up under the aluminum causing them to
expand and the socket will no long fit right.

"Bill Falconer" > wrote in message
news:Pt1vj.45500$C61.7250@edtnps89...
> Took my caravan into a tire dealer for a wheel balance. Twenty minutes
> into it he tells me there is a problem with the nuts stripping. THe nuts
> have some sort of tin shield over them for purly estetic looks I believe
> but anyhow what happened was that the shields came off. The guy doing the
> job put the 19mm impact over the bar nut which is of course slightly
> smaller in size now because the steel shield is missing. He rounds the
> edges over on 5 of the 10 nuts holding the two front tires on and then
> procedes to use a nut extractor to try and remove one of the nuts. Now we
> have one nut that is totally round and stuck solid and nine that are
> somewhat rounded and stuck on. To make matters worse, I have alloys on the
> van. I stopped the guys from going any farther and took the van home,
> didn't see any point in digging the hole any deeper. I have been looking
> at the mess and it looks like drilling the stud will be the only way to
> get the totally rounded nut off the dam stud. Has anyone had this same
> problem and what did you do to resolve it. The dealer is an option but I
> would like to give this one a go myself first. If the nuts weren't down in
> a bit of a recess in the alloy rim a dremel would certainly be the answer,
> and may yet be but it will be difficult to cut the nut and not hit the
> rim. Suggestions please.
>
> Any info appreciated.
> Bill
>