Was excited to get out to the garage on Friday night. Got a great big box of New Shineys from PelicanParts, and was just getting ready to tear into the e300d, new shocks, tie rods, sway bar links, engine mounts... very excited.
Step 1) loosen lug nuts before raising car.
FAIL.
Right away, I knew I was in trouble... Usually they "crack" nicely as soon as I put some pressure on the breaker bar. On these guys, I had to put a 4' pipe on the end and STILL really haul on it. The car was in the shop 2 weeks ago to check out the front end; they must have used an impact gun to put the wheels back on.
Several are bent, and worse still, one broke off.
I spend 6 hours fighting it. Weld a nut to the broken bolt, but it just broke again further down. In the end I had to drill it out.
Took more time to get that wheel off than it did to change outer tie rods, sway bar links, front shocks and both engine mounts.
So there's your handy reminder for the season. If the car goes into the shop, check the $#%ing lugnuts afterwards... there's a good chance they're on too loose, or too tight. Too loose and you have wheels falling off, and you end up on the side of the highway crying into your cellphone. Too tight and you end up NOT being able to get your wheels off when you get a flat tire, and you end up on the side of the highway crying into your cellphone.