removing broken nuts from wheel studs

[chitown944]

Well I took my car in to a mechanic shop and they broke 3 nuts 2 of em on still on the studs. Whats the best way to remove them.

[Eldorado]

are you talking about the axle bolts?

[chitown944]

yes the nuts on on the bolts that hold the wheel on the axle

[TNT25169]

Find a new shop....or bring them to me and I will drink beer until I figure out a good solution....

[Eldorado]

the nuts on the bolts that hold the wheel on the axle... do you mean the lug nuts? I'm a little confused here..

[legoland951]

Wheel studs probably mean the broken lugnuts are stripped onto the studs. If they are stripped, impact them clockwise to tighten and completely strip the threads on the aluminum lugnuts. After that, the lugnut will slide right out not harming the much harder steel studs. An Ingersol Rand Ti2135 impact gun will do the job very nicely.

[chitown944]

no the nuts broke on the studs cuz they were too tight

[Eldorado]

well then the best way to remove them would be not to have them so tight in the first place.

remove what you can, if they strip again do what legoland suggests, intentionally strip the rest of the nut on the steel bolt and pull it off.

[flash968]

snap on makes a socket specifically for this - it's like an easy-out

[jcommin]

Rich,


Eldo and Lego are correct. I got an air impact wrench if you need it. You need to get some new nuts and anti-seize. Might be a good idea to check all the remaining ones too. The nuts should be torqued to 80 ft lbs. I have a torque wrench and anti-sieze compound too.

[chitown944]

jackasses drilled em off and my Fuchs too...guess ill need those repaired along with 2 studs that were ruined...yeah that'll be fun

[Eldorado]

hey, if they caused unneeded damage to your car, they should pay for it.

if they were smart, they'd know aluminium is a LOT softer than steel, and no drill was needed for this job.

[Dark Skies]

The nuts are actually titanium.

I found a well placed cold chisel in the center of the nut hit with prejudice will split and bulge them off (I had two screwed ones on my car when I bought it).

[jcommin]

Is your car drivable?? Have them replace the studs and get the wheel fixed by others. If they acknowledge the damage, you can give them the bill for the wheel repair.

[chitown944]

yeah im pretty much walking away from pay them for installing a shock and readjusting my ride height...dont know that ill go back...im partially at fault for them trying to remove the wheel when it wasnt necessary but $hit happens

[onZedge]

Funny, I thought the nuts were a AlZnMgCu alloy. No Ti.

[Dark Skies]

Originally posted by onZedge
Funny, I thought the nuts were a AlZnMgCu alloy. No Ti.

Me too - but I read an article in Porsche World that specifically related to them and they said that contrary to popular belief they are actually titanium.

[944 Ecology]

Porsche World is wrong, if they wrote that.

[Dark Skies]

Originally posted by 944 Ecology
Porsche World is wrong, if they wrote that.

What makes you so sure?

[legoland951]

Titanium is a completely different metal if you ever held it in your hands. It has a much different hardness than the aluminum alloy they use for the lugs. Try polishing Ti with Mother's polishing cream and you will see how different it is from Al.