Broken wheel nut, ouch!

[Lancer]

How do you go about removing the other half of a wheel /lug nut from inside the wheel that is stuck on the car?Did this at the begining of installing new springs. I know it's probly something I can't fix myself. Just wondering what is involved and how much it's gonna cost me.

[ragingfish]

Can't imagine what removing that entails...I bet if you called a Firestone or NTB or other specialty tire place, they could tell you a rough estimate...I bet it happens more often than we think...

[NovaResource]

Are you saying the lug itself broke in half? If so, I would buy a cheap socket that is slightly smaller than what's left of the lug and hammer it over the lug and then twist it off. This ruins the socket but it's a cheap way out when it works.

[Lancer]

Yup, the lug nut that holds the wheel onto the hub sheared right in half. There is not anything for the socket to grab onto.

Attached files

[Lancer]

Here's the rest of the nut, inside the wheel.

Attached files

[Lancer]

They recomend drilling out the whole lug bolt. There isn't much room for an air chisel and it could wreck the rim (but then again 'da wife did give the rim some curb rash). They said it would take many hours to drill it out which = $$$$, unless I try it myself.I was thinking too, if I had the stock wheels on would it be covered under warrenty? But since they are NOT stock, it doesn't matter.

[NovaResource]

Who made the lug nuts?

[MadBill]

My first thought was to see if someone could weld the hex (or another nut) back on, but by the pix, there isn't room. I'd go with center punching the stud dead-nuts in the center, rig a support or jig of some sort to hold the drill square, and drill in deeper than the end of the nut's thread with say first a 1/4", then 3/8" and finally a 1/2" bit. The last size exceeds the base thread diameter of the 12 mm stud thread, so the half nut will then fall off. Then you can pull the wheel off and punch out the destroyed stud.BTW: This is a job for a Cobalt drill bit (and lots of lube)! I've used them on hardened steel, and they are magic!BTW2: Those wheel nuts are some kind of junk if they shear like that, before the not-too-strong stud fails.BTW3: If you haven't already, get a good torque wrench, torque to 76 lb-ft and use no lube on the threads.Good luck!

[ragingfish]

quote:I was thinking too, if I had the stock wheels on would it be covered under warrenty? But since they are NOT stock, it doesn't matter.I don't know...if you try to remove it yourself, and you shear it, that may not be warranty covered...but then again, since they're not stock, 'tis irrelevant...

[Lancer]

The lug nuts are made by Gorilla and I thought about calling them but we all know what they'll say, "You just tightened it too much." Hours of work and/or lots of money for just removing less then 1/4" left inside. This is such a pain in the A$$!Thanks for all the advice Nova and Madbill!

[Lancer]

I'm pretty sure I did when I painted my calipers. Yeah the ONE time I didn't use a torque wrench, after all the wheels I've changed in my life. I didn't think I put them on that tight. If this was on the rear wheel, then I could 'try' to blame the Pontiac garage since they had fixed a screw in the tire.This really sucks!

[dmitri]

if you used an impact wrench...they have a knob on them to adjust the torque that the wrench operates at. I always put it on the lowest, then tighten it by hand. Do what Nova said...it should work. If not, try welding.

[Lancer]

After almost 4 hours, one broken drill bit (broke after all of 5 sec. of drilling), and a dandy laceration on my thumb, I finally got the ***** out.My first drill 1/4" was very close do right on. The second 3/8" started to go south and east a little. The third drill busted after 5 sec. ($15 well spent.) and the fourth drill 1/2" went a little further south and east. So I spent 2 1/2 hours drilling out the remander with the 1/4" bit. About the same way a oral surgen removes a impacted molar with a drill and hammer. I was getting frusterated and was about to quit when I eyed a small metal chisel and the BFH. So I vented on the remaning peices and it finally moved. I did some minor damage to the wheel though. Drill about a MM into the base where the nut seats in 3 places,it looks like a 3 points of a triangle. I don't think it'll be a problem.I couldn't remember how to remove the hub so I cleaned everything up an drove home (live a couple blocks from my town station.) I'll have my brother help me finish tomarrow.Lesson learned, use a torque wrench everytime.Here's what's left of the nut.

Attached files

[ragingfish]

Congrats!Just think of all the $$$ you saved by doing it yourself. Just don't use those crappy nuts again!

[MadBill]

1. Congratulations on a successful mission, Lancer!2. One advantage of whaling away with a BFH: It's very therapeutic, no matter what the outcome!3. There shouldn't be any problem from a couple of dimples in the seat area.4. From the price, I assume those were cobalt drills? I broke one when I accidentally drilled into a ball bearing (don't ask), but there was enough left to re-sharpen, and at that price that's what I did.5. So, seeing your "oh-dark-hundred" post times, did you and Ragingfish stay up all night waiting for the power to come back on, or are you just night owls?

[ragingfish]

I never lost power.The chaos stopped about 5 miles away from me.

[MadBill]

Lucky man!We weren't as bad as many, lost power for ~ 8-1/2 hours. I spent all my cash*, $20, (*no power, no plastic) on ice and still had ~ 1/2 of it left when the lights came back on and didn't need the bathtub full of water I ran JIC the city's pumps were out.

[Lancer]

Went over to my brother's house for help. Then my dad showed up and we knocked out the new lug stud AND the new spring install. So after an extra week of crap, I'm a new member to the spring mod group! Yea!

[rasermon]

quote:Went over to my brother's house for help. Then my dad showed up and we knocked out the new lug stud AND the new spring install. So after an extra week of crap, I'm a new member to the spring mod group! Yea!Good to hear!I'm glad everything worked out for you.