Thaddeus

Well,

As those of you who read my post about IQ tests and working on Porsches know, the P/O of my car apparently used an air wrench to install my lugnuts. As a result, 2 of the 5 on the driver's side wheel sheared at the base when I used a breaker bar to remove them. In the picture below, you can see an intact nut on the right, and a sheared one on the left:



How shall I remove the remainder of the lug nut without either (1) damaging the wheel, or (2) damaging the stud?

Any ideas would be MUCH appreciated.

thanks

Thaddeus

User 4221

Thad,

The only thing I can think of is to get a small, high quality drill bit and
*VERY CAREFULLY* drill out the sheared lug. You can then bust it out or knock the wheel loose with a dead blow hammer.

Hope this helps,
Scott

Thaddeus

The 'calotte'? Interesting. Much more elegant-sounding than saying "the mushroom part thingy".

I am in the process of making a hole saw out of a deep 13 mm socket now. Let's see if I can put some teeth on that bad boy sharp enough to cut aluminum...

Other ideas still welcome...

hacker-pschorr

I'll post the easy way out

Not the cheapest.

If it's on the front, just remove the spindle with the wheel.

Call Mark A, buy a new spindle, hub, bearings and wheel.

Reassemble, call it a day.

worf928

'bin here. Done that.

Dremel with a metal cutting bit. Actually several cutting bits with different ends.

It takes a couple of hours. But you can carefully cut away the collet without damaging the threads on the stud or the hub.

jpitman2

The hole saw is how my wrench does it, std practice apparantly. Usually saves the stud as well.
jp 83 Euro S AT 48k

928 Fool

Thaddeus, it sounds like the hole saw is the way to go, however I'd be very careful using a socket for a home made saw. I don't think you are going to have to worry about saving your stud. If it truely is only over torqued at the minimum it has stretched your stud. Replacement is wise.

Kevin

2V4V

Also, if you can get a smallish drill bit in the hole...

If you were to drill through the "calotte" (assuming this is French origin of callot-sp?) one hole per side it should split in half and be withdrawable in chunks - light tap with a smallish punch should cause fracture post-drilling - if it doesn't just split on it's own.

Greg

Thaddeus

Well, Here's the status:

I bought an impact wrench and air compressor today, thinking that impact might help break the things free and avoid shearing any more nuts (500 bucks). I have also been soaking these things with PB Blaster to break down any corrosive bonds the nuts might have to the studs.

Bottom line: I have 6 sheared nuts on 3 separate wheels. Oh joy.

I then went to Ace and bought a hole saw (3/4 "). This thing just fits over the stud. It cut 2 collets away before it gave up (too dull); however, there is enough collet left at the bottom of the hole to make the wheel stick. Drilling very carefully at the remaining collet has done nothing meaningful. Dremel tool, no dice, because the bits are not long enough to reach to the bottom of the hole.

I am taking another break, this time until the weekend, by which time I hope to have another idea or 2. I am really frustrated. This is not going well. I have so far avoided damaging the rims, but I am running out of ideas.

Thaddeus

worf928

Crap. You're right. My memory is coming back. The collet I had to dremel-out was on a bolt for the rear-wheel spacers. I didn't have to do this while the wheel was still on.

ErnestSw

May the cork soaker who installed the wheels have his own nuts similarly treated!!

maddox

Thaddeus - this is a b!!!!h of a job, it happened to me - 2 nuts on one wheel.

You can still order the specific tool from Germany as per the Porsche manual. I think it costs about 30 Euro. (US$45)

I went to the local hardware shop and bought a deep 19mm holesaw for about NZ$17. (US$10) It did the trick and got the nuts off without any peripheral damage. The saw was wrecked so it got binned. I now religiously use the correct lubricant, socket, torque etc as per the manual. I would hate for this to happen at the side of the road!

worf928

Which circle of Hell did Dante reserve for cretins that over-torque lug nuts?

I think it was one deeper than that reserved for politicians.

Gretch

Try this.

Buy a finishnail set at the hardware store( or a long, thin drift punch). On your bench grinder, sharpen the tip to a point. Place the point on what is left of the collet in the middle, but closer to the stud than the outer edge of the collet. Tap with a hammer to drive the point into the aluminum. do this in two places say at 3 oclock and 9 oclock on the collet. The collet should break at these locations........

The guy who did this to your car should have his air gun confiscated, cause he is too stupid to use it properly......