Well.... I painted some lugs and when replacing one my awful torque wrench from Harbor Freight didn't click(not the 1st time)....first off Im returning 2 of them on Monday. The lug/stud is just spinning and I can't back it out. Any tips as to how to get it out? Thanks V

 

Would appear the threads are stripped. No experience removing lug bolts with stripped threads but in other cases with a stripped bolt one can sometimes use a pair of vice grips to securely grip the stripped bolt's head and turn to unscrew and at the same time pull the bolt. The threads can sometimes get a bite and the bolt will unscrew.

A lug bolt is a harder item to get a good grip on even with vice grips.

A few times I have had to drill out a stripped bolt, or a broken bolt or stud.

But a wheel lug bolt is some pretty tough metal, especially the head. It can be drilled -- using a couple of different sized drills of very high quality -- maybe even carbide rather than high speed steel -- and relatively slow drilling and some kind of oil to help keep the drill bit cool -- but you have the problem the lug will probably turn with drill.

You have to be sure you are cutting the metal as the drill spins. If not you can work harden the metal and make the job tougher.

I have never done it but I have heard of super cooling the lug then hitting the head from the side with a hammer -- maybe using a chisel -- to break the head off. The exposed threaded portion has a "softer" center which is easier to drill into. Still takes a slow drill speed and good bits, etc. And you still have the problem of the remaining portion spinning as you try to drill it.

Or if you have knocked off the head of the lug bolt and are just dealing with the threaded portion you may be able to drive the remaining lug bolt out of the hole if there is clearance/room for this. The bolt of course is no good. The threads in the hub are probably also no good and the hub will have to be replaced: I would not trust the hub after a thread restore. So you take a hammer and a suitable sized drift and drive the threaded portion on through the hole and out the back of the hub. You must be sure there is plenty of room for this.

 

Depending on what wheels you have. If they are like mine, the lugs are deep into the wheel recess, esp. the rear.
Perhaps you could drill the nut.
Drill it with the clearance size of the lug thread. I would use a deep impact socket to keep it from rotating
and also guide the drills. I would first drill a pilot hole down the center of the stud.

 

I've used HF torque wrenches for years and not had a problem. I used to know an aircraft mechanic that used them at home on his motorcycles--checked them at the shop for accuracy. They were very accurate! Before using any Torque wrench the first time, stop by a machine shop and ask them to check out the opperation of the wrench. And when you store one, lube it, unload the torque springs, and store it in the blow mold case. My 1/2 wrench is an almost 50 year old Snapon, my Dad bought it for me in '71 (it was on sale for $50.) I've stored it as I mentioned and it lives inside the house. It's the gift that's kept on giving all these years. <sigh> I miss my Dad sometimes.

If it's feeling like it's too much torque, it probably is. Probably torqued it at way over 100 ft. lb.! I've stripped lots of things in my years of shade tree wrenching there's nothing like using experience to judge if something's not right.

Basically you want to get the head off the bolt, using new drill bits, the good ones, not the crappy HF ones, with lots of lube to keep things cool drill a pilot hole and then progressively work your way out to 12mm. Keep the drill speed fairly slow and only mildly bear down. If you turn a drill tip black, you're building too much heat. Once the heads are off, and the wheel is off, grab the remaining stud with vice grips and pull and twist the remaining stud out. I think I'd probably bite the bullet and get a pair of new hubs, helicoils wouldn't be my choice.

 

Never had any issues with my lugs because I put the thinnest coat of my 30 year old anti-seize that I can on each stud, before hand threading the lugs on the studs and then torquing to 86 ft./lbs. to compensate for the anti-seize.

 

Hey Thanks for all the responses.....but I dodged the 1st bullet and didn't have to drill. I removed all the lugs with the exception of the one that was spinning and wedged a small pry bar between the spacer and drum pressed down on the bottom of the wheel with my feet and got my impact on it and zipped it out .....5 minutes. BUT....the 1st 3 treads on the bore are stripped I can't get the bolt started. The remaining 80% or more of the bore is good. Would running a chase through the bore be okay.....dont really want to replace the hub at this point. As long as I can torque it down to spec I imagine I'm good.....V

 

Yes. Or a tap. use lots of oil. Sounds like you got lucky.

 

I guess I'll brush on oil will doing it, I want to avoid getting or dripping oil into the drum part where the parking brake pads are .....correct?? V

 

If any threads are stripped in the holes in the hub either the threads will have to be restored by a thread repair kit -- if that is even sanctioned by the factory and I doubt it is -- or the hubs will have to be replaced. I would just replace the hubs.

No way I'd trust the stripped threads to hold even if you managed to install new lug bolts and torque them. And a tap doesn't restore the threads just removes the mangled metal the stripping produced.

 

I agree. But the cheap old me might get the MIG welder out, put some metal in the hole, drill it out, and tap it. And then I'd probably go get a hub. Only the damaged hub needs to be replaced, btw.

Back in the olden days (growing up in Michigan) when salt welded lug nuts broke off the studs, sometimes, we would go an entire winter without replacing the stud. It was the first car repair I learned to do, btw. Always thought that replaceable studs beat the lug bolt system that old VW's and their cousins used.

 

OK ....well here's an update. Upon closer investigation I didn't over torque the lug....I believe it was previously weakened and damaged already. The previous owner had 7mm spacers on the rear wheels and didn't upgrade to extended lug studs so the existing stock stocks were 7mm too short and just about catching the bore in the hubs. I did manage to clean the one bore out with a tap. I then removed the spacers and got good torque at 96 Ft Lbs on all lugs. Did auto cross last week without knowing this info .....ouch!! V