Spinning Wheel Stud & Seized Lug? What Would You Do?
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
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The Bit was cutting great, that's why I didn't make a pilot hole
@WrenchingWithKenny @traditionovertrend2704 @snafuperformance2136 #wesselmotorworks #wesselmotorworks #wrenchingwithkenny
Kenny..... I'm 74 and a darn good mechanic 🎉, and I can learn from any of your videos. Simply, because there is ALWAYS another and maybe an easier way to do anything!!
Amen
Yes at 70 retired mechanic I always learn every day!!!😊😊
Ive learned to put a prybar between wheel and hub, apply outward pressure, and let air impact do the work. Snaps the stud right off
Exactly what I was thinking. Seems tension on the stud would have allowed the lug to loosen.
I did this and it worked in less than 5 seconds i was amazed 😂@vetteguy6902
Many thanks to the bone headed engineer who thought those chrome caps would work. Had a similar problem on my Jeep Liberty. All of those worthless caps are in the scrap metal bin!
I worked at a store shop and ran into this stuff all the time. I have experience as a machinist helper, and I fabricated a set of sockets with a bronze sleeve to keep the nut from moving while drilling the stud.
That's along the lines of what I was thinking. The sleeve could maybe be held in place with putty if you didn't want something permanent.
Oscillating tool + diablo metal blades ,
cut stud from behind in between rim and hub . Worked for me the , bend a little the blade to get there , works only with rims like this one with enough access space .
I've had to do this numerous times. When I get to the stage where I've gone as far as I dare with the drill, I usually find I can simply knock the stud out from what remains of the nut with a punch and a few good hits.
I've got the same problem with a 2015 kia sorento. I worked on trying to drill through the lug and and stud. I put a standard length 3/4" drive 13/16" socket on the lug nut and clamped some curved jaws vice-grips on the socket to keep the lug nut from spinning. I got a cup of water to dip my bit in to help keep it cool and put oil on it every time before I'd start to drill. Drill for 10 seconds then cool and oil my bit. I started drilling with a 1/8" bit and only stepped up 1/16" every hole till I got the 1/2" hole drilled. The stud was extremely hard to drill through.
You did well to keep your cool, I would have been ranting and raving all day.
This video just saved my ass. I do all my own automotive and home repair. I’m 45 and can count on 3 fingers how many times I’ve paid someone to fix anything for me. I’ve done some major repair work on home and auto, by myself. I’m great at solving problems, this one had me stuck. Thanks for the help brother.
I'm glad I could help! Thanks for leaving me a comment. Keep wrenching 🔧
Hi i had that problem before and i solved just sliding a saw blade between the rim and rotor golding it with a players and using the impact to turn the lug nut and the blade cut the stud in couple minutes. May be the idea help to next time ur videos are very clear and helpfull thanks
The lug nuts with aluminum caps in my opinion are a hazard because they warp/bend and you sometimes cannot get the lug nut off with a traditional socket wrench. If you have a flat tire on the road, you are SOL. I replaced all these lug nuts with solid steel lug nuts.
You're absolutely right! Nothing is worse than swollen nuts 😉
@@WrenchingWithKenny lol 😂
Yeah those caps suck once they crack and expand from rust and other reasons. I've had sockets jam on before, didn't think I'd get em' off.
Kenny's new book: How to finesse a broken stud to save your day!! Well done! You keep doing you, Good Sir!! 💯💯👏👏👏
Hi Kenny. Something similar happened to me in the uk in a lay-by with my Ford Transit van. Had a blow out and had to fit the spare. I drilled two smaller holes in the nut at 180 dg. to each other and then split it with a sharp cold chisel. Thanks for your videos. I really enjoy them
Good call. Lug nuts are made from a steel that is much less tough (i.e. has a lower yield stress) than wheel stud steel which is some damn tough stuff!
Didn't really think about it at the time Trotter, but when you put it like that, it makes a lot of sense
My dad says (boogered up) all the time
With the greatest respect to your skills Kenny, I would have used a smaller pilot drill to the depth of the wheel nut, and then progressively opened out the hole until the nut threads were drilled out. In my opinion, either High SpeedSteel Drills, or best of all are old fashioned high carbon steel drills cut better than titanium at this sort of job. I would not have lubricated the job either, let the drill do it's work, and keep the speed lower to prevent overheating. Your programmes are excellent and I look forward to watching each new upload. Thanks and best wishes.
Hi, has above i would tackle this problem the same way :) I have had to remove a Discovery 3 wheel nut that was round off, wheel stud was seated ok, how i went about it was my workshop has a plasma cutter, on a low setting just kept a cut on the side of the nut, with presser like you did, and it came off, with no damage to wheel or stud. love your vids :)
Sure, drilling a pilot hole first the job would have went faster, the problem is getting that pilot hole straight. Personally I would have taken the same route as Kenny.
I was thinking the same thing. I always drill a pilot hole before going with a 1/2" bit. The drill bit wouldn't get hot as fast or dull as fast. I would also use a heavier oil than WD40.
Yes a pilot hole first and reshart that bit dont toss it and theres a way to sharping it so it cut faster
Why wouldn’t you use a cutting oil in this case? I am honestly curious as I’m a DIY guy, but in the last year I have started taking on larger projects and drilling through thicker metals.
I was told by the machine shop to use cobalt grade drill bits as they are tougher than standard HSS drill bits . My ford focus was a nightmare using HSS drill bits. rgds Don
Good job. Patience is your friend. Now I will know how to approach this if I ever need to. Thank you for your very informative videos!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise Sir. You have saved me tons of money by following your videos. God bless you. Take care and stay safe.
Thank you for watching! I appreciate your comment 👍
I installed 5 studs in an auto parts parking lot because studs started breaking during a road trip. The whole strut and wheel bearing was from a salvage yard. We hit something on the road which took out the strut and bearing. Studs probably had been over torqued before I got it. Lucky I was able to put them in without pulling the hub. Manually crank each stud in. Had to improvise because the lack of tools at hand.
In a situation like this I would have used the 1/2" bit to make a dimple in the center of the stud and then use a small bit - say 3/16" to drill a pilot hole. The 1/2" bit will drill a lot easier then. With a 1/2" bit in a drill press you can get some real leverage behind it that you can't with a hand held drill.
I find that if the drill is cutting good , I just keep it going . But if the drill is having an issue , I will indeed drill a pilot hole . Next one I get I will show that process. Thank you for the input !!
John, how are you using a drill press in this situation???
Once you find the center of the stud start with a small drill bit and keep going up in size until you get to the proper size. That way you will not dull your larger bits. It has always worked well for me.
3/16, 3/8, then go to 1/2"
I made it to like that back in the eighties. Put studs back in the hubs. I didn't know I should have patent it back then. Thank you sir you keep up the good videos
What keeps the new stud from spinning in the hub like the old one? The knurling obviously failed to secure it in place. The hub was probably damaged by the spinning stud and slightly wallowed out. I might of tacked it in place while on my bench. I’ll add that this is something I’ve never had to deal with.
"Blues Brothers, best movie ever" Yep Kenny, I knew I liked something about you. Keep the videos coming, very enjoying.
Good vid! I had a similar thing happen to my 2010 silverado rear drum brakes first time putting snows on. I also drilled the the stud, I sacrificed the cheapest deep socket I had and welded it to a short bar, then drilled my the hole back through the socket. It worked but lubricating it with curse words seemed to help. an old term "there is more than one way to skin a cat" But every way the cat is cold.
Brother I just drilled out a stuck lug on my ram. If the lug is stuck take a good four-way lug wrench put a bar on it with constant pressure right before breaking point and hit the end of the 4 way with a 3 or 5lb hammer it will alway come loose...or break lug off. I learned this after drilling out the lug
Ford Ranger neighbors truck. Spinning studs so I wedged a chisel or beater screwdriver behind stud head and loosened lug nuts. Replaced studs good to go.
I had a problem where the studs were a poor fit and would spin if there was any corrosion in the lug nut. I got around it by drilling a small hole in the chrome cover and spraying some WD in each one. Let it soak a bit and the nuts came off easily.
This is what I have ever done , never had fail , I use a socket of the same size as the nut , hold the socket with vise grips and drill the nut in the center , starting with a smaller size drill bit and then using a drill bit of the size of the stub , 10 to 15 minutes of work , it will break free !
I have used a good hardened impact socket for a drill bit guide to both hold the nut and align the drill to the stud just a bit of advice from a machinist 1/2 inch drive socket and a drill one size smaller and the rest is easy
Dealt with this a few years ago and had to improvise a different approach. Rear wheel (drum brake) on a Honda Fit. I removed the wheel bearing/hub dust cap and removed the hub nut. Released the parking brake and slid the drum and wheel along with hub off the stub axle. Used an angle grinder to cut the head off of the lug stud. I replaced the hub since it was due but could’ve installed a new lug stud otherwise.
Kenny...This has always worked for me; Go to an open parking lot,take all the other lug nuts off the wheel with the problem,drive the car with the steering wheel locked in a couple circles then do it again the opposite direction(have someone watching the wheel in question very closely) usually gets it loose. Good luck!
Wouldn't work in this situation because the Stud was loose. Otherwise this would be applicable.
I'm a retired machinist, and when we had to remove broken studs, bolts or pins I would use a smaller drill diameter that was about the same as the larger drill's web thickness to predrill. The larger drill needs a lot of pressure for the chisel edge of the bit to dig in.... but with a predrilled hole, the chisel edge doesn't have to work the metal out and will drill very easily, very little pressure.
True dat! Work your way up to the drill hole size. It works much easier that way.
That's correct; a pilot hole drilled with a 3/16" drill will make the work much faster and easier.
A parking lot mechanic way to removing spun wheelnuts: you get someone or something to push hard on the inside of the wheel, thereby attempting to hold the wheelstud in place, at the same time wrenching or impacting on the nut to unscrew it.
That's a pain in the butt job lol. I've found them like that once or twice while towing. Not all that common but it happens. Thanks Kenny as I never fixed one myself and would be stumped lol. Thanks and take care🙏
I had the same problem. I solved with a very thin and a small cut-off wheel 3 inch in diameter it was attached with an extension to a small drill. I precisely placed the cutoff wheel between the wheel and the hub component, where you placed the crew driver as the spacer. It was very quick and very low risk. I only had about .3 of a cm between the wheel and the hub. I managed to not damage any other parts of my 2016 Acura ILX. If you want the video, let me know sonIncan send it to yoi.
Hi um yes please I would like this video 🥴
I've had to drill few out like you did. I usually use axle grease as a lubricant instead. Drill for a couple of minutes then dip the tip in the grease. And I'm ready to continue.
You made it look easy! Great Job in not destroying the rim.
I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in thinking that drill bits are sacrificial tools. Sometimes you have to use up the capability of one tool to get the job done.
That's the truth! Mrs Wrenching works at Lowe's Home Improvement 😂
Spend around 350.00 on a set of cobalt mac tools drill bits. Cuts like butter and warranty any broken. Love the videos Kenny!!
I was stranded with a flat and a similar situation and placed a shortened metal hacksaw blade between the wheel and hub and manually sawed the lug using access between spokes, took forever but I got it off
Top instructional. I would have ruined the rin. My mate in 1985 bought a year-old M3 BMW. Despite instructions, he got a wheel balance and ended up with lead weights on the outside.
Great tip ... I hope I never run into that.
Once you had the wheel loaded up on bad stud I would of tried Impact gun one more time.
Me too, 50/50 but worth 10 seconds of trying.
Great know-howto video. Thank you.🔧
Thanks for the video. I ended up breaking one of my titanium bits and went and bought a cobalt drill bit and got the lid off.
I'm glad the video helped. Thanks for watching and commenting. Keep wrenching 🔧
Genius with Kenny Thank You ! 😁
I have been lucky.never had that happen thank you .for all your knowledge.
Great video. I had to pull the hub on my 2018 equinox to change the stud. Those blue studs can be stripped. Went to a local tire place and when they put the lug nuts back on with an impact...cross threaded 2 lug nuts on one wheel. Didn't have to drill it, but did have to pull the hub.😡
Those blue-ish studs are quite soft it seems . They do strip quite easily
Real Nice Job Kenny.
just a side note. on styles like this where the caliper bracket is bolted in front of the spindle and not behind, just pop the center cap, free the axle nut, caliper bracket and remove the brake hose. next undo the bearing and take it all off then you can just grind out the back of the stud and punch it out. obviously check the bleeder valve beforehand to weigh out if this is a good route.
this way guarantees you will not damage the rim and is less hassle if everything comes off nice, especially since you had to pull the bearing anyway so this would of nullified the drill time and damages from going through the front.
nothing wrong with the way you did it and hindsight is 20/20. for me personally this just alleviates the stress of damaging the rim and feels like less of a headache.
Hi Kenny, I always enjoy watching your videos and have learned lots. I'm an engineer and finished my apprenticeship in 1973 and still keel learnjng new skills everh day even though I'm retired. Watching this video of you drilling out the lug/stud, would it not have been easier to first start with the 1/2" drill bit to mark the end of thd lug/stun then use a smaller drill as a pilot and going in 1" then change back to the 1/2" bit. As you say new drill bits cut superbly but in this case using a pilot but would save you lots of time and your energy to complete the job. Take care and keep wrenching.
Like Kenny mentioned, the art of using drill bits is, the larger the bit is, the slower the RPM needed? The smaller the bit, the faster the RPM, and the use of cutting oil is recommended? Great job, as usual, Kenny.
Drilling steel takes practice & skill. the bit size doesn't matter, you have to control your speed so that the bit can cut the steel. you can adjust until you see the nice large shards, and not powdered metal. the bit has to be allowed to cut the steel, going too fast just burns it up. this is why a 1-speed air drill sucks. and, use a corded electric drill or you'll be wiping through batteries quick.
When I lived up North I would grease or anti seize the lugs. I know some people say not to do this but never had an issue with one coming loose.
I just learned a lot! I was a bit miffed as to why you didn't keep drilling until the wheel lost its tension? I can think of a simple to make tool. Flat bar of suitable thickness in a rectangular shape with a part circle centrally drilled on one of the smaller sides. Cut to length. Circular slot locates around the end of the Stud and provides the best thickness to use the lug tension trick. Awesome video.
Video was great Kenny always learn something from them.
Excellent video. I've never had the misfortune of encountering this. UA-cam let me learn a little about how to get myself out of the deep end if I ever do.
Thank you !
Well done mate! Thanks for putting this up I have the exact same problem and will approach it this way.
Must be nice to work in an area without salt. Up here in MI that hub would’ve needed to be replaced as it would have come out in pieces. Nicely done Sir.
Literally lol gotta love Michigan
Don’t worry about the nitpickers, doubtful that they do it for a living. Every mechanic does it a bit differently, but as a now long retired mechanic, I enjoy your practical approach, but often say as I’m watching, ‘no I wouldn’t do it that way’. Cheers 🇦🇺
Thank you for this video!!
Another cool video Thanks Kenney
lisle makes the bearing tool to insert the new stud
I keep a couple pieces of brown stock in my toolboxes so you can stick it at home and fry back-and-forth and most time break it off and I also use them for long punches are dry bar is if I need to, but they come in very handy
If you have torch you can also put anti-seize on the rim around the hole it will keep you from damaging the rim and torch it out have used this method several times
I recently dealt with something in the same vein. I had a locking lug nut (mc gard) shatter right down to the seat when attempting removal. The only way to deal with it was to get an 8mm carbide bit and drill the stud out.
Same problem on my lincoln, just ordered all new lugs
Be in Friday 😊
Thank you for giving me an idea on how to get mine out I tried drilling the stud out but it just kept spinning
I hope it works for you. Keep wrenching! Kenny
I'm a great believer in the drilling-out technique. On smaller screws, it's much easier to drill using an absurdly large bit to just lop off the entire head from the bolt or screw.
See I was going to suggest putting in a pilot hole but others have beat me to it.
Great video! I couldn't think of a more annoying issue to pop up when rotating tires. I'll bet before you grabbed the camera there were some words used that couldn't be on here 😅
Nice job!!
I bought a box of 1/8" cobalt bits and always run pilot holes. When you think you're deep enough take either that worn bit or a 1/2" rod and put it in the hole and break that nut off. A little extra leverage would make it a bit easier.
Hopefully I never see anything like this but at least I'll know what to do. Thank you!!
A lot of the times putting pressure on it like you did there are using a long prybar behind the wheel while someone tries loosening it with an impact wrench will take the nut off. But sometime it doesn't. That's when I break out the carbide cutter in my cut off tool, if it fits.
Very informative video Kenny thanks
Many thanks for the very useful video. Am also facing the same problem in my Nissan X trail T31.Shall try out your technique to take out the lug nut with the bolt.
Just wondering you could weld a tab on to the nut and use a slide hammer to pull the stud to the groove to get a better bite as well the heat from the weld could help un seize the nut in the process? great mechanic excellent content . From Ireland
Or just weld a 5/8” nut and threat that slide hammer right in
@@VeryPersian Correct there is a way
Ok! That sounds like a plan. Had a similar experience and used the weight of the vehicle on a jack.
I had a friend tell me years ago if you put the tire iron on the lug you can just move it up and down and up and down it’ll snap off. He showed me how to do it, but he never did it to completely snap it off, but it did move.
I worked aviation and we used drill bushings and pilot holes, stepping up holes until done
Lug Ripper is another option, Great Tool.
I've been turning wrench since I don't remember probably with a dipper on
with my grandfather as he had his own shop and also went to GM training center in Dedham mass and have never run into this problem thank God as I feel I'm a good mechanic above the average and at 70 year's old Ive never ran into this problem and I have to say yes this is the only solution!!!👍
Thank you for you kind words. I really appreciate your years of service as an automechanic. Thanks for watching 🔧
Put the turning lug on the top and let the vehicle down enough to put pressure on the stud. I have done this a number of times and it works, drilling a hole in the top of the stud so you can spray penetrate on top of the stud
What works much better than a 1/2” drill bit, is a 1/2” 4 flute end mill ....I’ve done it that way and it cuts so much better
You're right!
I'd do pretty much the same thing, try to get space to insert a curved pry bar behind the wheel and hub area, to put pressure on the lug? I never had that happen on a wheel lug, just on other types of large fasteners?
I tried this once. I welded to the lug nut on a Ford when they rust locked the chrome covers.
I have used a hole saw around the stud very carefully nut is softer metal run saw down stud wiggle wheel. Seat will pop off
Last one like this I encountered it was still moving on the thread so I drilled the end to put oil in it. After playing with it and almost getting it off it seized and broke off. Luckily it never broke the spline loose.
Admire your tenacity. I did a lot of fab work with very hard materials such as non magnetic stainless. I used cobalt or high speed steel bits from a machinist supply shop. Castrol edge lube, or tap magic are very good drill lubricants as well.
If you rotate the hub to the notch in the disc brake slinger plate and temporarily remove the wheel speed sensor, you can use the notch to insert/remove the wheel stud. But always love your videos Kenny, especially the trouble-shooting ones. Keep up the great work!
The new stud was not hitting the hub, it was hitting the spindle. The hub had to come off.
I am glad that I never came across a situation like this one.
Just in the spirit of relating a couple of personal experiences. I've run Subaru cars for a long time, every now and then the tire shops fix me up with a seized lug nut.
My advice to anyone working on wheel hubs for any reason is NO HAMMERING. I believe Subaru's service manual says that too.
What happens is you will get the fix on the lug nut, but you'll have a hub bearing failure a month or two down the line. The customer will absolutely remember you were the last one in there. Sounds like a comeback to me.
The hammering dents the bearing races. Even the punch hit to knock down the tab that holds the big locknut on the end of the CV shaft may damage the bearings. I made a clamp tool that makes the locking dent with no pounding.
Drill the 1/8" pilot hole right through the tin cap first, follow with the 1/2" bit to expose the end of the stud. Get a good accurately centered start for the rest of the pilot hole and the 1/2".
Thank you for all the knowledge you share.
Really enjoy your videoes lots of information.
Instead of titanium, use a cobalt drill bit. It will cut faster and last longer.
Take off the other 4, pull wheel away from hub, use a sawzall with long blade to cut stud. If that doesn't work, then resort to drilling.
Awesome job.
So if you can wedge it tight enough you can get sometimes get the lugnut to spin slightly more than the stud and walk it off with only minor scraping of the mating surface of lugnut to wheel. This works the same at putting a prybar or screwdriver under a fastener when you have a spinning nutsert.
Otherwise if you are a good a double cut carbide and cut down between the stud and nut and crack the nut off with a chisel. While have a rag around the nut and against the wheel between the chisel and wheel. The reason you go between the two is so you don't skip off.
This is where a drill doctor comes in handy rather than spinning a burned drill bit ;)
When you ask what would you do
I was thinking pry bar of some sort between the wheel and hub
Kenny, I have heard of a welding rod which is a Gouging rod , & a small piece pipe to protect wheel?? Tom W
I have done what you did with cocking the wheel and if there is enough space between the wheel and hub I take a Sawzall with a hacksaw blade and cut the stud in half. The blade will bend enough thru the wheel opening. If not enough space or you have a solid wheel, then how you did it.
We love ya’ Ken Dawg!
Not sure if this is the case here or not.
I found this happening with cheap aftermarket wheel hubs.
I would have put some valve grinding paste on the drill bit & also used graduating bit sizes & then tried to split the nut with an air chisel.
Typically when this happens to me I use a small chisel to remove the cap on the nut. I will then use either map gas or an electric heat induction tool to heat the nut while a helper uses a large pry bar to pry outward on the wheel to put pressure on the stud. And while the nut is hot I use a air impact gun and blip the trigger constantly to remove the nut. 8 out 10 times this works for me and dosen't damage the wheel. Just don't use oxy/cet to heat the nut that will damage the wheel. Hope this helps.