Very stuck wheel nuts

Max_Damage

I'm having trouble removing one of the rear wheel nuts on my '82 Escort Mk3. They're completely seized, I've so far tried alot of WD-40, an extended wheel brace, and even an impact air ratchet, all to no avail. Any further suggestions? Thanks.

Avns1s

Get a good quality + type wheel brace that can take extensions on two sides. This will maximise your power. If they dont give and unscrew, they will wring. Its not a big deal to replace the studs and you probably should replace them anyway if they are so tight.

aujopimur

Apply plenty of heat.

Chippy01

Try some heat on the offending nut. A small DIY blowtorch should do it, but don't overheat the surrounding area.
I've also heard that giving a stuck nut a small tightening before trying to undo it works as well.
Perhaps a combination of heat, tighten, then loosen with an extended handled wrench?

Is a product called Plus-Gas still available? I used this stuff many years ago to free up stuck bolts. Works way better than WD40, but I haven't seen or heard of it for many a year now.

GERMAN ROCKS

ya heat. do you have anything like a blow torch

Max_Damage

Apply plenty of heat.

Hmm, don't want to fry the bearings either.

Get a good quality + type wheel brace that can take extensions on two sides. This will maximise your power. If they dont give and unscrew, they will wring. Its not a big deal to replace the studs and you probably should replace them anyway if they are so tight.

Might try that, although studs for a car that old and considerably rare nowadays aren't easy to come by.

johndaman66

I feel your pain Max Damage. My brother had the same problem with his Mondeo. Between all the pushing and shoving and both of us practically breaking our backs we could only get a couple of the 20 nuts to shift. He took it to two separate tyre fitters. First one failed miserably. Second guy eventually got them off but broke sockets along the way:eek: He said they were the worst he ever saw and would imagine they get pretty tight on trucks and busses.

Be careful with the gas I'd say as you might probably do damage if you get overly enthuastic with it. I like the idea of tightening the nut a wee bit first too, just even a tad, getting movement in it at all is good, seems to work well often enough for me.

David09

Heat might not be such a good idea.... Those are bolts on the mk3 escort, not nuts. Heating them will expand them further and make them even more difficult to remove.
If they were nuts, heating them would be correct as you would want to expand them on their threads.
I'd suggest trying a 6-sided socket 19mm, and long bar. Worst case scenario is that they will shear and require drilling and re-tapping, but theres nothing else you can really do. Penetrating oil may be of assistance.

David09

Hitting them hard with a hammer, directly square on the bolt heads may help too, as it will shock them a little if the threads are rusted together.

Mozoltov!

David09 wrote: »

Heat might not be such a good idea.... Those are bolts on the mk3 escort, not nuts. Heating them will expand them further and make them even more difficult to remove.
If they were nuts, heating them would be correct as you would want to expand them on their threads.
I'd suggest trying a 6-sided socket 19mm, and long bar. Worst case scenario is that they will shear and require drilling and re-tapping, but theres nothing else you can really do. Penetrating oil may be of assistance.

Was just about to say this. Heat will only jam them in further. Maybe a can of liquid co2 or something would be cold enough to get them free? Or wait for a good aul cold night and let nature do the work for ya!

cruizer101

The mechanism by which this works isn't that the nut expands to be looser i.e. a bigger hole. It is that the expansion of the joint as a whole, nut and bolt, causes the bonding due to rust between the two surfaces to break. So in fact it should still work just fine if you heat it up and leave to cool as rust bonds will have been broken.
Freezing works in similar method the whole joint contracts breaking the bonds.
With regards to heating up other parts by accident and causing damage, the flame on the small blowtorches is fairly small and direct so heat will only be applied where you want, and only a fairly small amount will conduct to elsewhere, so i wouldn't worry too much.

v240gltse

hi.

i was in a similar predicament with one of the bolts on my saab and after much cussing and sweat i went to a local tyre shop.

he use a 3foot breaker bar attached to a socket ( 6 sided) and while he pulled it I had to hit the socket square on with a sledge hammer and off it came .

hope this works


brendan

Viper_JB

v240gltse wrote: »

hi.

i was in a similar predicament with one of the bolts on my saab and after much cussing and sweat i went to a local tyre shop.

he use a 3foot breaker bar attached to a socket ( 6 sided) and while he pulled it I had to hit the socket square on with a sledge hammer and off it came .

hope this works


brendan

Breaker Bars are the business when it comes to this.

Max_Damage

I'm going to get the lend of an extra long breaker bar from my mechanic friend tomorrow. Hopefully that'll loosen the bastards!