Swollen Ford Lug nuts

[LittleBill21]

FluidFilm works pretty well too, although not sure how great it would be on a wheel, I do use it on rims where the rim hub touches the spindle, my wifes car like to weld that on in place

Amazon.com

 

[Smokeydog]

actually the air volume means a ton more then air pressure. you can do 200 psi through a straw, still won't loosen a barbie doll car wheel.

Most people miss your important point. The hose and fittings have to be sized right for your air tool to perform. No use getting powerful impact wrench to use with cheap fittings and small hose.

 

[LittleBill21]

Most people miss your important point. The hose and fittings have to be sized right for your air tool to perform. No use getting powerful impact wrench to use with cheap fittings and small hose.

yep,

These fittings made a large difference even with a smaller hose.

https://www.amazon.com/ColorFit-Mil...e445a410e6893&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

 

[Oaktree]

Early 70 Mopars. Passenger side. Theory is, Rotation of tire on that side would cause big nuts to loosen.

Actually, pre-70s Mopars, driver's side. 1971-on had RH threads on all 4 wheels, at least some 1970 models still had LH threads, had one back in the day.

 

[Mcdust]

It isn't corrosion. Best I can tell is it's galling between the rim and the nut. It might be that after a few times of putting the rims on, you work through the anodized layer of the rim and then you're subject to galling. That's why I think the best thing to do might be to put neverseize on the nut face where it contacts the rim.

That makes perfect sense. Thanks, Alec

 

[Chewwy]

actually the air volume means a ton more then air pressure. you can do 200 psi through a straw, still won't loosen a barbie doll car wheel.

Conversely, a 1000 cfm supplied at 0.01 psig won’t budge that doll car wheel either.

Supplied pressure and volume are not independent of each other. All else being equal, increased flow volume will result from increased pressure and increased pressure results in greater volume.

 

[LittleBill21]

Conversely, a 1000 cfm supplied at 0.01 psig won’t budge that doll car wheel either.

Supplied pressure and volume are not independent of each other. All else being equal, increased flow volume will result from increased pressure and increased pressure results in greater volume.

agreed, but its generally a volume problem for home owner compressors, not psi.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Anyone else deal with this! Holy swollen nut batman!!! I have a 2014 F-150 and my buddy and I went to do a rear brake job today. Out of the 12 rear nuts, we could only remove 6. That's with trying PB blaster, using a 1200 ft/lb pneumatic impact wrench, 20V Dewalt impact wrench and (3) 1/2" breaker bars with 3' cheater bar (broke all three breaker bars), and trying a micro butane torch. WTF??? We still never removed both rear tires. If I was on the side of the road with a flat and ran into this issue, I probably would have set fire to the dang thing. WOW! I can't believe the level of effort we've made and still not succeeded. Has anyone else gone through this? What was the solution? I'm about to drill all the studs and snap them off, then replace them.

Anti-seize the lug nuts when you get them off. My 2011 F150 has had all the factory lug nuts replaced with aftermarket, not-Ford-lug-nuts somewhere around six years of age. The tires are rotated every ten-thousand miles and I still must use a power beyond kit to get the rear wheels off as driving around with loose lugs nuts will not allow the wheels to pop off. Totally annoying.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Actually, pre-70s Mopars, driver's side. 1971-on had RH threads on all 4 wheels, at least some 1970 models still had LH threads, had one back in the day.

A friend came over asking to borrow my 1" impact gun because of stuck lugs on a tender trailer for his tractor. I tagged along to try out my new Milwaukee 1/2" impact gun. It is a good thing my friend doesn't have 1/2" airline or we would have broken off a couple of studs before I asked if the tender trailer was old enough to have left-hand threads, at which point we both facepalmed, and either gun easily took off the lug nuts.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

all else fails, nut splitter.

Most of the time, the nuts are recessed enough that a guy cannot get a nut splitter on them. Back when I was a pro, if the rim was steel, I'd blow them off with a cutting torch, try welding a lug on with a hot welder, or as a last resort, drill. I didn't care about the stud's condition, I just wanted to remove the nut so I could pound out what was left of the stud.

And yes, every effed up lug was a DIY guy because the moment we had a seized lug nut, out came the oxy-acetylene torch to heat up the lug and we'd crack it loose while hot, and if that didn't work, we'd heat it again and shock it with cold water repeating as necessary until the rust bond cracked and we could loosen the lug nut (which is also true of every seized fastener).

Working in Florida and not the rustbelt, Rainman's shop has a weak 140A welder and I've yet to see him try a cutting torch—but yeah, if you have nice alloy wheels, drilling (which sucks) may be the way to go.