OH #@&$!%& LUG NUTS!!!

[Rocksurfer]

It seems that some knuckle-head put the lug nuts for the Durango on way too tight. It took all morning and finally got all off the rears and all but one on each side on the fronts. I tried everything from WD-40 to a torch to heat them with. From impacts to actually having someone from Dodge come and try and remove them was attempted. I even used my huge breaker bar but to no avail.

Anyone have any other suggestions before I break out the drill?

[toyotanner]

i have no clue... thats crazy...

is it a good impact? maybe theres just not enough torque coming out of the impact.

[Rocksurfer]

I tried it at my shop with my impacts, then I broke out my breaker bar which until now has never failed me, then I drove over to the shop behind me we tried his impacts and used a torch to heat things up which still didn't work. Next he had a friend who is a Chrysler Tech come over, he brought his best impact and no luck. So several impacts were used and different air compressors, has us scratching our heads too. I have never been unable to break a lug nut free. The guy from Dodge said he's seen it before and usually it's been places like Jiffylube that they get stuff like this from since they just hand kids impacts and turn them loose not realizing that even lugs need proper torquing.

[Rocksurfer]

I think I'm going to try my 1" drive Blue Point tomorrow before I break out the drill it will either come out or turn that hex nut into a threaded ring unless someone else has a suggestion. I'll have to find a 1/2" to 1" adapter I don't have anything small enough in 1".

[Wermz84]

Hainus man.  good luck

[Tice]

Thats freakin crazy. Had a few on an Expedition that I was doing brakes on a few weeks ago that I had to use a 4 foot bar on, ofcourse I'm a skinny white boy with garder snakes for arms!!

[Rocksurfer]

Well you know I'm not much different than you except I've got a little more weight on me, and I think I was using that same breaker bar you are talking about.

[ninja turtle]

ive had the same problem before. i tried everything..... everything. dude at napa said to hit'em with tri flow and tap with a hammer. i said i tried that with blaster and it didnt work. he said "well...... try it with tri flow....", and i said "......ok......."  
   after a day of spaying those lug nuts every hour on the hour for 9 hours they came off. i couldnt believe it. hope this helps.

[Rocksurfer]

I'll try anything at this point I'll give it a shot before I break out the drill.

[EarlKann]

Put another cheater like a floor jack handle on the breaker bar?

[Rocksurfer]

Another last resort at this point, with my big breaker it was starting to twist one nut in a strange way even though I had full contact with the socket. I wouldn't mind if it snapped the studs at this point just want to get them off. We'll see what tomorrow might bring. I will sure post the results.

[88_Pathy]

Yeah the jack handle works great for me. And PB Blaster.

[Redbeard1]

Put the socket on the lug nut then put the other end of the breaker bar on the floor jack and get it in a hellofa bind (like you are trying to jack the truck off the ground with the jack and the break over) and hit the breaker bar with a hammer right at the hindge. That has worked for me in the past. the combined presure and the impact seem to do the trick. Another trick is mix some brake fluid and automatic trans. fluid together and pit that on there really wicks in there good.

[MiniSimp]

Take it to a tire shop and tell them to rotate your tires.
Let them do the work, and if it breaks, they pay for the replacement costs.

[Rocksurfer]

Ha, ha I actually was thinking of taking it to a tire store, unfortunately I think they'd notice that they are stuck even before they started. Those tell-tale torch burns on my rim would give it away.

[Cheesemaker]

Holy crap!!     Back in the day, we never had that much of a problem to get a gun to snap off the studs!  We used to get newbies that would cross thread lugnuts all the time.  Hell, a good IR 1/2" airgun could bust the chevy 14mm studs!  Something ain't right.     It shouldn't be that difficult. 

[blackdiamond]

I've had to use a highlift jack (handle) as a breaker bar on a Honda front axle, but this sounds nuts.  We managed to get a stress ring in the socket on our job.

[gotrocks]

This sounds interesting please post pictures.  I would definitely try the 1" drive first.  If that sucker doesn't pull them off they must've been put on by an elephant on a 20' breaker bar 

[Doable]

Are you using an extension bar to the socket with the impact guns? If so the extension bar is taking away from the impact gun doing it job.That is some good name impact you mentioned there . That is crazy that they are that tight. Keep us posted good luck.

[Rocksurfer]

No extensions, and I've broken out the drill. I have completely rounded off the nuts, even was able to fit a 16mm socket on the last try. So now we have these cool round rings holding my tires on. Good thing that it hasn't disabled my truck since I was just looking to replace the pads on my brakes.

[Rocksurfer]

I think all the suggestions here have been great but sadly to no avail, I've come to the conclusion that the issue I have here is not just a over tightened lug nut though it may still be that. What I'm thinking here is that I have steel to aluminum fusion here, I tried my 1" drive and it promptly rounded the nuts. Didn't even budge them. I'm drilling the studs out, or at least I was until Campfire Girl needed it. She's all scared her tire is gonna fall off since I was drilling on it.

I told her that I've been driving around with only 5 lugs on my truck and that she still has six, one just has a hole in it now.

[gotrocks]

LOL you need to post pictures.  I would second that though about the oxidation between the aluminum and the steel.  Its amazing how fused they can become.  My buddy worked for Volvo for a while and they had problems with some of their wheels fusing to the rotors.  You would take the lug bolts (not nuts bolt) off and you would not be able to take the wheel off because it was stuck to the brake caliper.  He said that it would take some interesting hammering and prying to break it loose.  He said that you could probably go down the road without any lug bolts on and the wheel probably wouldn't have some off.

[Rocksurfer]

Since I was just doing a brake job I didn't bring my camera so currently no pictures but since it has turned ugly I was going to take it with me tomorrow.

[8D3TOY]

At this point your only option would be to SAS it with a pair of Dana 60's, let us know how it turns out.

[Rocksurfer]

Probably right, might be quicker to just cut that IFS out. Currently waiting for it to get here to continue drilling it. Hey as we type it just drove in.

[Cheesemaker]

The stud and nut are made of steel.  The only aluminum is the wheel itself.  I've seen alot of steel hubs rust and the aluminum corrode together, and the only way to get them off is to put a couple lugnuts on and hit the back lip of the wheel to get it to come off. 

For some reason, the stud will refuse to break off, which it should!    I've busted off bigger studs with a 1/2" gun before, so there is something else wrong here, that most of us have never seen before.

RS, are those the factory lugnuts, the ones with the little metal cover?  Or aftermarket chromed jobbers?

[blackdiamond]

Probably right, might be quicker to just cut that IFS out. Currently waiting for it to get here to continue drilling it. Hey as we type it just drove in.

It would be fun to take the removed IFS to a tire shop and ask them to remove the tires.

[Plekto]

I can imagine the looks.   "Um... WHY?"  Lol.

My guess is that the punk cross-threaded it with the impact wrench at full power.  Note - this is what happens when you don't hand-thread them on first, you doofus!... I can totally see some 17 year old idiot jamming the nut in the gun and hammering it onto the stud.

P.S. We need carnage pics when it's finally off.

[Rocksurfer]

Well some progress today, between doing my regular work I drilled out both studs, the first one is being a little pregnant dog and still won't come off and that one had gotten real ugly. The other one was nice and sweet, I first drilled a pilot hole through them and then broke out the big bit. It had no trouble making its way through the studs, leaving very little of the outside left. I then pounded a tapered punch into the hole since these are of course recessed wheels. I started pounded it side to side and it finally snapped but not at the bottom of the nut but above where it tapers. So I broke out the chisel and tried to remove the rest that way and about all I did was to ruin my rim. So that took out my morning and have had very little progress with that one. Now the other one was cake worked just like I thought it would using the same technique as with the 1st one. Again once the stud was mostly drilled out I pounded the punch in started hitting it side to side and within a short amount of time it snapped and went sailing across the shop. It didn't even scratch the rim this time. So tonight on the way home I stopped at The Home Depot and bought some small grinding bits and will take up the task again tomorrow. I'm gonna first grind what is left of the stud and lug nut flat against the rim, then redrill the hole again and try one more time before I just grind out the whole piece. It will completley ruin the rim but it is pretty much toast anyways. Good thing Dodge's come with fullsize rims that are the same as the rims on it. Oh and I did take a few pics give me a few and I'll post them.

[Rocksurfer]

Oh and it has the oem lugs with the stupid chrome cover which didn't help the problem either. Once I'm finished with this I'm going to get some real lug nuts and put them on, I hate those covers.