They’re called castle nuts. This royal-patterned hardware fits onto a car’s lower ball joint threads to keep them safely attached to the steering knuckle. They’re not all castle-shaped, though. If they’re just a level rimmed nut, don’t call them castles. In any case, these nuts often sit in place for years, exposed to Rust Country conditions. When a mechanic goes to remove them, they might have quite a bit of trouble. They might even round off the nut. Either way, it makes detaching a worn lower ball joint a pain in the…well, you know. And if this happens to be your exact situation, observe: The Crayola crayon hack.

This mechanic prefers blue Crayola crayons, but choose whichever color

my_mobile_mechanic shared a nifty trick for getting stuck nuts and bolts out of a car’s suspension.

Like the situation I described above, he’s working on a lower ball joint castle nut that just won’t budge. Fair warning: this might not be DIY-level, especially if you aren’t familiar with working a blow torch. If you’d rather have your mechanic do it, feel free to share this method with them.

He starts by applying heat via a blow torch. Now, you have to be careful not to melt the cv shaft’s rubber accordion boot, which is right above the castle nut.

If you can’t avoid the boot, it is what it is. After all, they’re replaceable.

After heating up the lower ball joint castle nut, it’s time to apply the secret weapon: a Crayola crayon.

The mechanic simply holds the crayon stick to the threads, letting the wax melt into all the little crevices.

From there, he takes just a basic box-end wrench and boom: the nut turns loose.

Why does a Crayola crayon work so well for this predicament? It’s obviously something to do with the crayon’s waxy ingredients. One commenter remarked that the crayon has high-heat resistance, whereas other shop supplies might evaporate with the blow torch.