Most cars have four or five lug nuts per wheel, while trucks have more like six to eight. That’s a lot of wheel nuts to keep track of…and a few things can go wrong with any one of them over time. Occasionally, drivers might be faced with a stuck lug nut. This can happen on the side of the road after discovering a flat tire. Most often, though, you’ll learn of one when your car needs a critical maintenance or repair service, like new brakes. In any case, it’s nearly impossible to get the wheel off without some extra tools and know-how.
A lug nut helps hold the tire on the wheel hub. The wheel bearing, a critical component, lives inside the hub. Externally, wheel studs stick out from the hub like metal fingers. You hang the wheel and tire up on the studs and then thread the lug nuts on to keep the wheel assembly in place.
A lug nut can seize in place for a variety of reasons. Typically, rust and corrosion can “fuse” the nut to the stud. Trying to force the nut loose without a penetrating lubricant or the right tools might strip the nut or even break off the stud.
Lug nuts can also get stuck on by someone either cross-threading or overtightening them on install.
How to remove a stripped wheel lug nut
The easiest way to remove a stripped wheel nut is to first apply a good amount of penetrating oil. After letting it sit, use a socket with more points than the nut, like a 12-point socket. You can attach it to a breaker bar or use an impact. The DIY video below has more than a million views and shows this socket method, plus two others using either a chisel or an extractor:
If the soak-and-socket method doesn’t work, I’d recommend heading to a tire shop. The other methods require tools and skills a lot of folks don’t have. If you do have some tools and a bit of handiness, you can try using the chisel or blow torch methods.
The chisel method involves hitting the lug nut from an angle such that the nut will spin counterclockwise. Ya know, think, “Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey” (I still say this in my head literally any time I’m turning something with a tool).
The final method involves Big Heat. Use a blow torch to heat the nut and end of the stud. Once it’s nice and hot, you should be able to wrench the nut off.
Now, since the wheel is still on the car while a lug nut is stuck on, even experienced mechanics might damage the rims trying to break it free.
If your lug nut is cross-threaded on, you’ll need to basically get it off using one of the above methods and then replace the wheel stud, too. The stud’s threads will be damaged from the crooked nut install, and you won’t be able to secure a new nut in place.
Some folks end up with a broken-off wheel stud from all the seized lug nut action.
While we’re here, we might as well talk about how to handle a broken wheel stud
In either case, replacing a wheel stud requires removing the brakes. Once you’re at the bare hub and studs, you can tap out the damaged stud.
To get a new one back on, you’ll have to press it into place. You can do this with washers, grease, and a throw-away lug nut. The video here shows how to do this on a couple different vehicles:
Since the above video has a million views, too, you can bet more folks than you’d realized come across these lug nut problems. Happy and safe driving!
