Yeh I freaking love it when an idiot uses an air wrench to put your wheels on

[vi edit]

almost as much as I love inconsiderate FSCKING construction workers who think it's cool to leave 2x4's full of nails on the road.

REALLY I FREAKING DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is there any freaking way I can get this damn wheel off using just the crappy tire iron that they put in the trunk? My socket set doesn't have a socket big enough to fit around the lugs.

I am so freaking pissed right now I can hardly type.
:| :| :| :|

 

[etech]

I saved a 4' piece of 1/2" galvinized pipe from when I upgraded the water pipes under the house. It fit right over the tire iron end. Made a great cheater bar.

If you have a Home Depot or something close it might be a cheap way to get cheater bar. Just have them cut it to about 4'. It should be pretty cheap if they will sell it by the foot.

Just make sure it will fit over your tire iron of course.

A BFH applied numerous times to the end of the tire iron will sometimes work. I perfer the long cheater bar.

 

[Ladies Man]

use the "crappy tire iron"

put it on the nut and put all of your weight on it... when that doesn't work get out a hammer or other various heavy objects and start pounding the sht out of it till it starts to move. Stomping on it with your foot works for me sometimes too.... but watch out for the tire iron to come flying off the nut when you start going ballistic on it.

 

[vi edit]

Thanks etech. I have to be careful though, because I'm using the less than quality jackstand that came with it. If I get too aggressive with it, and I risk dumping the tire jack. Not cool.

I should just break down and buy one of those spiffy hydraulic jacks that you can drag along the floor and actually lock down.

The real sh!tter is that the tires only have about 3500 miles on them

Somebody WILL be hearing about this one.

 

[Bluefront]

Sounds to me like you're NOT PREPARED. The lug wrench that came with the car should fit the lug nuts. If it doesn't fit, go to the auto parts store and buy one that does...simple. Since you're not strong enough to loosen the nut by yourself, here's what to do...go to your local tire store and have them loosen the nuts. Then tell them to tighten the nuts by hand....and leave them loose enough so a wuss can loosen them next time. Heh.

 

[ohtwell]

Originally posted by: Ladies Man
use the "crappy tire iron"

put it on the nut and put all of your weight on it... when that doesn't work get out a hammer or other various heavy objects and start pounding the sht out of it till it starts to move. Stomping on it with your foot works for me sometimes too.... but watch out for the tire iron to come flying off the nut when you start going ballistic on it.

Also watch out for the stud breaking. My brother was taking off one of my tires the other night and the stud broke while he was trying to take the lug nut off.







: ) Amanda

 

[etech]

If you are loosening the lug nuts take the car off of the jack stand altogether.

The weight of the car will keep the tire from turning and you don't have to worry about the car falling on you. Only when you get all of the lug nuts loose do you need to jack the car up.


Let's be careful out there!

 

[Nemesis77]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Thanks etech. I have to be careful though, because I'm using the less than quality jackstand that came with it. If I get too aggressive with it, and I risk dumping the tire jack. Not cool.

Loosen the nuts before you use the jackstand. Then as the nuts are loose, raise the car with the jackstand, remove the nuts and replace the tire. Easy as taking candy from a child

EDIT: What etech said

 

[SuperTool]

Bring your own torque wrench, and if the idiot tries that again, hit him over the head with it, and finish it yourself

 

[vi edit]

Yeh I've done this...oh never And I was so pissed at the flat I forgot to loosen before jacking the thing up. DOH!@

Oh well, george forman grill to the rescue. I've got an electric george forman grill that sits on a 2 foot tall stand. I salvaged the metal pole that it sits on and used that for leverage

 

[cavemanmoron]

Originally posted by: etech
If you are loosening the lug nuts take the car off of the jack stand altogether.

The weight of the car will keep the tire from turning and you don't have to worry about the car falling on you. Only when you get all of the lug nuts loose do you need to jack the car up.


Let's be careful out there!

Yes; Loosen, but not remove all the way, the lug nuts, get some penatrating oil;even wd-40 will help.
Go to sears,auto-zone,Napa, and buy a Large 4-way lug wrench that fits your lug nuts!
i have a Long breaker bar i bought at sears,and a short,3 inch extension,and have had to use this a few times to loosen lug nuts..

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: etech
If you are loosening the lug nuts take the car off of the jack stand altogether.

The weight of the car will keep the tire from turning and you don't have to worry about the car falling on you. Only when you get all of the lug nuts loose do you need to jack the car up.


Let's be careful out there!

Yeah, that's the right way to do it. Loosening lugs while on the jack is really dangerous.

 

[yakko]

Two hammers and your weight is all you need.

 

[hoihtah]

when you have your mechanic put on those bolts...
you gotta make sure that they use torque wrench.

if they're not using them... tell em to!

 

[white]

you could put the wrench on the lugnut, stand on it and then bounce up and down on it to use your weight. it's always worked for me after shops use the fvcking impact wrench on it. i've tried telling the guy not to use to impact wrench and then he got the manager to come and basically tell me that they're going to use the impact wrench whether i like it or not. otherwise i can't get my car back. this was at the Just Tires in Santa Monica CA, btw.

 

[mztykal]

I prefer the "jump on tire iron" method. Place the tire iron on the lug, and proceed to stand on the bar until it it loosens enough to get the lug off with your hands.

 

[Nefrodite]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Thanks etech. I have to be careful though, because I'm using the less than quality jackstand that came with it. If I get too aggressive with it, and I risk dumping the tire jack. Not cool.

I should just break down and buy one of those spiffy hydraulic jacks that you can drag along the floor and actually lock down.

The real sh!tter is that the tires only have about 3500 miles on them

Somebody WILL be hearing about this one.

just put bricks under the car after u jack it up just incase

 

[Kadarin]

Heh.. don't you love it when the tire shop uses the torque spec of "tighten until threads start to strip, then back off 1/4 turn"? Different cars have different size wheel studs, which have different torque specs. Sometimes, however, there are mitigating factors which take some of the blame from the tire store: If the wheel studs/lug nuts are very hot, they'll tend to be harder to loosen, as also if there's rust on the threads.

 

[C'DaleRider]

A cheap. easy way to make it easier to remover your lug nuts next time.........drip a little motor oil on the lug's threads before you put the nut on. Just take your dipstick out of the engine and let the oil on it drip onto th ethreads. You may have to "rewet" the dipstick a few times to coat all the lugs properly. Works great and prevents the lugs/nuts from rusting together.

 

[etech]

C'DaleRider
"drip a little motor oil on the lug's threads before you put the nut on. "

Some auto manufactuers recomend not putting oil on the threads.
gmcanada
"How come they never lubricate the lug nuts on my wheels? Wouldn't that make them easier to take off when I change a tire?

Lug nuts or studs should never be lubricated. While it may make them easier to remove, they could come off while you're driving. If you can't remove them with the equipment in your vehicle, call the GM Roadside Assistance line provided in your Owner's Manual."

I have seen other people recomend putting oil on the studs. It should not be necessary if the nuts are torqued to the correct setting.

Nefrodite
Chocking the wheels with bricks is a good idea. In my old VW I used to carry three bricks to chock the wheels. I don't think I could have carried enough to stack under the car to do any good.
Just in case - Chocking the wheels means to stuff an object in front and behind a wheel to keep it from rolling. Jam it in between the wheel and the ground so the wheel would have to roll up and over the "brick" to go anywhere. Always try to pick a good level surface to change a tire.


For all of the people recomending hammers or jumping up and down on the tire iron. You run a very real risk of striping the edges of the lug nuts. It's difficult to keep the tire iron securely and properly placed on lug nut while you are jumping up and down on it.
A good cheater bar makes it much easier and much less likely to round off the lug nuts.

Don't forget to tighten your lug nuts in a star pattern. Improper tightening of lug nuts can lead to distorting brake rotors. If you change your tires often invest in a good torque wrench of the proper range.


yakko
Could you make a more worthless post full of non-information? Well obviously after reading some of your other posts but this one is as close to useless as they come.

 

[freebee]

Instead of oil, perhaps use some antiseize, its brushed on parts like spark plugs, etc. Not sure if they are used on lug nuts or not though.

 

[Cyrus]

Yeah I love it when they do that. One year when I had my car inspected they felt the need to take the tire off to check the brakes and put it back on with an air wrench. A couple of months later when I was rotating my tires I found out that they had cross-threaded one of the lugnuts. I had to break it off and buy a new stud and lugnut, I was pretty torqued off that night.

 

[yakko]

Originally posted by: etech
yakko
Could you make a more worthless post full of non-information? Well obviously after reading some of your other posts but this one is as close to useless as they come.

What was worthless about it? Are you just bitter that I actually know a method that works but you are not bright enough to figure out how? You may want to think I am just making stuff up but I did learn one or two things when I was a mechanic.



In addition to my above reply you should use a good quality anti seize compound. Do not put it on the threads but instead put it on the part of the lug nut or bolt contacts the wheel.

 

[notfred]

drop the car back on the ground. Put the tire iron on the lugnut, and face it as straight to the left as possible. Stand on the tire iron and bounce up and down a little bit.

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: hoihtah
when you have your mechanic put on those bolts...
you gotta make sure that they use torque wrench.

if they're not using them... tell em to!

Agreed. It's to easy to warp the rotors using an impact wrench. If you feel some vibration in your foot as you apply the brakes, you'll know what is wrong.