Wheel nuts won't come off!!!

voteforpedro

Hi folks,

Long story short. Got a puncture the other day. Tried to take wheel off. No luck and ended up damaging the wheel brace (rounded the edges on it). Called insurance company who sent out breakdown company and got wheel off. So i bought a new wheel brace today and tried taking another wheel off to practice haha. Still no joy. Absolutely livid coz i'm well used to changing wheels on past cars no problem at all. What am i supposed to do if i get another puncture and can't loosen the wheel nuts....

It's a 05 vectra if that matters

antodeco

Give the nuts a hard wallop with a hammer and that should loosen them up!

Did you buy an extendable wheel brace or a smelly standard ole yoke? The extendable ones are the right shot.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/21-EXTENDABLE-17-19-mm-WHEEL-TELESCOPIC-VAN-TRUCK-LORRY-CAR-BRACE-SOCKET-WRENCH-/110747846477?pt=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item19c916074d#ht_500wt_1054



Anyway, best thing to do if wander down to your local tyre fitter and explain your predicament, they'll open up the nuts with the air wrench for you and you can tighten them up manually

johnayo

voteforpedro wrote: »

Hi folks,

Long story short. Got a puncture the other day. Tried to take wheel off. No luck and ended up damaging the wheel brace (rounded the edges on it). Called insurance company who sent out breakdown company and got wheel off. So i bought a new wheel brace today and tried taking another wheel off to practice haha. Still no joy. Absolutely livid coz i'm well used to changing wheels on past cars no problem at all. What am i supposed to do if i get another puncture and can't loosen the wheel nuts....

It's a 05 vectra if that matters

What kind of wheel brace did you get? The breakdown guy probably had a good long breaker bar and proper 17mm socket.

galvo_clare

voteforpedro wrote: »

Hi folks,

Long story short. Got a puncture the other day. Tried to take wheel off. No luck and ended up damaging the wheel brace (rounded the edges on it). Called insurance company who sent out breakdown company and got wheel off. So i bought a new wheel brace today and tried taking another wheel off to practice haha. Still no joy. Absolutely livid coz i'm well used to changing wheels on past cars no problem at all. What am i supposed to do if i get another puncture and can't loosen the wheel nuts....

It's a 05 vectra if that matters

Jumping on the end of the brace sometimes works. Be careful, though. The best thing is to get an iron pipe to go around the brace and increase the leverage.
Get a tyre shop to loosen all the nuts and tighten them just using the wheelbrace to ensure you can loosen them again.

Big Nasty

Sounds like the wheels haven't been taken off in years. Little squirt of WD40 on the nuts would do no harm would it?

Jimdagym

Any chance the brave is getting wrecked by a security nut? (don't know vectra's).

String

Buy a breaker bar and keep it in the boot. So much easier!

Wisesmurf

When you do get them off stick a bit of copper grease on the threads before tightening. you wont have the same problem again.

voteforpedro

antodeco wrote: »

Give the nuts a hard wallop with a hammer and that should loosen them up!

Tried that:(

RoverJames wrote: »

Did you buy an extendable wheel brace or a smelly standard ole yoke? The extendable ones are the right shot.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/21-EXTENDABLE-17-19-mm-WHEEL-TELESCOPIC-VAN-TRUCK-LORRY-CAR-BRACE-SOCKET-WRENCH-/110747846477?pt=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item19c916074d#ht_500wt_1054



Anyway, best thing to do if wander down to your local tyre fitter and explain your predicament, they'll open up the nuts with the air wrench for you and you can tighten them up manually

Can anyone recommend a good brand of wheel brace?

johnayo wrote: »

What kind of wheel brace did you get? The breakdown guy probably had a good long breaker bar and proper 17mm socket.

I bought one that has 4 different sized sockets on it (a cross). Its a piece of .....

Jimdagym wrote: »

Any chance the brave is getting wrecked by a security nut? (don't know vectra's).

nope no lock nuts on it

deandean

The big problem with wheelnuts is the frickin idiots is the tyre shops who WRING on the nuts in the first place.

I had a horrid experience with a place on the quay in Wexford, I bought 2 new tyres for the NCT, the DECEIVING IDIOT there fitted a 185 on one side and a 195 on the other side, car failed NCT as a result. There was no way I could get the 195 off to fit the spare. I bought a + wheelbrace and broke it! Eventually I got the wheel off with a 1" socket set and 4' long pipe, I must've nearly broke the stud.

Anyways, when changing wheels now I always use a torque wrench, the correct torque is about 135Nm and there is absolutely no problem whatsoever getting wheel nuts off that have been correctly torqued.

So I blame the tyre depots almost 100%. They need to TRAIN their employees in how to under-torque wheel nuts with the impact wrench, then torque them up with a trque wrench appropriately set.

/Rant

voteforpedro

voteforpedro wrote: »

..........


Can anyone recommend a good brand of wheel brace?

.,,,,,,,,,,,

I have a draper extendable one, I have found it fine and used it on a good few cars

colm_mcm

I don't think it's good practice to put copper grease on threads is it?

johnayo

Something like these would do the job fine,(I have a sealey one and it is perfect for the job).



http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_171932_langId_-1_categoryId_212616

http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_194853_langId_-1_categoryId_212616

antodeco

Where are you based? I've an wrench gun and can try getting them off for you?

bijapos

This is a bit extreme but I did it out in the middle of nowhere when i couldn't get the wheel nuts off. The wheel brace was long enough so that it touched the ground on the lower wheel nuts.

Put the brace on the nut, then drive very slowly forward if the wheel is on the right and in reverse if its on the left, the power of the car will cause the brace to turn and loosen the nut. Extreme but it works.

Agreed that the best solution is to go to a tyre fitters and get them to loosen the nuts and then tighten them at the correct torque or do it yourself.

eringobragh

have to agree with the breaker bar...i jumped on the wheel brace, etc..used one of the extendable wheel brace to no avail..

Breaker bar had it off in seconds..might be an idea to keep a cheap rubber mallet in the boot..the alloy can bind it self to the hub sometimes.

Caliden

The old reliable wd40 worth a shot here at all?

Caliden

Caliden wrote: »

The old reliable wd40 worth a shot here at all?

I can't see WD40 getting to where it's needed here and it's not something I'd want on wheel nuts or threads

fletch

deandean wrote: »

Anyways, when changing wheels now I always use a torque wrench, the correct torque is about 135Nm and there is absolutely no problem whatsoever getting wheel nuts off that have been correctly torqued.

So I blame the tyre depots almost 100%. They need to TRAIN their employees in how to under-torque wheel nuts with the impact wrench, then torque them up with a trque wrench appropriately set.

/Rant

Agreed...I always tighten mine using a torque wrench....it is surprising just how "loose" the nuts should be.

2 stroke

I always tighten wheel nuts with an upwards pull, wheelbrace unextended. I know I can apply more presure downwards, I never have a problem removing wheelnuts I've tightened myself.

Mycroft H

RoverJames wrote: »

I can't see WD40 getting to where it's needed here and it's not something I'd want on wheel nuts or threads

It will. Give it time and don't skimp on it. Kerosene is a great penetrating fluid too, a bit cheaper then WD40

I also have a sorta hammer chisel thing with a half inch drive on the end of it which is solely designed to "shock" tough nuts into submission.

I would sooner use the above methods rather then the breaker bar which can often round nuts and leave bit of nut in the hub.

Ohh and when putting them back on, a tiny bit of grease on the threads does not hurt. Once there torqued up your fine. However it makes it far easier to remove them at the side of the road.

dr.fuzzenstein

colm_mcm wrote: »

I don't think it's good practice to put copper grease on threads is it?

No, was once told never to grease the threads.
One solution was graphite powder.

antodeco wrote: »

Give the nuts a hard wallop with a hammer and that should loosen them up!

Extremely painful I should imagine.:p

voteforpedro

eringobragh wrote: »

have to agree with the breaker bar...i jumped on the wheel brace, etc..used one of the extendable wheel brace to no avail..

Breaker bar had it off in seconds..might be an idea to keep a cheap rubber mallet in the boot..the alloy can bind it self to the hub sometimes.

If i buy a breaker bar and socket do i need a wheel brace to tighten them again or does this do the same job? sorry if it's a stupid question:rolleyes:

eringobragh

yep it'll be good for same job

piston

I think you have a combination of two problems. Garages over-tighten wheelnuts (I never let a tyre centre fit my wheels for me) and most standard fit wheel braces are purely for decorative purposes and should be thrown away and replaced with a quality wheelbrace.

Wossack

lidl or aldi used to do extendable wheel braces.. lidl, now I think, for about a tenner. My dad buys them like they're going out of fashion

voteforpedro

Thanks for all the replies!! Can anyone recommend a good brand to buy? I really don't want to buy another p o s