Hey all

I believe I have a stripped wheel stud. The lug nut is halfway off, but won't come all the way off. I also can't tighten it either, it just spins in place. I've tried turning it while pulling towards me with a pliers, I have tried impacting it off while pulling the wheel towards me.

The outer part of the lug nut is not stripped, I can still put sockets on that. The stud threads are stripped I'm guessing.

How the heck do I get the lug nut off so I can change the stud??

 

Cut the lug off and hammer the stud out. To install a new one, just put the new stud through the hole and impact a lug nut on it. That will seat it into the bearing.

 

Looks like I'm gonna have to get a dremel.

 

You dont have an angle grinder? Just slap a cutting wheel on that and itll be off in less that 30 seconds

 

I do have an angle grinder. The lug nut sticks out only far enough to cut the smooth head off, using an angle parallel to the wheel. I was assuming I'd have to make a perpendicular cut to get all the way to the threads, which means I'd need to get into the lug nut housing. The wheel is too big, it's 4" in diameter.

 

Ah good point. For some reason i was visualizing this whole ordeal without the wheel on lol.

 

Haha so is everyone I ask.

I'm gonna try to hammer the lug in to push the stud back just a little, then hope I can fit an angle grinder or hacksaw blade back there. This is gonna suck. I'll attempt it tomorrow. Tonight is for drinking.

 

Theres no way youll be able to do that with the brake rotor on^^

Just keep impacting until the stud breaks

 

Are you sure the stud isnt just spinning in the hub flange? I think you could get the hub off and that would make it easier to work with off the car.

 

Front or rear?

I had this happen on a front wheel on a cobalt, I was able to get behind it and tack weld the stud onto the hub, then remove the nut as normal, cut the weld and replace the stud.

 

The stud is not spinning.

Front, driver side.

I have no welding experience at all.

 

If the stud isn't moving and it's just the lugnut, spin it until it breaks off. Put an air gun on it and spin it until the stud gets hot enough to bind and snap.

Only do this if you're 100% sure it's not the stud spinning in the hub, if you hollow out the hole in the hub you will have to replace it.

 

No airgun, I've got an impact though.

 

If you can't get it to snap off, you may have to cut it, and with alloy wheels that usually makes a horrible mess of the wheel.

I have had some limited luck with a carbide burr and cutting into the lug from the side, still usually marks up the wheel but not to the point of destroying it like a blade or disc cutter will have to do. Also it's expensive to buy the bits if you don't have them and it's a slow process. Just a thought.

 

I actually had to do this once and like joe said, i used a carbide bit and a die grinder and hollowed the stud out. Was a pain in the ass.

 

So I took it to the local shop I go to, they jacked it up and pried it with a huge bar while impacting it until the spinning lug nut finally stripped the rest off the threads off the stud. It was so hot we couldn't pick it up lol. Free of charge. Replaced the stud back at my garage without incident.