Hi Guys,

Just purchased a set of 5 VR-X Series 2 rims from madmagna.

Anyway, ripped out the jack, and the lug nut spanner and they won't budge. I've sprayed some WD-40 on the nuts and left for 30mins but still no go.

Any suggestions?

trry a breaker bar on it but you will probaly end up snapping one or more studs

Short of borrowing a airpowered rattlegun (aka Pneumatic Impact Driver),
best to go buy one of those X nutbraces, they're like $5 from Supercheap etc.
Then you can really put your weight on it.

If you've got steelies sometimes a bit of heat from blowtorch can help.


Once you've got them off, lube the threads with coppergrease before reinstalling.
I usually grease my threads waaay before i need to take any wheels off.
If you get a workshop touching your wheels, ask them to handtighten only.

If you need more leverage slide some pipe over the socket handle, you will be surprised how much it helps.

Yeah. Whenever I buy tyres they use the impact gun and when I get home I loosen them and use a torque wrench to do them up to the proper torque. Your brake discs will warp if the nuts are overtightened or tightened unevenly. If they are too tight as in your case brute force is the only answer.

Thanks for the suggestions all.

@Aquaman already tried using my weight and standing on the spanner (I only weigh 80kgs so it's not much help).

I'm going to try again in the morning once the car is all cooled down see if I have any luck. It's just so annoying I really wanted my new rims on >.<

If worse comes to worse I'll find a mechanic with a rattle gun, as it seems brute strength just won't cut it.

i had similar trouble i stood on it jumb on it but to no avail so i decided to pull out a spare jack, put it underneath the socket handle then jacked it up, worked well.Used same method on hub nut.

Thanks for the suggestions all.

@Aquaman already tried using my weight and standing on the spanner (I only weigh 80kgs so it's not much help).

I'm going to try again in the morning once the car is all cooled down see if I have any luck. It's just so annoying I really wanted my new rims on >.<

If worse comes to worse I'll find a mechanic with a rattle gun, as it seems brute strength just won't cut it.

breaker bar should do it man, I've never come across a wheel nut I couldnt undo with it! Besides ih8hsv's which was tightened on with a 45m lever bar lol

if u know someone with a ford x or e series sedan (not au or ba/bf) borrow the nut wrench from the boot its about 50cm long and the same nut size as mitsubishi. i weigh 65kg and jump on the end and there hasn't been a nut i couldn't undo. and i go through wheels like crazy

Supercheap sell the breaker bars? and any idea on $$$

This might be a silly Question but are you trying to turn it the correct way, Anti Clockwise? shouldn't be that hard to get off

This might be a silly Question but are you trying to turn it the correct way, Anti Clockwise? shouldn't be that hard to get off

Seriously.

yes seriously

still no luck?

The nuts should be only 100 Nm or so. If an 80 Kg person stands on a horizontal bar 1 m long, thats 800 Nm!! Should be enough. lol

The cross-brace style (with 4 different sized heads) are less than $10- at Super Cheap, often on sale for about $6-00.

They have the advantage of giving you the opportunity to push on one side and pull on the other, but the handles are not long and don't give you as much leverage.
You could always extend one side with a piece of pipe and "counter-balance" by pulling-up on the opposite side to better deliver a twisting torque to the nut... Standing on a bar doesn't transmit a twisting force so well, its partly a lateral/downward force and more likely to damage a stud, IMHO.

How about finding a Tyre business that's open on Weekends, and ask them to just rattle-gun your (wheel) nuts loose and re-tension by hand, to allow you to do your jobs at home? Surely they wouldn't want too much to do that for you?

There is a kind of wheel brace that truckies sometimes use, it's a torque-multiplier kind of thing (assume it has a planetary gear set in it or something), but I'd assume its not adjustable for size of nuts - ie: made for large trucks and not adaptable to car sizes. If you have any truckies living nearby, could always ask.....

Picked up a 45mm breaker bar.

It has managed to do the job (still with a lot of effort).

Got 3 wheels to go! Thanks everyone!

Apparently its a good idea to loosen your wheel nuts and re-tighten by hand as soon as you get home after having new tires fitted, as you can tell them to tighten by hand, and leave a "Tighten wheel nuts by hand only" post-it note on each wheel, and they will still use a rattle gun. Not so fun if you need to change a drivers side flat on the side of the road in traffic.

Got a ****ing problem now.

One of the bolts on the drivers side has snapped...What can I do? Is the car non-drivable now?

(http://img844.imageshack.us/i/img0848u.jpg/)

you should be ok with 4 for a while but get another one soon and don't break anymore

EDIT: Front, and this front mount DID hit a round about @ 100KM about a year ago...so possibly that damage had weakened the bolts...

Well they're all on, drove on it was fine.

Got back home and made sure all were tight, this one lug was still able to be tightened by hand, and now it's snapped.

Where am I going to need to go to get this repaired? Is the whole wheel mount going to need to be replaced?

Off to the mechanic tomorrow then...

Is there anything I can do to check the integrity of the other bolts on the front right? Last thing I want to happen is they all snap while I'm driving.

Too little too late. But pouring boiling water for 30 seconds over the nut and getting on to it before the stud heats up will usually help. Expands the nut and loosens it up a bit.

The studs are just pressed in. Go to a wreckers with a hammer and wheel brace, find one the same as yours, remove wheel, spin on the wheel nut part of the way and whack it hard with the hammer. Should just pop out. Take as many as you want. lol

Off to the mechanic tomorrow then...

Is there anything I can do to check the integrity of the other bolts on the front right? Last thing I want to happen is they all snap while I'm driving.

You can't really tell. Get some spares in case, as above. Put some high temp grease on them and do them up like a SANE person.

Sounds like rartlegunitis has hit again. When i go to a tyre place i tell them clearly that i will torque them and i will deduct 10 bucks a nut that touches a rattle gun. I also take my own torque wrench as well

The studs can be a little fiddly to install but you do need to get it done asap

The roundabout would have no bearing on the studs was certainly the last clown who put them on

Sounds like rartlegunitis has hit again. When i go to a tyre place i tell them clearly that i will torque them and i will deduct 10 bucks a nut that touches a rattle gun. I also take my own torque wrench as well

The studs can be a little fiddly to install but you do need to get it done asap

The roundabout would have no bearing on the studs was certainly the last clown who put them on

The roundabout would have no bearing on the studs was certainly the last clown who put them on

^^ yep

a correctly tightened screw only holds the wheel to the axle/hub, which bears all the forces not the 4/5 screws

you are more likely to rip the wheel centre out of the hub in an impact than to break all 5 screws


Steel screws are elastic... when you tighten them correctly, the springyness keeps the nut on tight.
If you tighten it too much, the screws will stretch to the max of their elasticity... then snap.

The studs aren't too expensive to buy new from Mitsu parts desk, like < $10 ea max.
(At least you're not driving a Cayenne fuglytractor... they're $65ea for studs.)
You don't know the history of any 'used' studs, highchance they'd be rattlegun'd too.

Well,

I'm thinking I just drop the car in at the mechanics at work tomorrow. Would it be worth asking for all those studs replaced? Going by what Mal and Magnette have said, it sounds like the round about accident would have no cause on the bolts themselves, so maybe there's no point doing that.

Additionally I'm going to ask them to re-torque all the current wheel screws, how tight is too tight, and what's too loose?

---

I'm more concerned about running on 4/5 studs. Freeway driving too be avoided? Also when I took the car down for a wash I am hearing a lot of creaking across the board, could I have tightened them too much with the breaker bar? or are these wheels having fun with my suspension?

Once again thanks for everyone's input, it is greatly appreciated.

Have been quoted $20.00 for the bolt and $100 for labour.

I cbf arguing with this clown mechanic, I just want it done.

You'll be fine on 4 studs dude. When you take them off next time, a bit of WD40 on the threads will make it nice and easy to remove next time.

I use a gun to spin the nuts on, but use a breaker bar to tighten them (cbf with torque wrench). Never use a rattlegun to actually tighten them though.

Yeap, $100 in labor is about right, half hour of work in between an hour of half of smoko breaks :)

sounds pretty rich for a job that would take him all of 20 mins

They are mechanics mate, they will charge for 2 hours, do 30 minutes work and take smokes every 5 minutes. that's how they alllllllllll are.

sounds pretty rich for a job that would take him all of 20 mins

They are mechanics mate, they will charge for 2 hours, do 30 minutes work and take smokes every 5 minutes. that's how they alllllllllll are.

;1325878']. . . . (cbf with torque wrench).

Whoooot ??

Whoooot ??

Wheel nuts = RT

Additionally I'm going to ask them to re-torque all the current wheel screws, how tight is too tight, and what's too loose?

---

I'm more concerned about running on 4/5 studs. Freeway driving too be avoided? Also when I took the car down for a wash I am hearing a lot of creaking across the board, could I have tightened them too much with the breaker bar? or are these wheels having fun with my suspension?

Once again thanks for everyone's input, it is greatly appreciated.

around 110NM-130NM should be about right for lug nuts.
if you're concerned about guessing with the breaker bar, you can buy yourself a cheapo torque wrench for about $50, and do it that way. i actually do all my lug nuts up with a torque wrench - arguably overkill but i like to know the nuts won't loosen and the studs won't shear.

the creaking could be the springs settling after you've jacked up the car to change the wheels?

RT eh? lol My son wanted to know if his wheel nuts were tight enough. Put the torque wrench on them, they were over 150Nm. Backed them off, put them on 100 Nm.

Problem is, RT means different things to different people. RT to me means "SNAPPPPP". To a grannie changing a wheel by the side of the road, RT with the supplied spanner is probably right. lol

Cheapest torque wrench is a beam one, has a scale on the side and the beam bends. Can be got for $20 or so. Plenty good enough for wheel nuts. And plugs. And head bolts. And stuff. lol

RT also means warped rotors, broken studs etc etc. Not that it is obeyed however under the law a tyre shop must use a torque wrench, wonder why that is?

When you use a torque wrench, you know you are getting even hold, you are not over stressing the studs as remember, at a certain point you will weaken the studs and then they will eventually break.

Have been quoted $20.00 for the bolt and $100 for labour.

I cbf arguing with this clown mechanic, I just want it done.

Is a front stud? Bring it over, I will do it for $40 including the stud, $10 for the stud and $30 for labour, even the fuel to get here will not cost $60 bucks lol and I promise to take 2 hours and have 1 1/2 hours of smokes as well if you need me to lol Would not want to be any different to the "rest" of the trade after all would I :)

Is a front stud? Bring it over, I will do it for $40 including the stud, $10 for the stud and $30 for labour, even the fuel to get here will not cost $60 bucks lol and I promise to take 2 hours and have 1 1/2 hours of smokes as well if you need me to lol Would not want to be any different to the "rest" of the trade after all would I :)

Love it.

RT also means warped rotors, broken studs etc etc. Not that it is obeyed however under the law a tyre shop must use a torque wrench, wonder why that is?

When you use a torque wrench, you know you are getting even hold, you are not over stressing the studs as remember, at a certain point you will weaken the studs and then they will eventually break.

Weird, in 4 years never had a single broken stud or warped rotor on any of the 10+ car's I regularly work on.
After working on cars for many years you know how tight is tight for wheel nuts. hell I had to do up 40 of them on Sunday. Use a torque wrench if you want but all I need is a breaker bar.
I'm just that awesome I can do it by feel.

Meh! Once you have a good torque wrench you tend to look for places to use it. lol

Well just for the record, the Mitsubishi Manual states a torque setting, there was also a service buliten put out not only for the TR but were more put out over the years by Mitsubishi telling dealers to ensure that the wheel nuts are done up to the specified torque. Back when I worked in a dealership, we had issues with the Subaru's having a slight shudder at about 100, no amount of wheel balancing fixed it, turned out to be un even torque on the wheels.

So for those out there who want to risk doing it by feel, go right ahead however anyone who has ever seen me work here will know that I ALWAYS use a torque wrench to prevent the issue in the OP, i have one in a fixed setting to just for doing things like wheel studs etc

The man speaks the truth.

A cheapie will do.


http://evergreen-rentals.com/images/Torque%20Wrench.jpg

More expensive version.

http://www.coloradocyclist.com/img/product/full/p/parsltw5.jpg

The one I have. Don't buy one. lol The ratchet broke, now permanently locked.

http://www.northerntool.com/images/product/images/9094200_lg.jpg

Is a front stud? Bring it over, I will do it for $40 including the stud, $10 for the stud and $30 for labour, even the fuel to get here will not cost $60 bucks lol and I promise to take 2 hours and have 1 1/2 hours of smokes as well if you need me to lol Would not want to be any different to the "rest" of the trade after all would I :)

Haha sounds like a plan mate.

Well here's the big question. Will the car be fine on the 4/5 for roughly over a month? Mal I'm thinking I get you to do it when I bring the car down for the 100k service late November.

However if you guys insist it gets fixed asap, I'll go with the overpriced mechanic :P Just a bit time consuming getting over to Heathmont during the week...and am moving house shortly so my weekends are a bit tied up!

As for the creaking I mentioned, it's basically non existent now, but yeah I think it might be the rear springs. The car needs a bit of an overhaul...

I will go right ahead and use a breaker bar. No problems yet with years and years of experience under my belt :)

Should be fine, have done this many a time myself for one reason or another over the years.