Tight nuts

[pigbike]

I took my Dodge 3500 to the local Dodge dealer for a tire rotation today. They said that they couldn't get the lug nuts loose on the rear duallies. They tried soaking them with penetrating oil but they wouldn't break loose.

They never got them off and told me to make an appt. so they could heat them up and try again.

Has anyone every had this problem? I was there when the tires were put on and the tech tightened them with a torque wrench to my surprise.

Any suggestions on how to get them loose. They said they tried a breaker bar and air tool but no go.

[Me_Again]

pigbike wrote:
Well my nuts are back to normal. I went out this morning and broke everyone of them loose with my 1/2 drive 16" breaker bar. No extra pipe needed.

Why the Dodge dealership couldn't do it is beyond me. I'm 63 and didn't even break a sweat doing it by hand. Now I did spray then with penetrating oil several times since going to the dealer but they are not rusted at all. Once I broke them loose I could remove them the rest of the way by hand.

I bet the tech at the dealership is one of these guys who doing tires is below his perceived worth, so he just made up an excuse not to do it.

I will be calling the dealership on Monday.

Just remember lug torque numbers are based on dry clean studs and lugs. That is without lube or anti seize.

Chris

[Vulcaneer]

pigbike wrote:
I will be calling the dealership on Monday.

Good news for you. BUT...If it were me, I would be calling a different dealership.

[Wes_Tausend]

pigbike wrote:
Well my nuts are back to normal. I went out this morning and broke everyone of them loose with my 1/2 drive 16" breaker bar. No extra pipe needed.

Why the Dodge dealership couldn't do it is beyond me. I'm 63 and didn't even break a sweat doing it by hand. Now I did spray then with penetrating oil several times since going to the dealer but they are not rusted at all. Once I broke them loose I could remove them the rest of the way by hand.

I bet the tech at the dealership is one of these guys who doing tires is below his perceived worth, so he just made up an excuse not to do it.

I will be calling the dealership on Monday.

Good news! It does appear the penetrating oil helped some, perhaps just dryness and micro-corrosion. God forbid you had a flat tire meanwhile.

Wes
...

[pigbike]

Well my nuts are back to normal. I went out this morning and broke everyone of them loose with my 1/2 drive 16" breaker bar. No extra pipe needed.

Why the Dodge dealership couldn't do it is beyond me. I'm 63 and didn't even break a sweat doing it by hand. Now I did spray then with penetrating oil several times since going to the dealer but they are not rusted at all. Once I broke them loose I could remove them the rest of the way by hand.

I bet the tech at the dealership is one of these guys who doing tires is below his perceived worth, so he just made up an excuse not to do it.

I will be calling the dealership on Monday.

[Wes_Tausend]

BurbMan wrote:

robsouth wrote:
"boxer briefs" is an oxymoron. They are either briefs or boxers. Totally different things.

You need to get out more....
Boxer Briefs

DW liked this Joe Boxer holiday video. :R

Wes
...

[nremtp143]

What has been said about the alloy nits and steel studs, I have lived personally. They will not come off. Most of these lug nuts are for custom wheels. Billet Specialties used them on my Suburban and I had to have 17 cut off. I ordered steel nuts and never had a moments problem again. Lesson learned!

[BurbMan]

robsouth wrote:
"boxer briefs" is an oxymoron. They are either briefs or boxers. Totally different things.

You need to get out more....
Boxer Briefs

[BurbMan]

toolman1 wrote:
Do a GM service bulletin search my friend, somewhere in the 1995-2005 decade. Thread corrosion on lug nut threads was a HUGE issue on C,K, and G series vans.

I've never had issue with lug nuts freezing on, my issue was the aluminum alloy wheel freezing onto the brake rotor...XL BFH required to break the wheel loose....anti-sieze on the back of the rim fixed that. Interesting the problem went away when I ditched the stock rims and went with aftermarket alloys.

[fj12ryder]

I've heard that one way was to loosen the lug nuts just a little and drive around in figure eights.

Thanks for the update pigbike, yeah, he may have overtightened and used the torque wrench to look good. 🙂 Some shops will have their air compressors cranked up to 150 psi or more and that can put some serious torque on nuts and bolts.

[jmtandem]

Next lesson, how to break loose that inner duel that's been on there a couple of years BFH

Yup, I finally made a little wheel puller for that task. Beats hammering on the tire to try to get it loose. Some suggest removing the outer dual and rocking the truck gently left and right with the inner touching the ground to get it to release. I have never tried that.

[45Ricochet]

Next lesson, how to break loose that inner duel that's been on there a couple of years :W BFH

[pigbike]

fj12ryder wrote:
The OP said he was there when they put the tires on and they used a torque wrench, not an air wrench.

Just seems very odd. I'd love to know exactly what happened and how.

I watched him torque the nuts but he did use a air tool first. Maybe he just wanted to confirm the air tool over tightened them.

[ib516]

I bet it's not that they COULDN'T get them off, it's that they didn't want to try hard enough for fear of breaking something and it being on their dime. They are obviously overtightened.

[JIMNLIN]

Pros don't heat the wheel but use a small torch tip and heat directed to the lug nut. The wheel feels no heat if done properly.

[jmtandem]

So for right now I am just soaking my nuts, hoping for good things to happen.

Are we still talking about stuck lug nuts on a dually wheel?