Seized Lug Nuts?? BFH To The Rescue!! 

Thank you for posting this! Took my car to Wal-Mart for 2 pre order tires to be installed by their "trained professional technicians"...One rear lug nut would not come loose even after two different impact wrenches and half can of "Break Away" penetrating oil. Looked up "stuck lug nuts" on RU-vid and found your video. Called the supervisor over and showed it to him. He got a 3 lb. sledge and tapped the socket a couple of times. Nothing. I asked them to let me hit it (in case they were afraid of breaking something). They rolled the car out of the bay and handed me the hammer. - whacked it 6 or 7 good blows and said "try it now"..... Came Right OFF ! bingo! Changing 2 rear tires "only" took 2 and a half hours, but we "got 'er done" !

I spent 45 minutes trying to remove the last lug nut off a F150 - impact gun, breaker bar with 48 inch cheater - stood on it, and nothing happened. I found your video, hit the socket on the lug 5 times with a 3lb hammer, and it came right off. Thank you!!!

Awesome trick, you can heat them also.

Old timers used to say, Don't force it, get a bigger wrench. Same with hammers. Get a bigger hammer. I heard my grandfather say those or similar statements hundreds of times. Impact force beats shear force in this application.

"Do it up with anti seize, undo it with ease."That is the slogan here in Aus and it works.

Mechanics in the rust belt area have an extra level of talent.

I have learned to drive a few meters with the other bolts or screws loose so the one that is stuck loosens.

BFH for the win! Thanks for this idea. I will definitely add it to my "bag of tricks".

I know this as “Shocking the Threads”. I’ve got a block hammer I use that’s fondly referred to as “My Friend”. He often ‘talks’ to stubborn nuts and bolts. I’m really lucky that I have a small, portable 24 litre air compressor at home. I hook it up to a hand held air hammer and “Brrrup” the socket the same way you used the BFH. This sounds like the classic Aluminium + Steel = seriously stubborn fastener and the skin off your knuckles.

Wow! Huge thumbs up for this! For all of us with older cars, this could be a life-saver!

I live in the rust belt. I used to run two garages back in the day. I've been putting a light coat of "never sieze" on lug nuts, lug bolts, and studs for decades and decades. I also put it on the threaded portion of valve stems, especially if the car has metal caps. Never had a single problem. Many people don't like this practice, but it works. Especially good for the old splined spinners on foreign sports cars.

sir your bfh method worked out great im like wow

Great tip Kenny! Enjoy all your vids!

The hammer method is a good fix, if you shoot some aerokroil in that stubborn lug hole, it will help break the friction of the corrosion. I find a light coating of copper nickel anti-seize stays in place a little longer than the brake grease.

Thank you for the tip! Who would know except you? These tips can ultimately save us time and money.

Used this method many times working matinance for gravel pits, wonderful way to remove a stuck bolt in a threaded plate or structure, just hit it square and don't deform the head.

Thanks for that tip!

I have seen the lug nut seized on the lug bolt. Using a pipe for more leverage snapped the lug bolt.

"I'm lucky I did not break the tail light" LMAO and almost spewed my coffee this morning.. Thanks Kenny and great tip.. Keep wrenching my friend!

Chrysler had/has those wonderful lug nuts with the cover caps,those were always fun!

Neat trick to get those acorn nuts free... never seen it personally seized to the rim like that before 😮 dissimilar metals so just happen with aluminum alloy rims? Never seize compound is my friend in the North East as well. 😅

Anti-seize works best as rust inhibitor property and also anti-seize the wheel center hub area .

Good tech tip !! Thanks !!

I had a car once where the rims weren't taken off the hubs for 12 years. At least it had all weather/all season tyres on that were that old. You could drive it without the wheel nuts. They just couldn't be removed. So what we did is just remove them with the brake discs in the front and the drums in the rear to change the tyres. Probably still like that today if that car wasn't scrapped

Interesting

I had a 1989 Cherokee with a seized lug one time. Sheared the drive (square) end of an old original 3/8 drive Snap On extension (the full shaft diameter style, not the necked down version they sell now). Broke two Craftsman 1/2" breaker bars before the third one got it. Still have that bar. Wish I knew this trick.

Well I would have never thought of that, seems backwards to hammer it on when you're trying to take it off, good information.

I learn something new every day, thanks

Kenny sir, you are good... i`m a subscriber, retired foreign car mechanic ...you have shared so many valuable lessons- this one in particular i like...thanks...

Great tip!!! Been there and didn't have a BFH, but a dead blow hammer helped, along with PB Blaster and a torch, and prayer!!!

Thanks best lug nut removal video thanks

Mmmmm....on big rigs..on some trucks there is ahead of axle nuts not wheel nuts , cups or acorn you might say, always get the split ones, meaning there's a cut portion, they aren't solid all around. Them ones are easy to get off, the solid ones are a pitta to get off. In your case, if the hammer trick doesn't work, I would use freeze off, it's a spray that cool's the fastener down to -60 in a few seconds and what it does is breaks the bond between two pieces of metal. Works like a charm on any rusted on fastener. thanks for the vid, be well!

Hi Ken, I saw that you pulled upwards on the breaker bar. I pulled my back out one time doing that. I always put the bar on so that I use my weight to push the bar down. Much easier. just sayin.

Youth and enthusiasm won't fix this problem, but age and treachery will! The old line didn't include the word experience, but you I hope get the grin.

Awesome idea. Never had this happen but now I'm ready if it does. Thank you

It worked!

Imma gonna be doing this for sure. Thank you for the video! Dont think I'd ever seen this tactic before

As soon as I saw the BFH I realized what you were going to do ! Great idea . Thanks so much !…….

Great video!

I got lucky, replacing rounded over lug nuts on a 2005 GMC 2500HD last week; several nuts appeared to be corroded at the alloy wheel, I purchased a big breaker bar a few years ago to compensate for old age. I put my body weight on the bar, then bounced just a bit and they all broke loose. Truck was in MI but now enjoys salt free AZ. I had never heard of lug nuts shearing off, probably Chinese metallurgy.

Brilliant tip. I would never have thought of that.

I am definitely going to try this. Thank you for the tip.

Great tip Kenny! I use this method all the time but now since driving pretty new vehicles most of the time, I haven't used it in a long time!

Thanks for the heads up. New trick. I learned something.

Don't pull up on the breaker bar Kenny! Get on the other side and push down using your weight. I actually pulled my right arm out of my shoulder socket pulling up on a breaker bar trying to remove a wheel from my F150!!!!

Great tip Kenny - i'd never seen that before. ALSO thank you for using the tripod. It makes it easier to see what you are doing.

Interesting...

Your go to love that dog.

I have put a dab of never seize on the tapered seat of the lug nut and a dab on the threads of the stud and torqued the nuts to specs never had a wheel come loose especially you have aluminum rims been doing this for the last 30 years since I bought my suburban with factory aluminum wheels and 8 lugs back in 1990. Saved myself a lot of aggravation and back pain 😂

I'll try that . Thanks.

When I was young and even more dumb than I am now I had a steel wheel rust to a brake rotor. It took a lot to break that free. Asked a mechanic about it and he told me to use white lithium grease on the rotor or drum before installing the wheel. He also told me to use a little anti seize for the lugs and the mating surfaces on the lug nuts. Never had another problem and I drive old cars up in the rust belt. Lots of people say don’t use any type of oil or anti seize on lugs. Personally I think that is baloney if you torque the nuts properly. If anything a little lube helps set the torque correctly. They don’t get loose and they come off easy. But do what you are comfortable with. Lots of the problems in my opinion is failure to torque correctly. I see the mechanics where I work grab a torque stick which I don’t trust or worse yet just drive them home with an impact. Who cares, it’s a customer’s car and the next guys problem right? I also remember when I was a teenager my girlfriend”s father had trouble breaking a lug nut free. He left the other lug nuts slightly loose and took a slow speed run up and down the block and it came free after that. I have never tried that but it worked for him. Sort of like the BFH trick but in a pinch you could try it roadside.

That's a good tip, Kenny. I never thought about that, most people would have just gorilla-gripped that breaker bar. You're the only one I've seen on YT mention that about the acorn part seizing to the rim instead of the lug stud. Thanks for sharing.

Once again a lifesaver solution... don't get mad, just beat it.

Thank you for help. This help me. Wow.

That’s a great trick , years ago my grandpa would laugh at us young know it alls struggling with something like that on the farm. He would say , here’s an old Indian trick that a young cowboy showed him

Excellent!

I have seen head seize onto the head bolts to the point we replaced the engine.

Thanks for the advice. If you know you know. A lot do not. 👍

very good advice. I've done this trick several times. also Chevy Silverado 3/4 and one tons are bad at this....keep on wrenching...

Great Hack. The Steel Lug Nut becomes bonded to the Alloy wheel via Galvanic Action. I put a light smear of Never Seize on mine in the tapered area you describe.

I wish I had seen your video before trying to take the wheel off my Citroen C3 Picasso. So far, two sheared wheel bolts, one snapped wheel wrench and a snapped 1/2" extension.

I have invested in a Torque multiplier. It puts smooth constant pressure and that has worked for me. Also run a small grinder over that rim to smooth out any knicks that caused the lock up.

Good idea!👍

I hate those type lugs, nice trick. Back many moons ago, I worked for a Goodyear store and had a customer ask me not to use the impact on his wheels, because he claimed he couldn't get them off. I took him in the back, even though I wasn't supposed to. I showed him the difference in using an impact and using the 4 way. I told him if I used that 4 way, for sure he would never get them off.

Lucky I didn't break a tail light 😅

Dissimilar metals + water = galvanic corrosion. Big fun (not). Great tip; hopefully I shan't have to use it with the family brake jobs I'll have in the near future. 😉

About 300 years ago I had a VW beetle with overtorqued lug nuts. One breaker bar, one eight foot pipe and a pair or steel shank boots jumping on the pipe removed those nuts. But Those nuts were made in Germany, not China.

Thank you!

Good job. That’s Smart.

Maybe a low speed drive around the block might have helped? With the other four lugs loose but in place?

Great video like always ken!!! Thank you! You just showed us a home made impact hammer? Lol😂

Great tip. I can think of several other things I would have tried but I doubt that I would have tried beating on it with a 16 lb sledgehammer. Fast easy option…..a little counterintuitive but brilliant.

Great tip. Hope to see you next time I am in Durham Keep Wrenching

This man is a legend!

I have one on my 2002Grand Cherokee. The nut split in half. The Acorn is still threaded in.

Thank you for the video! 😂

It was an "oh my" moment when I realized the problem was not at the threads. I like that idea of antiseize or a dab of brake lube on the outside of the acorn. As you say, not on the threads, a little corrosion is helpful there.

Bravo!

Why would a pipe with a breaker bar be a bad thjng. We do it everyday here

Better to push down on the breaker bar. Save your back!

Okay, a mechanic should know better than to buy a dodge. Expertise is in question now. 😂. You are making Scotty look good.

The wheel stealers use another method to free wheel locks - they loosen the other lug nuts a bit and let the customer drive for a few weeks and do the job helping them to remove wheel lock "by hand".

I tried it and I’ll be damned it actually worked haha

The thing that’s always pissed me off is that I know the last time I had the tire off I did not over tighten the lug, actually I am in the habit of torquing them 90% of the time. I find if tightening onto a steel rim the torque isn’t as critical if I accidentally over tighten.

You loosened it just prior to hitting it with the hammer

Ive broken three or four of those dumb Chrysler studs with a tire iron. The studs break off completely at the base never just the "socket" portion as you described. But yeah got a bfh and pounded out the broken stud and replaced with doorman studs never had that problem the next brake job ir tire rotation. Only the factory studs on steel wheels (no alloys) were the issue. Was actually told that Chrysler studs were problematic by a tire technician.

Wow I have changed alot of tires working in a tire shop, l never had a lug nut brake liklike you mentioned, snapped a lot of studs! But l too always hammer the lug nuts if lm reaching the point that l suspect trouble!🤣

What about using a very small amount of anti seize on the lug nut?

Hi mate would you put copper paste on the screw?

Hi,I missed your talk show last Sunday. I am having a hard time finding their current shows on their site too.I tend to snap them right off with the impact wrench.

You really should invest in an induction tool. This will heat up the nut and help to free the nut.

It looks like he was driving it like that for awhile.😂

Would anti seize work ?

Don't hit it so hard that you deform it so you can't get the socket on. I think it is the chemical reaction between the steel nut and the aluminium wheel which causes it. Yeah, just smear something on the acorn to keep the metals apart.

How often do you have to change the rear brakes? If they last 3 to 4 times longer than the front then the brake bias is set wrong and the fronts are doing too much of the work. Maybe your proportioning valve has always been defective or out of adjustment.

I’m pretty sure I gave the wrong size nut on the stud I’m working with. It’s halfway threaded on. The hub cap was covering the lugs when I bought it. 2 months later and I’m ready to change to new rims, and sure enough it won’t budge and I don’t want to church it up. I’ll give this a whirl. 😅

Good recommendation on how to break that lug nut free and put a dab of grease on the acorn when re-installing…. 👍

More than once I’ve heard you say you don’t need to put fresh coating of oil on an oil filter or on threads, little brake grease and problem solved. Take the time to prevent this from happening!

I have replaced all factory lug nuts with McGard factory style lug nuts and locks on my 3 vehicles because I heard of that happening. 2Dodges and a Toyota.

great video so the purpose of hitting with a hammer is to force the stuck parts to come unstuck with a bit of brute force?