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I was trying to get my boat ready to sell over the weekend and it's time for new tires. The boat has sat long enough that the tires are too bad to risk a trip into town so I decided to take the rims off and take them to the tire dealer. That's when I ran into trouble.

At some point in time someone put the wrong lug nuts on the rims and now I've got troubles. The wheels look like they need the flat bottom nuts, but someone used the tapered nuts.



I've gotten a few off, but on a couple the lugs themselves have started to turn.

How do I get the nuts off when the whole lug is spinning?

And do they make new studs that will fit in the new, larger hole?

Of course it's a low sitting boat trailer and even with it jacked up access to the back is limited.

I've never had this happen before. I've broken them, but never had them begin turning.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

Can you get to the backside of the lug bolt by jacking up the trailer and hand spinning the tire? If you can, I'd chisel or grind it off (carefully).
Other than that the only thing that comes to mind is making the lug brittle by repeated heating and oil quenching then breaking the darn thing off.
Or.... grind the cap off the nut and drilling out the center of the lug.

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"There are times when a broken tool is better than a sound one, or a twisted personality more useful than a whole one.
For instance, a whole beer bottle isn't half the weapon that half a beer bottle is ..." Randall Garrett

First of all, lots of penetrating oil. Second, dremel a slot in the stud for a big screwdriver. Hold the stud with a big screwdriver and undo the nut with a box wrench. Not saying this will work, but it's what I'd do.

Easy...Just put the rest of the lugs back on, and hope the buyer doesn't notice.

I'm guessing they're closed end lug nuts too, huh?...What about separating the axle from the trailer?

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-Justin

"Orville Wright did not have a pilots license." - Gordon MacKenzie

That thought had crossed my mind, but it needs new tires before anyone can tow the boat off, so it' s out of the question even if I were a mind to.

Gee I was hoping someone would come up with a great suggestion that didn't involve hours of work.

It's very difficult to get to the back of the lug. It sits well inside the tire so there's very little room side to side which is what would be needed to chisel or cut the backside off.

Slotting might be easier to do.

It's a closed end lug so penetrating oil only gets so far inside, but I have soaked them well. I'll try more when I get home from work today.

Is there no one who can say "Abracadabra" and loosen them for me long distance? You really hate to work on things you aren't going to keep, or at least I do.

I also hate to pay people to do things for me, but since it's a dual axle trailer if I can get one new tire fitted to each side maybe I can take it down to Discount Tire and have them "discover" the problem. This is one big heavy boat that's sitting on the trailer.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

Can you remove the hub from the axle? Whats under the grease cap in the center of the hub?

DOH! Good idea!!

_________________
"There are times when a broken tool is better than a sound one, or a twisted personality more useful than a whole one.
For instance, a whole beer bottle isn't half the weapon that half a beer bottle is ..." Randall Garrett

+ 11ty billion. That's one of those things where you hit yourself in the head and wonder why I didn't think of that.

I think that's my Abracadabra!!! Thanks

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

Grind the end off of the nut. Then drill out the stud.

Bill

Remove the wheel and hub together. Or split the nut if there is enough room. Or remove the acorn part of the nut and drill out the stud. I also learned that an O2 sensor socket will hold the nut so the stud doesn't spin. Those are the options I have done or heard of.

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Brian

I intend to remove the wheel & hub together because now that it's been pointed out it seems so obvious.

An O2 socket fits the back side of a lug? Well once I've got it off, even if that doesn't I'm sure I can find some way to hold it down, even if I have to tack it with a couple of welds.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

Sorry that was my phone typing skills. If you can remove the whole hub just cut the back of the stud off, or tack it in place. If you cannot take the hub off then you remove the top of the acorn/lug nut to expose the stud. And then you drill out the stud from the front side. But since the lug nut spins as your drill spins it will not cut, that is where the 02 socket holds what is left of your lug nut and you drill through the open socket. I guess those new fancy new pass through ratchet wrenches might make that a moot point since all those sockets have holes through the center. In the long run you were going to be a nice guy and repack the wheel bearings for the new owner anyways

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Brian

Of course I was I'm already over 100 hours into this project anyway. What's a few more.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.