Lug Bolt Rounded and Breaking Wrenches

[TheMane]

OK I give up. First post on this forum but long time lurker— I’m trying to get the rear wheels off my 2014 x5 50i for the first time since I bought it 4 years ago and 3 of the lug bolts are absolutely stuck in there.

I brought it past a local tire shop after having initial trouble and they used an impact wrench to get the passenger side wheel off but said the drivers side had 3 bolts where the heads are stripped/rounded and they could’t get them undone.

I read some other threads and bought a set of Irwin sockets designed to catch onto rounded bolts and it’s catching nicely but it’s 3/8th in drive and I proceeded to break 2 wrenches (one was actually branded a “breaker bar” hah!) and a 1/2in to 3/8th in adapter trying to loosen the bolt. The driving bit on each sheared right off when I put it under load from my go-to extension pipe.

Any ideas? I could head over to harbor freight and buy an impact wrench of my own to use with the Irwin socket but honestly seeing the socket wrenches and the adapter break makes me worry these things are in there so tight that I could damage the wheel if I find a tool that can handle the torque to get these things out.

[joyride]

Try Super Lube Penetrant Aerosol - they carry it at Home Depot. Let it do the work while you figure out a way to get the torque needed to break them loose.

Breaker bar with some sort of tube extension maybe?

[TheMane]

I’ve got some pb blaster I could hit it with but it didn’t look like it would be able to make its way into the threads the way the bolt is seated.

On the torque side: I’m having no trouble making enough torque (I’ve got a 5-ft long pipe), but the drive tips on the wrenches themselves keep breaking under load before the bolt comes free. 3 brands have fallen: craftsman, TEQ Pro, and some offbrand thing from my tool box. I have to use a 3/8in drive since that’s what the Irwin sockets take.

Pic of one of the broken 3/8 to 1/2in adapters:

View post on imgur.com

...and the broken TEQ Pro breaker bar:

View post on imgur.com

[joyride]

Ah damn, maybe hit it with PB blast from behind the wheel as well. Something will get down there. I've heard people heat cycling the bolts and tapping on them to hopefully break up just enough to get them loose.

[turboawd]

In situations with stuck bolts, an impact is far more effective. The hammer action can break them loose. A long breaker bar is more likely to strip.
If they're stripped you may have to drill the heads off. get a bit slightly smaller than the bolt width.

[andrewmr]

Use an impact gun with impact rated sockets and extensions.

[StatenEye]

Originally Posted by TheMane

OK I give up. First post on this forum but long time lurker— I’m trying to get the rear wheels off my 2014 x5 50i for the first time since I bought it 4 years ago and 3 of the lug bolts are absolutely stuck in there.

I brought it past a local tire shop after having initial trouble and they used an impact wrench to get the passenger side wheel off but said the drivers side had 3 bolts where the heads are stripped/rounded and they could’t get them undone.

I read some other threads and bought a set of Irwin sockets designed to catch onto rounded bolts and it’s catching nicely but it’s 3/8th in drive and I proceeded to break 2 wrenches (one was actually branded a “breaker bar” hah!) and a 1/2in to 3/8th in adapter trying to loosen the bolt. The driving bit on each sheared right off when I put it under load from my go-to extension pipe.

Any ideas? I could head over to harbor freight and buy an impact wrench of my own to use with the Irwin socket but honestly seeing the socket wrenches and the adapter break makes me worry these things are in there so tight that I could damage the wheel if I find a tool that can handle the torque to get these things out.

Drill it out

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showp...32&postcount=8

[///MCollection]

Put on the best gripping socket you have and use a breaker bar that's not too far out from the wheel to avoid twisting the socket off and rounding the head.

Get someone to put a fair bit of pressure on the breaker bar at the same time as you hit the head of the breaker bar with a heavy hammer hard. Get the other person to keep springing the bar in time to your strikes

The affect is 2 fold one is it stops the socket slipping and rounding nuts and the shock breaks the grip of the threads

This also works a treat with over tightened mcguard style locking bolts as there so weak

Mind your wheels!!!!!!

[TheMane]

Thanks for all the advice. I’m picking up an impact wrench today and will try it with the Irwin socket which seems to have enough grip.

Will report back!

[TheMane]

Tried 2 impact wrenches with the irwin socket, got 1 of the 5 nuts undone— the others it just hammered and hammered to no avail and eventually started slipping.

I’m defeated, it’s going to the shop on Monday.

I made sure all the other lug bolts on the car can be removed and re-torqued them to the proper spec.

[imtheant]

You need a REAL impact. Some clown torqued mine down so bad that a 5ft pipe couldn't budge a single one. Took it to a good local shop, tech loosened all of them up in 90 seconds. All you need is the right equipment.

[SupersixM]

Soak it down with penetration oil, believe me when you get it out. you'll see oil all in there...Then you either gotta get a solid breaker bar and 1/2 socket, or weld up good a 1/2 socket to busted bar..Impact gun will do nothing but generate heat and possibly burn out.. its not easy. A breaker bar welded to a socket sleeve into a 7 foot pipe will make it pop. That's how we get rusted bolts off train trucks. Lol

[TheMane]

Thanks for the continued advice. I tried penetrating oil but at this point the heads on the lug bolts are so rounded I can't get any grip on them with any of my tools.

Considered trying another bolt extractor or drilling them myself but I’m at my inlaws due to COVID and am borrowing their garage so I don’t have the tools to do the job right.

Took it to the dealer this morning and they spent a half hour on it with their tools before ultimately having to drill 3 of the bolts out which took another 2-3 hours. My wallet hurts but the bad bolts are out and new ones are in and I can finally do the brake job I set out to do two days ago.

Sure am never letting anyone touch those wheels again without testing the torques when I get home.

[OnlyGerman]

Had this issue. Shop had to drill through the lug. Dealer said only new hub was a option. Small local tire shop saved the day. It was my first time experiencing something like this.

[SupersixM]

I know some people are against this for safety reasons, but putting permatex anti-seize on your bolts before putting them back in avoids bolt getting rusted and frozen in the future. Especially the wheel locks. Also torque your bolts properly and regularly. I over tourque 5lbs for the Permatex.

[TheMane]

Originally Posted by OnlyGerman

Had this issue. Shop had to drill through the lug. Dealer said only new hub was a option. Small local tire shop saved the day. It was my first time experiencing something like this.

I wish I could have found a tire shop to do it since I'm sure it would have been much cheaper than having the dealer do it. The two I tried nearby were both very friendly about it but wouldn't touch the job. Downside of being out of my normal town where I don't know the shops well enough.

[OnlyGerman]

Originally Posted by TheMane

I wish I could have found a tire shop to do it since I'm sure it would have been much cheaper than having the dealer do it. The two I tried nearby were both very friendly about it but wouldn't touch the job. Downside of being out of my normal town where I don't know the shops well enough.

Yeah I had to go to like 4 shops until I found a guy willing to do it