john_letour Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 I tried to unscrew my wheel lug nuts so I can rotate the tires... But I try with all my wrenches and all my weight and force and they won't come off Still, I remember I changed a flat once on the street and they did come off much easier :cries: What do I do ? Put the wrench on and hammer it ??? Or what ? (I even tried that but with a rubber mallet...?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcfish Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 I tried to unscrew my wheel lug nuts so I can rotate the tires... But I try with all my wrenches and all my weight and force and they won't come off Still, I remember I changed a flat once on the street and they did come off much easier :cries: What do I do ? Put the wrench on and hammer it ??? Or what ? (I even tried that but with a rubber mallet...?) Get a breaker bar http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/tools.asp?t...re=snapon-store and the correct socket. They will probably make a screech when they loosen. Or you could get a piece of heavy pipe that fits over the end of the lug wrench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blk_on_blk Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 (bracing)... be careful with that. You could snap a lug off. Getting a longer bar (with a pipe or breaker bar) will help... they have a decent breaker bar down at Autozone for like $10, and a really nice one for $20. If you have some help, someone could tap the end of the socket/wrench as you applied force. If you do get a longer bar for the mechanical advantage, load the force slowly and feel for the nut to come loose, don't just yank on it with full force... the whole nut and lug could come off as one :-o The best way to do it is with a hammer-wrench/gun... that'll get it off. Nice link, dcfish, but I think that's the wrong kind of 'bar'. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcfish Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 (bracing)... be careful with that. You could snap a lug off. Getting a longer bar (with a pipe or breaker bar) will help... they have a decent breaker bar down at Autozone for like $10, and a really nice one for $20. If you have some help, someone could tap the end of the socket/wrench as you applied force. If you do get a longer bar for the mechanical advantage, load the force slowly and feel for the nut to come loose, don't just yank on it with full force... the whole nut and lug could come off as one :-o The best way to do it is with a hammer-wrench/gun... that'll get it off. Nice link, dcfish, but I think that's the wrong kind of 'bar'. ;-) Fixed, I must have copied a link in google :chairshot: :whistles: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92Lex Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 Place a 2 foot long hollow tube over the end of your wrench for more leverage. Then once you get them off, throw the lug nuts on the floor and cuss them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacebug Sydney Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 Place a 2 foot long hollow tube over the end of your wrench for more leverage. Then once you get them off, throw the lug nuts on the floor and cuss them out. Steroids always work for me. Unfortunately my own 'nuts' are now the size of almonds. Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGSberg Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 If Lexus was the last shop to rotate or pull the wheels, I would take it back. They are on way too tight. There could be damage to the stud and the wheel could be deformed from the overthightening. These things should be tightened to a specific torque. If you get them off yourself, take a rag and wipe a little WD40 or other lubricant on the stud and ensure you don't overtighten. The torque listing should be in the owners manual. If you don't have a torque wrench, buy a cheap bar type. It's better than guessing. Good Luck v/r Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92Lex Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 Place a 2 foot long hollow tube over the end of your wrench for more leverage. Then once you get them off, throw the lug nuts on the floor and cuss them out. Steroids always work for me. Unfortunately my own 'nuts' are now the size of almonds. Stephen LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_letour Posted January 13, 2007 Author Share Posted January 13, 2007 Thanks for all the input guys... I decided to talk to lexus first - if nothing works out with them I'll do the bar thing.... Here - you can have a good laugh: I decided to call the Lexus 800 number because the dealership (Lexus of Kendall in Miami) is a total catastrophe (they were the ones that gave me a wrong information about a component twice, even though I gave them the VIN). - So I call Lexus on Monday and tell them the story - they tell me a "specialist" will contact me by Wednesday. - By Wednesday nobody called, so I call back - they tell me by tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon the "specialist" will call. - By Thursday nobody called, so I call back on Friday(today) - they tell me that the specialist will call, but don't know when. - Today at 6 pm the "specialist" called, listened to the story again, said that they will contact the dealer, but without a guarantee that the dealer will do anything because there is no guarantee that nobody else has touched those wheels in the meantime... - So now I am supposed to get a call back sometime next week... I had bought this car new, and have watched the quality of work done by Lexus decay with every year that passes. The same with their response to complaints or queries. One thing is sure: when I buy my next "luxury" car, it will be manufactured by a German company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blk_on_blk Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 I don't know... if your next car is from a German company, you may be doing a whooooole lot more of this repair work and contacting/negotiating with the dealership. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tckcumming Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 Thanks for all the input guys... I decided to talk to lexus first - if nothing works out with them I'll do the bar thing.... Here - you can have a good laugh: I decided to call the Lexus 800 number because the dealership (Lexus of Kendall in Miami) is a total catastrophe (they were the ones that gave me a wrong information about a component twice, even though I gave them the VIN). - So I call Lexus on Monday and tell them the story - they tell me a "specialist" will contact me by Wednesday. - By Wednesday nobody called, so I call back - they tell me by tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon the "specialist" will call. - By Thursday nobody called, so I call back on Friday(today) - they tell me that the specialist will call, but don't know when. - Today at 6 pm the "specialist" called, listened to the story again, said that they will contact the dealer, but without a guarantee that the dealer will do anything because there is no guarantee that nobody else has touched those wheels in the meantime... - So now I am supposed to get a call back sometime next week... I had bought this car new, and have watched the quality of work done by Lexus decay with every year that passes. The same with their response to complaints or queries. One thing is sure: when I buy my next "luxury" car, it will be manufactured by a German company. Screw their "specialist". It doesn't take a genius to remove a stuck fastener - just some brute force. Stop by your local muffler shop (Midas, Speedy, whatever) and ask them to put an impact gun on the wheel nuts. They remove rusted/seized/frozen nuts and bolts every day. They'll probably do it for free. Just don't let them tighten them back on with the impact gun. Use a torque wrench. Check the threads on each stud to be sure they weren't damaged by over-tightening. They should be OK. I also smear a VERY small amount of antisieze in the threads and on the tapered face of the lug nut before torquing it down. There are many different opinions about using antisieze on wheel lugs... many people say not to... but I've been doing it for many years with no problems. Just smear a bit on each stud and then wipe most of it off with a rag before you re-assemble - too much will cause your torque setting to be inaccurate. You'll never have a stuck wheel again. tck... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92Lex Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 I don't know... if your next car is from a German company, you may be doing a whooooole lot more of this repair work and contacting/negotiating with the dealership. I think it's a misconception that German cars are less reliable than Japanese cars. My car (in stock form) was just as reliable as the last 3 Lexus' that I've owned. From personal experience and from browsing around on the forums...it seems like Lexus owners encounter the same issues as BMW owners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blk_on_blk Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 It's probably not good of me to generalize as a whole, since my BMW convertible was put through a lot of hard driving and never gave me any real trouble... but then that's a BMW, which is probably one of the least offenders of the German pack (with the exclusion of the X5... I looked at those, but they have some distinct problems... shutting off unexpectedly, tranny problems, more). Later model Mercedes Benz was the worse offender... I found slew after slew of furious people having major, major repairs on them... and it seemed like everything from electrical to body to drivetrain. From everything I've resereached, this hasn't always been the case. The Benz's and VW's of the early and mid 90's have excellent build quality... but something has happened. I've got a friend who is a Euro car mechanic in Seattle, and he says he sees it... many more repairs on late model vehicles. Although BMW seems to be the most trouble free... and Mini, but they are BMW. If you want real repair bills, buy a Range Rover... ugh... or an old Fiat. Gack, it was all I could do to keep my old Spyder together and working. Back to the thread, yeah, the cleanest way to get those lugs off is with an air impact wrench/gun... that'll take them off cleanly without snapping off the lugs. If you have a shop like Midas or somebody do it, then they have replacement lugs right there if yours are mangled. I went through this on an old Toyota truck... the guy before me used Loctite on the lugs. What a nightmare... slowly muscling off all the lugs on a six lug pattern for each wheel.... went through a whole bottle of steroids on that one :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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