stuck wheel nuts

[lesinge2k]

Wanted to paint the discs to hide the corrosion today. Unfortunately all the wheel bolts on the passenger side are seized and the locking nut on the front is seized. Sprayed them with WD-40 type stuff and no joy... My impact wrench couldn't even undo them

Anyway, I managed to get the discs painted through the nice gaps in the wheels.

Was wondering if anyone else has had similar issues with seized wheel bolts...

Wondering if some grease monkey at the garage has torqued them as tight as he could manage ()

 

[DanGB]

mine were well tight, bleive they were done up with an air gun last ime I had the tyres changed.

Ive got a long wheel bolt bar (cheaper draper one) and had to stand on it and jump around a couple of times to loosen the bolts.

 

[lesinge2k]

what size bar did you use? 60 cm or a metre?

 

[FAST AL]

I used a torque wrench to loosen mine when I wanted the wheels off.Just set it at maximum.It is about a 60cm one I believe without going into the shed to check.

 

[DanGB]

one like this: http://www.screwfix.com/prods/13244... Wrenches-_-Telescopic Wheel Wrench&source=aw

 

[lesinge2k]

Thanks for the replies.

I have tried using my torque wrench... think it is 40 cm... and like I said, an impact wrench couldn't shift it... might make it the problem of the tyre replacement place next time I get them done... I can them apply a bit of copper grease to the threads to stop them seizing again...

 

[FAST AL]

Probably not seized just over tightened Siezed just imply's they are corroded into the hub.For that to happen the car would be an older one.
You can pick up the wheel wrench cheaper at Wilko or even Lidl.
Heard of the wheel being stuck to the hub after bolts are removed then wheel just needs a good kicking to get it off then copper grease being applied to the face that meets the hub and replacing as happened to me a few years back.I wouldn't recommend applying copper grease onto the nuts as I reckon that may make them come loose.

 

[lesinge2k]

copper grease is an anti seizure compound and will not make them come loose... I am however4 concerned that it will enable me to overtighten them, so I am just squirting WD-40 onto the threads...

Incidentally there was visible corrosion on the bolts from the other side, so it could be seized bolts... 2 years is a long time in the world of corrosion.

have ordered a sealey breaker bar from ebay, and will give that a try, then use a tyre fitting place as last resort - they prob have air guns that are more powerful than mine, or have some techniques up their sleeves...

 

[Thorgen]

Wanted to paint the discs to hide the corrosion today. Unfortunately all the wheel bolts on the passenger side are seized and the locking nut on the front is seized. Sprayed them with WD-40 type stuff and no joy... My impact wrench couldn't even undo them

Anyway, I managed to get the discs painted through the nice gaps in the wheels.

You did whatnow? Tell me you painted the wheel hubs and not the brake discs?

Just take it to a proper tire dealer. It'll take them propably a minute to open them. Oh and never ever overtighten the nuts in an alloy wheel and specifically never use tools like impact wrench to do it.

 

[robdf2]

mine were well tight, bleive they were done up with an air gun last ime I had the tyres changed.

Ive got a long wheel bolt bar (cheaper draper one) and had to stand on it and jump around a couple of times to loosen the bolts.

had that done to nuts on my old leon , wont let a garage use air tools at all now , torque wrench or i will go somewhere else.

 

[lesinge2k]

You did whatnow? Tell me you painted the wheel hubs and not the brake discs?

Just take it to a proper tire dealer. It'll take them propably a minute to open them. Oh and never ever overtighten the nuts in an alloy wheel and specifically never use tools like impact wrench to do it.

the hubs are hidden by the brake disc... I painted the non contact surface of the disc...

 

[FAST AL]

I used my torque wrench to retighten the wheels.You will find the measurement for the correct torque in your Leon handbook.It is surprising how little torque they need.

 

[FAST AL]

For the benefit of anyone who wants to know the correct torque is 120 n/m.That is newton metres.Just looked it up in my manual so you dont need to.

 

[lesinge2k]

I used my torque wrench to retighten the wheels.You will find the measurement for the correct torque in your Leon handbook.It is surprising how little torque they need.

I know... my puma only needs 85 Nm...

The reason it is so low is so that when you have a flat on the motorway, you can undo the bolts with the tiny wrench they provide in the boot...

kinda annoying when grease monkeys wack the torque up to about 300 Nm with there impact wrenches then...

 

[Fisher]

Mine are the same. I have had the front wheels off.
Managed it using a very long breaker bar, jumping on it and much profanity!!!!

Once the wheels were off I chased the threads in the hub with a lubricated M14 tap, squirted with WD40 and blew out with an airline.

I replaced the wheel bolts as I was concerned how overtightening may have over-stressed them. I applied a sparing amount of copper slip to the threads to help in future.

I am going to have a go at the back wheels this coming weekend. I now have a 450Nm impact gun although think I will probably have to resort to the breaker bar again!