Frozen Lug Nut(s) (SPINNING ON STUD!!)

[defdes]

Looks like the brake job is going to be on hold ...
I started to try to crack these a few days ago, started applying PB Blaster every day since. No Budge. Put a 3' pipe over my breaker bar, got the nuts to move slightly.... I wire brushed the exposed outside threads (really didn't look too bad considering the frame rust)then I sheared the 1/2" end off my breaker bar. I borrowed a 1 1/2" Snap On box wrench, slotted another section of tube as an extension and got the one I was now focusing on to start to move, albeit very slowly. I'd crank it out, spray, crank it in, spray and repeat. After about 15 incremental turns and a good sweat, it was freeing up enough to put the air impact wrench on it (I didn't realize yet that it was just spinning, not backing off). Hit it with the gun... taa-daaaa! Nope. Now it spins free by hand and backed off MAYBE 1 threads worth. There are 4 threads still exposed. Anyone deal with this before? I was hesitant to put the oxy acetylene on them from the start, but I might deflate the tires and try it on the others. I don't want to have to do this 20 times.
Thanks for any suggestions.

[Tom Petroff]

You do know the threads are right(pass) side and left(drivers) side?
That means the left side is backwards from what your used too.
If the nut is spinning it's stripped.
They can be Very tight. A 3/4 drive is mandatory.
Tom

[Paul Cook]

Thumper's mom...

had the best advice.

[defdes]

Did I tell you that I was new to these trucks? As stated in another post my FSM is on order which would have been helpful for an otherwise obvious situation such as this.

On the good news front, with a couple of the others cracked off it put enough back pressure on the one that was spinning to get it off too.... I think I can even chase it with a tap and die and fix the damage.

[gmharris]

Be careful about applying heat to a mounted tire even if the valve core is removed. There's a video that shows what happens when an arc is applied to a mounted wheel. The tire can have a runaway thermal melt down that causes pressure to rise so fast that even an open valve stem cannot vent it fast enough to prevent an explosion. It's like lighting the fuse on a bomb. The video is unbelievable.

I doubt that this would happen in your case just cutting off a lug with oxy/acetylene. But, after seeing the video, I'd be scared to get a lighted cigarette near a mounted tire ;) It takes a lot less heat than you would think.

Glad you got the lug nut off. Most of the time, it just takes a little more patience.