rear wheel problem

J

JDakota

Member
HELP! Two nuts (side by side) on the rear wheel won't loosen or tighten they just spin. I think the studs are turning in the hub. Any suggestions on how to get the nuts off without ruining the wheel? Is there a way to pull the wheel, brake drum and hub all together?
 
Take all the abjustment out of the rear brake,remove the center nut on the hub and give it a good pull. If it stays on,go get a old fashion wheel puller that bolts to the hub,in your case bolt to the wheel. Also you can cut the lug nuts/stud off..there bad anyway.
Wick
 
If the hubcap it off you can get the axle nut off and possibly remove the hub and wheel together. With the hubcap there I can not think of many ways to remove it. Possibly you could cut the lugnuts with a chisle, very time consuming, but can be done. Sounds like a bad swedge job or the studs were welded into place and the wlds have broken. Rod
 
If you don't have a puller, you could try LOOSENING the axle nut, drive slowly in circles, back off the brakes first. It may (hub and wheel) loosen enough to remove. JMO
Paul in CT
 
When studs are new there is a small lug on the stud that fits into a notch in the hub. If you can rotate the stud with your fingers until you can feel the lug fit into the notch, if the lug is still there somewhat, sometimes you can get a screwdriver tip under the nut and pry out on the nut to try to lock the lug in and turn the nut with a box end wrench. It has worked for me a few times. If that doesn't work you can buy a tool called a "nut splitter" - I think Craftsman and Snap-on make them as well as others.
 
I had this happen and drilled adjacent holes along the length of the nut on opposite sides and across the end (you can get closer to the chamfer then cutoff wheels, etc.). Then it was easy to split with a chisel. Usually with Murphy's law the hub is super tight on the axle when a lug nut spins and won't come off! Doubt a nut splitter will work on a lug nut. Another idea told to me but not tried was to use an impact wrench that jerks the nut before the stud starts turning. Might take a couple bursts of the trigger.
 
You can also clamp the nut with vice grips and drill the bolt out. Just use a 1/4" bit to start and increase to 1/2" by a eighth at a time. Just remember to only drill as deep as the nut is long. The bolt will punch out and the wheel can be removed and the hub taken off without having to destroy the hub cap.
 
I used a Drammial (sp?) tool to cut the nut. Took a long time but it did come off with the help of a chisle.
 
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