How to Loosen Wheel Nuts If Nothing Works? Things to Consider

Sometimes, you may need to take the wheel off the vehicle for some reason. Maybe, your tire is flat and you want to put the spare wheel. Or maybe you need to repair something in the suspension. Whatever the reason, you should be able to loosen the wheel nuts somehow without damaging the nuts, studs, or the whole wheel hub.

Wheels problems highlights

• Level of importance:medium
• Common reasons:potholes, accidents, lug nut problems
• DIY inspection:possible
• DIY repair:possible
• Average price in shops:$50 - $350
• Average time:0.5 - 3 hours
• If ignored:wobble, wheel falling off, vibration, no drive

What should you do to unscrew the wheel nuts?

Our aim is to provide you with the most understandable and easy-to-apply guidelines on how to deal with wheel nuts or bolts. Different vehicles may have different types, sizes, and number of mounting elements and fastenings. You should locate them, understand what you are dealing with, and also prepare the instruments you will need for your work.

First of all, you will need a jack. This jack should be able to lift your vehicle and keep it firmly when you are taking the wheel off. Also, you will need a wheel wrench of the needed size. Most cars will have 17, 19, or 21 mm nuts or bolts holding their wheels. Though, some other sizes are also possible.

Here's how you should unscrew the wheel on your car:

• take your wrench and gently unscrew each nut just a little so that it moved without much effort on your side;
• after that locate the jack in the correct place and lift the side of the vehicle you are working with;
• just lift it till the wheel is a little above the ground;
• take your wrench and unscrew each nut, take the nuts off one by one and keep it in a safe place, avoid losing them;
• take the wheel off and do whatever you need to do with your wheel, tire, or suspension;
• if it takes more time than just a couple of minutes, use more stable equipment than a jack to hold your vehicle.

After you are ready to mount your wheel back, just do the same things but in reverse order:

• mount the wheel;
• with your hands, screw the nuts up until you need a wrench;
• take the wrench and screw the nuts even stronger but not too hard;
• lower the vehicle down with the jack, take the jack off;
• use the wrench to firmly tighten each nut one by one.

If you have a torque wrench, you should use it. Learn what the ideal torque for lug nuts in your vehicle is and apply the torque wrench with the needed settings. If you don't have the torque wrench, just tighten the nuts as hard as you can and then go immediately to tire service or car repair shop and ask a professional to check it with the torque wrench.

What if my wheel nuts are stuck and I can't unscrew them?

It's not uncommon that wheel nuts are very hard to unscrew. In this case, you will have to use one of the alternative methods. But first of all, we'll look at some of the common mistakes that can be the reasons for your inability to unscrew the nuts.

Here they are:

• You lifted the car up with the jack without unscrewing the nuts first. Now the wheel spins freely and you can't get the needed stability to unscrew the nut. Put the wheel back on the ground and try again.
• You are using the wrong type of wrench. For lug nuts, you will need a special wheel wrench. It's shaped in such a way that it makes it easy to unscrew the wheel nuts and bolts. If you use just a simple wrench, the task will be much harder.
• You've unscrewed one nut completely first. All nuts should be gradually unscrewed in the process - one by one. If you unscrew one nut while the others are holding tight on the studs, your wheel will slightly skew and the other nuts may get stuck.

If one of these mistakes happened, just get back to the previous part of the article and do this job according to the guideline. You should be fine if you are doing everything correctly. But, in some cases, the nuts may be holding on to the studs so hard that you just can't move them. Even if all nuts are OK but only one is stuck, you will not be able to take the wheel off.

Here, you can use such tricks:

• Use a metal tube. Find a metal tube that you can fit onto the wrench to make the arm longer. The longer the arm, the higher efficiency of your effort. But be careful - don't push the wrench with the longer arm too hard, you can get into trouble.
• Use WD-40. A lot of old nuts that haven't been touched for a long time are stuck on the thread and they need some lubricant that works with rust. WD-40 is the all-purpose option that you can use to unscrew these nuts. Just spray some WD-40 all over the nut and wait for 5-10 minutes before trying to unscrew it again.
• Use special equipment. Tire service companies use pneumatic instruments to screw and unscrew the bolts and nuts. If you can drive your vehicle, find the nearest tire service and use their equipment to deal with your bad nut.
• Ask for professional help. If nothing else works, you should ask for help. Never apply too much power or you can just break the stud and will have to buy the new hub in the end. Just deliver your car to one of the repair shops or tire service centers to let professionals do their job.

Now you know that there are some tricks you can apply. Also, you know about the most common mistakes that people make when trying to unscrew the stuck nuts on their wheels. Use this and successfully change the wheel or do whatever else you need. But be careful and don't break the studs or bolts. If you do this, your expenses will be much higher than if you just let professionals deal with the stuck nut.

What to do if the car can't move and the lug nut is stuck?

If you are in big trouble with a flat tire or damaged wheel and you can't unscrew one or several nuts, just don't panic. You have a couple of options. First of all, try everything we've advised earlier in this article and see if you make any of the common mistakes listed above. If nothing of that works, get ready to pay some money.

You should find the phone number or website of the tow-truck company. Call a tow truck and ask the driver to get your car to the nearest repair shop or tire service. It doesn't matter if your car is under warranty or not - screwing the wheel bolts or nuts won't affect the warranty in any way.

So, when your vehicle arrives at the nearest repair shop, explain your problem to the professionals and let them do their job. In most cases, it will take them 5-10 minutes to solve the problem without damaging anything. And it's the best choice to make if you just can't successfully unscrew the nut by yourself. Also, it won't cost you a lot - some shops will even do it for free or for any random tip.

What to do if you broke the stud on your wheel hub?

In case you break the stud, you can't drive your vehicle anymore. With one missing stud, the wheel will be highly unbalanced and can just fall apart. So even driving at a very small speed on the right side of the road is unsafe!

If the stud is broken, the most obvious solution is to call a tow truck and have your vehicle delivered to the dealer or to the repair shop you trust. After that, you will have to buy the new hub and this is not the cheapest part of your vehicle, we should say.

The new stud can't be welded or installed in any other way, in most hubs. But some older hubs allow you to replace the broken stud without changing the whole unit. Again, only a skilled and experienced car mechanic will tell you what the best way to solve the problem is.

Be careful with any random solutions because the proper stud and nut on your car wheels define your safety.