Use Your Leg!
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Postmaster
Joined: Mar 2004
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From: Michigan
Use Your Leg!
I was driving down the road this afternoon and I saw a guy with a flat tire.He was trying to break the lug nuts loose.He had the 4way on the lugnut and was pulling upward really hard.I thought to myself,man is he going to have a sore back.The best way to remove lugnuts is to get on the left side and push down on the 4way with your leg while holding the 4way,kind of like going into a squat position.Use your weight,not your back!And yes I stopped and showed him how to do it.He was really happy,it seems he had been fighting with them for some time before I showed up,and could not believe how much easier it was by using your leg! 
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2004
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From: Southern Illinois
From what I have seen with lug nuts, they are always on way too tight. For people that don't tow or haul heavy items, the max torque should be about 100lb.ft. If people and most auto shops would just torque them down right, and not with their impact drivers that keep pounding them on, it wouldn't be that hard to break them loose on the side of the road. Just had to let off some steam after thinking about all of the rounded lug nuts iv'e seen and had to deal with.
Sit. Stay.
Joined: Oct 2001
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From: Washington State
Originally Posted by 300 4 ever
For people that don't tow or haul heavy items, the max torque should be about 100lb.ft.
Senior User
Joined: Sep 2004
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From: Erie, Pa.
When rust gets into the lug threads, I add a very small amount of grease to the first few threads. I have never had them come loose because of this. And I believe it helps to remove the lug some weeks or months later. Just my .02
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Lafayette, IN
Originally Posted by King Triton
I was driving down the road this afternoon and I saw a guy with a flat tire.He was trying to break the lug nuts loose.He had the 4way on the lugnut and was pulling upward really hard.I thought to myself,man is he going to have a sore back.The best way to remove lugnuts is to get on the left side and push down on the 4way with your leg while holding the 4way,kind of like going into a squat position.Use your weight,not your back!And yes I stopped and showed him how to do it.He was really happy,it seems he had been fighting with them for some time before I showed up,and could not believe how much easier it was by using your leg!
You'll never get the lugs off.
Most folks who are going to change their own tires in an emergency can LIFT more than they weigh (by using their legs). For that reason, I've always been taught to stick the lug wrench out to the right and pull UP on it.
Jason
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I recall taking an Escort in to have the tires rotated (the lugs had not been touched since new). One of the nuts resisted the impact wrench and wouldn't come loose. The manager showed me what was happening and warned me that it might break if they applied more pressure. I told him to go ahead and he said, "Bring out "Jaws". Jaws was a really BIG impact wrench. They pulled the trigger and the lug bolt snapped. I took the snapped lug back to the dealer and they had no idea what had happened. I'm just glad I didn't have a flat on that wheel one dark night in the middle of nowhere.
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Elder User
Joined: Feb 2004
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From: Orange
Originally Posted by jroehl
Now, what if you only weigh 120lbs, your lug wrench is 1 foot long, and the lugs are tightened to 150ft-lbs?
You'll never get the lugs off.
You'll never get the lugs off.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Nov 2004
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From: Southern MD
Originally Posted by wickymustang
Most vehicles have self tightening lug nuts, where as you drive they tighten themselves to prevent coming off. I carry an old 3 foot section of gas pipe to put over the 4-way and the break free easy.
That's the first time I have ever heard that!! (Self tightening lug nuts.)
Now, I used to have a 1962 Pontiac Catalina that had left-hand threads on the driver's side, because the frame of mind was that when the wheels turn forward (with right-hand thread lug nuts) that the lug nuts would loosen when the car went forward. They were wrong. That policy stopped (I think) in 1963 or '64 with Pontiac.
Now, I'm no expert, but, surface tension between the lug nut, the wheel and torque applied to the nut(s) is what keeps the lug nuts tight. (Time, moisture, rust, etc. help out too!)
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Lafayette, IN
Originally Posted by 73Fastbackv10
That's assuming that you're just standing on it and not actually pushing down. If you weigh 120 lbs and you can barely push down with that kind of force on one leg, then you wouldn't be able to stand on one leg if you had even an extra pound or walk up stairs.
Sorry, dude, you need to take a physics refresher...
Jason
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Joined: Jun 2002
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From: Atlanta GA
One good reason for lifting up is you do not hit yourself with the tool pulling towards you.
Note that putting a nut on at 100 pounds does not mean 100 pounds of force will get it off too. Frequently you need much more force to get it off the way the threads deform to lock the nut in place.
Note that putting a nut on at 100 pounds does not mean 100 pounds of force will get it off too. Frequently you need much more force to get it off the way the threads deform to lock the nut in place.
Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2002
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Originally Posted by jroehl
If you weigh 120lbs, that's the max force you can exert downward, without jumping or bouncing. If you only put one foot on the lug wrench and push down with that leg, you will be putting much LESS force than 120lbs on the lug wrench. By pulling upward, you can control the force more readily as you start to feel it give.
Sorry, dude, you need to take a physics refresher...
Jason
Sorry, dude, you need to take a physics refresher...
Jason
if you have a 4 way and pull up on one side and stand on the other... I guarentee you can put more pressure than your weight....
if not... you ARE a couch potatoe "extrordinare"
Elder User
Joined: Jul 2001
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From: Eastern, NC
If your lug wrench is one of those angled jobs (with only 1 nut fitting), don't stand on it to remove the lug nuts. You remove the nut with the bolt too. I found out the hard way, broke about three on the same wheel one time. 
Post Fiend
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From: Lafayette, IN
Originally Posted by jdadamsjr
if you have a 4 way and pull up on one side and stand on the other... I guarentee you can put more pressure than your weight....
Jason