Serious question: what do I do? SOLVED!

holy crap!!! i have the same lug nuts installed by a tire shop on mine..

pls update us on the progress so i know what to do in case this happens to me.. (knock on wood)

 

Shit I have those on my truck...

 

Get an impact socket red hot and hammer it on the broken lug and give it a few minutes to heat transfer, then try to loosen it.

 

I have always tightened lugs as tight as my body weight and wrench will allow. After reading all of this I begin to wonder how close I have been to a real headache and will be changing my practice. Time to get a new torque wrench before I rotate again.

 

Yes, for the love of god don’t do that anymore! A harbor freight 1/2” drive torque wrench works just fine.

 

I won't say I'm frail but at 150/lbs soaking wet I have probably been "relatively" safe... or lucky. HA!

 

Yup. I have the 3/8" from Harbor Freight. Time to go back for the 1/2"!

 

I have always been that dude as well. And I’m not frail and weak. But I’ve never had these thin wall spline drive either.

Just walked out of Lowe’s with a good size goodie bag including a new torque wrench.

 

Shoot, even the 3/8” would work I think. They only need to be torqued to 85 ft/lb

 

Too bad a metal disintigrator wont work. If possible, heat the broken aluminum (transfer is best and let it heat sink) and using a big screwdriver and huge heavy hammer, start to give it some blows and hope for the best. Leverage with downward blows is best and make sure the screwdriver is catching or digging into the aluminum.

 

The only one they had at Lowe’s that wasn’t $200 was a 3/8”. It’s 5-100 ft pounds. Will work fine with a 3/8” to 1/2” adapter.

 

Guess it depends more on my socket than the wrench given the 85 ft/lb. I need to get a socket to match. I usually just use the wrench from the jack kit.

 

Goodie bags from Lowe's are usually the highlight of a day for me. Sorry this trip wasn't for the fun of it. Here's to hoping the rest of your afternoon/evening goes better than expected!

 

IMO it is important to properly torque the lugs, I always do it and will even undo and retorque if I had someone else do the work.

 

A 21mm fits over my spline key.

 

Drill a small hole in center of lug. Then keep stepping up sizes untill its the size of the lug and enough material is gone and rip the wheel off.
It takes a long time but cheaper than paying someone
And whatever you do go slow, dont break drill bits inside rhe lug

 

In for the torque wrench and socket conversation, I have been thinking about this as I recently used my spare.

 

I've been using torque wrenches for the last 20yrs after I learned about them helping with warped rotors. We had splined lugs on our old volvo that required 95ft-lb. No problems ever, even after letting the tire shop have at it.

My HF clicker has stood the test of time and calibration checks. These are pretty damn cool:

$38 Powerbuilt 1/2" Drive Digital Torque Adapter, 29-147 Ft-Lb and 40-200 Nm, Alert Signals Torque Setting, Electronic Torque Wrench Converter with Digital Display, ±1% Accuracy - 940962

https://www.amazon.com/Powerbuilt-940962-Digital-Torque-Adapter/dp/B0085WMOOU

I've had that for about 6yrs now and use it for aluminum threads down to 5N-m.

I don't use it for lug nuts in the garage as it is a bit of a pain to monitor the torque number and get them all even, but I do take it along on trips with my tools. Packs smaller than a torque wrench.

 

Not sure how your center caps go on. Mine though have a flange that goes completely around the inside of the rim; sandwiched between the hub and the rim. Mine are impossible to get off undamaged without removing the rim. Just a word of caution.