Posted: 3/19/2010 4:26:14 PM EDT
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Hi, guys. I have a small bag of stuff in my truck for breakdown etc. Once I was unable to get a lug off with the 4 way I had.
So, I bought the socket that fits my wheel lock/lugs. Now I need a breaker bar. I have seen 18 inch ones with 1/2 inch drive. I didn't pull the trigger. Is the 18 inch enough or should I go bigger. One school of thought is that the standard length is 18 inches and to use a longer one is unnecessary and could result in too much force and break the lug completely off!! The other school of thought is that longer is better and get the biggest one as 18 inches aint' much better than a 4 way. I ain't very sharp with mechanical stuff. So, any comments will be appreciated. |
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If you break it taking it off, it was going to break rather than come off... duh... ;)
Cary some PB Blaster with you and the biggest damn breaker you can. I've slipped my floor jack handle over the end of the breaker bar for some tough ass stuck nuts, and if they break... well.. I have a drill and e-z outs. I once broke three lug bolts on my car because some dipshit at a whatever-lube that mounted the new tires used WTF-torque putting the wheels on with the air tools. Two of the five came out all squealy, three broke off, and I just replaced the hub. You do what you have to. |
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I would get a longer one. I use a 3/4" bar with a 3/4 to 1/2 reducer on it. Also, I break off the studs before I can't get off lug nuts with a basic 4 way. Although I am huge, smaller guys in my shop could do the same. You may just need a little more practice, or perhaps the lug nuts were really corroded. Long story short, if they are coming off that hard they do have a good likelihood of breaking unless you use an impact. ETA: The original poster was a bit ambiguous, although I strongly suspect that he was referencing lug nuts. If we are talking lug bolts, then totally disregard my post. I have used at least a 7' long contraption to attempt lug bolt removal on a Volvo unsuccessfully before. That was the worst one ever, but they can be unreal to remove if over torqued in a big way. Always use a torque wrench on those for sure.  |
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if you break it off you beat the old stud out and put the new one in bunch of washers and put the lug nut on and tighten it down to press it back in.
I had to do this on my old 99 dodge (just bought it)... we were on vacation Tybie Island GA (shit hole) drove around the last corner and hear "ping" I couldnt get it towed so I paid a guy 50 bucks to get me to Savannah and bought tools jack stands and two very large hammers (parts too of course). Beat the hell out of them right in the resort parking lot. I had two of the fiive studs intact and one was already loose and ready to break. Gotta do what ya gotta do. |
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Quoted:
I would get a longer one. I use a 3/4" bar with a 3/4 to 1/2 reducer on it. Also, I break off the studs before I can't get off lug nuts with a basic 4 way. Although I am huge, smaller guys in my shop could do the same. You may just need a little more practice, or perhaps the lug nuts were really corroded. Long story short, if they are coming off that hard they do have a good likelihood of breaking unless you use an impact. ETA: The original poster was a bit ambiguous, although I strongly suspect that he was referencing lug nuts. If we are talking lug bolts, then totally disregard my post. I have used at least a 7' long contraption to attempt lug bolt removal on a Volvo unsuccessfully before. That was the worst one ever, but they can be unreal to remove if over torqued in a big way. Always use a torque wrench on those for sure. I always end up breaking the damned reducers. I bought a cheap 3/4 drive set from harbor freight that holds up to occasional use...like me removing an front axel nut on the same 99 dodge standing on a 6 foot pipe over the breaker bar. Ended up cutting the nut and replacing it...much easier. |
| I would remove your current lug nuts, put some anti-seize on, put the lug nuts back on, and torque them correctly. This will make removal easier. Do this and your 18" breaker bar will be just fine. To prevent over-torquing with my air impact gun, I use torque sticks. Much quicker than using the torque wrench. |
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This is becoming an education!!!
Thanks I bought 2 craftsman 18 in breaker bars (one for me and one for wife). That is one solid piece of steel. Gonna work on dry run of changing wife's tire. Doing this because we are taking road trip to Colorado. Done it before, lot's of it is with poor cell service and out in BFE. So, might not wanna wait for AAA if I could do it myself. |
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Quoted: Quoted: I would get a longer one. I use a 3/4" bar with a 3/4 to 1/2 reducer on it. Also, I break off the studs before I can't get off lug nuts with a basic 4 way. Although I am huge, smaller guys in my shop could do the same. You may just need a little more practice, or perhaps the lug nuts were really corroded. Long story short, if they are coming off that hard they do have a good likelihood of breaking unless you use an impact. ETA: The original poster was a bit ambiguous, although I strongly suspect that he was referencing lug nuts. If we are talking lug bolts, then totally disregard my post. I have used at least a 7' long contraption to attempt lug bolt removal on a Volvo unsuccessfully before. That was the worst one ever, but they can be unreal to remove if over torqued in a big way. Always use a torque wrench on those for sure. I always end up breaking the damned reducers. I bought a cheap 3/4 drive set from harbor freight that holds up to occasional use...like me removing an front axel nut on the same 99 dodge standing on a 6 foot pipe over the breaker bar. Ended up cutting the nut and replacing it...much easier. I have broken my fair share of reducers. I have a couple SK reducers which are curiously strong. I have a couple more SK reducers which I felt like he man when they went with no effort. I'm not a huge believer in Snap-on stuff, but we had a nice reducer from them in the tire shop back when. It took everything we could throw at it and then some. If I wasn't so particular about my lug nuts in the first place I would throw one of those in there with my breaker bar. I use an astro-pneumatic flip socket since we would get over a year of use out of them in the shop before they would break. That is about 20 normal lifetimes of tire changing. I think I got a set for $10 last time I picked one up. SK makes a flip socket too though. They look much tougher. |