Lugnut disaster

base64

I went to have my wheels/tires replaced with a new set I purchased and it turns out that one of the lugnuts was stripped and the bolt that it's attached to it apparently completely loose from the back of the rotor (or whatever it's connected to)

The last mechanics to touch it were at a Nissan dealership and it took them over 6 hours to change the tires and had to replace the wheel lock twice.

The stripped nut doesn't even look like an OEM part and it's completely thrashed and now they say they don't know howto get it off and want me to wait for their master tech to look at it.

Another shop said they can just strip the last few threads of the nut by forcefully pulling the wheel off, and scratching the fk out the wheel in the process.



I'm at a loss now on what to do or if I should even trust my car to this dealership again but I'm currently riding around on 3 20" wheels and this stuck one is OEM and bald so I really need to replace it ASAP.

Any ideas? Anyone? For the love of god?!

__________________
Stillen Gen3 CAI, Invidia Gemini, TEIN Flex coilovers, slotted rotors, greddy DRL's, cf nose, carbon fiber wrapped kick plates with blue LEDs

37Z

Replace the lug with new ones. Yeah the stock ones are prone to break and strip. WHen replacing, it is suggested to replace all 5 lugs on located on each wheel. I haven't had this happen to my Z however, when I had new tires installed, the tire dealer mention that Nissan lug are problematic.

ChrisSlicks

It's a pain. It happened to me in the middle of an airfield with minimal tools available.

It took 3 of us to get it off. One using a prybar between the wheel and the rotor to apply pressure to the spinning stud, and another pulling on the wheel to apply pressure that way while the 3rd was using a cordless impact wrench to try and back out the nut.

If the nut is damaged and you can't get a tool on it then the only alternative is to either cut the stud with a hacksaw blade or attempt to drill it out. If there is enough room I would opt for the cut approach.

Chances are they have been using the 350Z wheel locks all along which will cause problems like this.

__________________
Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

kenchan

^ wat chris said. i would cut the stud out. wtf are your dealers doing, op? sorry to hear. GL with the repairs.

base64

That sounds about right, I'm pretty sure some genius at their dealership jammed a 350z lugnut on there. Ironically they also ordered the wrong tires and got me 350z tires.

Will the dealership have new wheel studs to install for me or will I end up waiting for them to order one to replace the one if they have to cut it?

The darned thing is only hanging on by a couple threads... feels like the car has a broken leg

__________________
Stillen Gen3 CAI, Invidia Gemini, TEIN Flex coilovers, slotted rotors, greddy DRL's, cf nose, carbon fiber wrapped kick plates with blue LEDs

Neo187H

What wheel is it? Front or rear? If they have the tools available to them and it's a front you can actually fit a carbide bit through an opening in the heat shield and access the back of the hub. From there you can grind the back of it off and slide it out through the front or pop it out with a hammer and punch. It's slow and tedious but it beats the alternative of damaging a very expensive wheel.

Something like this:

Pauly

good suggestion. if you use a carbide bit though, take it slow. dont put too much pressure too fast and get in a hurry. they have a tendency to want to "bite" and can jerk the drill out of your grip, chewing up whatever it contacts.

__________________
Gun Metallic 2012 370 Z 7AT

Neo187H

For sure, it's actually not that bad of a job to do. Sadly I know this from my own personal experience when I grabbed the wrong lug bolt to use on my extended stud, not fun at all.

base64

I took it back to the dealership and they just called saying they got it off, but that some part at the back of the hub was damaged and that it'll be 24 hours for them to get the new one in and replace it.

This dealership seems to have fired everyone that worked here a few months ago so that's a good sign.

__________________
Stillen Gen3 CAI, Invidia Gemini, TEIN Flex coilovers, slotted rotors, greddy DRL's, cf nose, carbon fiber wrapped kick plates with blue LEDs

B&W_Evader

How about the liquid nitrogen - hammer trick.

Cool it down till it's brittle, then hit it with a hammer and shatter it.

Dry-Ice may work too. Easier to come by...

base64

Thanks! It was the rear and I'm not sure how they got it off I couldn't do it myself because I don't have many tools.

__________________
Stillen Gen3 CAI, Invidia Gemini, TEIN Flex coilovers, slotted rotors, greddy DRL's, cf nose, carbon fiber wrapped kick plates with blue LEDs

Neo187H

Ah yeah that wouldn't be any help with the fronts but it sounds like the issue has been resolved anyways.

karotZ

This happened to me months ago when I had my spacers changed at Stillen. Driver side on the rear got stripped. It just took them 2 hours to fix it the same day. Huge thanks to their rep Dean Doan, their tech Aaron and of course, Mr. Millen for the immediate fix!

All they did was disassemble the entire left rear including rotor and brake kit, then they semi welded the stripped bolt onto a piece of metal and then started removing the lugnut. The only thing that got damaged in the process was my e-brake which was also fixed afterwards.

__________________
VERTEX | SUIVAX | AMUSE | SSR | SPARCO | STILLEN | FAST INTENTIONS x HKS | HANKOOK | NARDI | NRG | EVO-R | ROBISPEC | SPC

MattP725