1961 Ford F500 project.

[Eugen]

Jeff, heat it up with a plumber propane torch or with your regular torch but don't let it go red at all, you just want to get it hot like muffins out of the oven hot. That way tempering doesn't change. You only need the metal to expand a tiny bit. It's how I got that backhoe cylinder open, and it was torqued at1000 ft-lb.


If you have an impact gun some hammering also helps. Otherwise some careful knocking with a hammer would also help.

But just a little heat might be enough. Then the 3/4 breaker bar (with cheater pipe maybe) will open it, I'm 100% sure.

[Jancoe]

I do believe torque spec was 450-500 ft lbs on the lug nuts but I can't remember for sure. I do recall having left hand threads on drivers and right hand on pass side. Although I think that was for the dual rear wheels with the 2 piece lug nuts. I can't remember. Good luck getting them off. We had trouble servicing the stock brakes. There is a process to follow to ensure proper brake shoe contact with the drums. Make sure to get your shoes in spec.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

[JSinMO]

Thanks guys! Just in case anybody has Craftsman tools Lowes does honor the lifetime warranty. I swapped out for a new breaker bar today. I also swung by Hobo Fright and grabbed a 3/4 drive breaker bar. So when I get time to work on the truck again I will try some heat, maybe an impact gun. I also have an air hammer with a flat body dolly attachment I might try that too.

@Jancoethe drivers side front studs are clearly marked with an L. I assume the rear drivers side duals are left hand threads as well. I know the passenger side front is a right hand thread I got for out of five of them loose. That 450 to 500 ft lbs sounds right.

[puttputt]

The rear wheels on the left hand side will be left hand threads as well. But, maybe somebody changed them to right hand thread at some point. I know when I worked at the Chrysler dealership back in the day, they did away with the left hand threaded studs and you could only get right hand as a replacement. Which made it fun if a person didn't replace the whole set when one was damaged. It could be that it was the same way at Ford, in that you had to buy right hand replacement studs. If they aren't marked with an L like the front, it makes one wonder. I know on my Dodge they are the original studs and the rear are marked with an L as well as the front.

[JSinMO]

I decided to give it a go this afternoon and see if these lug nuts would budge. I pulled out the torch set, electric impact, air impact, and the 3/4 breaker and a pipe.

I heated 2 lug nuts on the passenger side and still no luck. so I moved to the drivers side and just gave it a go with the breaker bar and pipe. I can confirm all on the drivers side are left hand threads because that all came loose!

I went back to the passenger side and got three of them loose. The two that are left I can’t budge. I guess for now I’ll go back to soaking them and see what happens.
The next problem will be getting the inner lugs loose, they look rusty! Also the socket I ordered was supposed to handle the outer hex lug and inner square lug but it’s too deep for my lugs so I’ll have to come up with some thing else.

The problem with working with bigger stuff is you have to have bigger heavier tools. Have I mentioned lately having a loader is mighty handy?!

Now that I have one of the duals off I can bring it in and get some measurements and make a pattern for the lug holes and center hole, then I think I can start searching for for rims I can make work.

So as it stands today I have 3 of 6 wheels loose. Im gonna call it a partial victory.

[Eugen]

That's good progress in my books, Jeff. Like you, I had to get bigger tools to work on the backhoe. I'm curious about those two lug nuts that wouldn't budge. Did you decide to not force the breaker bar, was it bending?

[JSinMO]

That's good progress in my books, Jeff. Like you, I had to get bigger tools to work on the backhoe. I'm curious about those two lug nuts that wouldn't budge. Did you decide to not force the breaker bar, was it bending?

I gave it all the force I could muster. I could feel the bar starting to flex with no movement of the nuts. It was the end of the day so I decided to stop there. I thought about putting the backhoe on it and giving it the weight of the 648, but I sure don’t want to break a stud and I’d rather not break the bar so I’m not sure what’s next at this point.

[DavidBarkey]

@JSinMO
Have you tried ? hitting the face of the nut ? Take a piece of pipe that will fit over the nut tightly enough to hold it self in place . ( you may need to hold it in place with a clamp or something . This pipe will hold and centre the next pipe/bar with a re-leaf hole in the end/old socket . So as not to damage the thread in the nut or on the stud . This will allow you to swing a sledge and strike it hard . The shock will help fracture the hold of rust loosen the grip of the taper on the nut . If your aim is like mine , place wood block in front of the other stud to protect them .

[Toolslinger]

Every time I see/read about people struggling with old, stuck studs, I'm glad I have Dayton hubs/rims. Lots lower torque involved... They have their own headaches, but not usually the studs.

And now I'm sure I've cursed myself on the day I have to pull the F 750's wheels off.

[Harry]

I have a book that I purchased by a man from Quebec. I can't remember his name at the moment, but the book was about using heat to expand and shrink metal. The application for removing a nut was as follows. Heat the nut in one area only not the whole nut. Heating the whole nut would add heat to the bolt also. He referred to the heating as giving it a hot shot, which was making it red hot. Heating in only one area expands the nut. You have to act quickly so I would suggest using an oxy acetylene torch heating to red hot then quickly use your impact to remove the nut. I also have found that sometimes the impact does not work, and I use a breaker bar with a piece of pipe on the handle.
I hope this helps you in your application.

Keep the Peace
Harry