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Melt aluminum without a cutting torch?

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TimDaToolMan

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One of the lug nuts won't come off on a car I'm working on with alloy wheels. Luckily I have a new, full size spare with the same rim.

I tried a 6 foot cheater pipe after heating it up with a torch, no go.
I tried hammering smaller sockets on, no go. Tried chisels, no go.

I tried to grind the bolt/nut off, but the stupid lug nut is recessed in the rim.

Well I'm down to cutting the rim off, just cutting a big hole around the lug stud.

My neighbor has a cutting torch I can borrow, but it would be too much work to move it. It has big *** tanks and weighs a ton, and the car is parked going up a hill, so that's even worse.

I have a propane torch, but it barely melts a popcan, let a lone a wheel.

Is there anything I could use to cut through it without a big *** cutting torch? I tried cut of wheels, but the aluminum eats them up before I even cut .25".

Do they make a gas cylinder that is small, but burns hotter than propane?
 
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Brian_B_

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I hope this is your own car and does not belong to someone else. Aluminum melts at 1,221°F (660.3°C). I do not know what alloy you have.

Animpact would be my first choice. Then again I have air tools.

Sawzall or plasma would be one way to cut it. You might be able to sort of melt blobs of the wheel off with your neighbors torch, but you will set the tire on fire more than likely. if it is some crazy alloy, a cutting torch (oxygen acetylene) may not even affect it.

I have worked with hastelloy, inconel, etc..but always had a plasma.

I am sure more people will be along to suggest better ways for a car wheel.
 
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TimDaToolMan

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Ya it's my own car. I know it sounds very "redneck", but believe me I attacked this thing a thousand ways before resorting to this. The lug nut is very soft steel, so when I hammered a smaller socket on (and I mean hammered, with a sledgehammer), it just rounded right off.

I have an air chisel, but it takes forever to cut through it, and my compressor doesn't have the guts to run it very long.
 
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ZRX61

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in that case run a couple of holes kinda half in the stud & half in the nut (or all in the nut, right next to the stud) & the nut will fall in half.
 
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TimDaToolMan

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Just run ever-larger drill bits down the middle of the stud...
Click to expand...

Actually, that's not a bad idea. I need to find a good bit, though. Ironically the lug nut is soft, but the lug stud itself is very hard steel.
 
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R.Anderson

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6ft cheater bar should of easily broke it loose unless your a midget. Cutting the rim off is way way way over kill, even for a redneck.

Did ya try tightening it then loosening it this helps some times with some stuck nuts.

MAPP gas will burn hotter even more so with the oxy/mapp kits for the small tanks.
 
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Advan

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stripped-lug-nut-removal-socket.jpg



These almost always work. I've even had them grip hard enough to break the stud, which I'm shocked didn't happen when you were attacking with a 6' pipe!
 
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Zrexxer

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While it was mentioned here briefly, it should be said very clearly: Never never NEVER cut or weld on a rim with a mounted tire. The heat can cause a condition called pyrolysis, in which the pressure inside the tire can skyrocket causing it to explode.

 
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CJM8515

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Dont loosen it, smash a socket on thats snug and tighten it and snap the stud off.
 
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mayday0017

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just 1 lug nut? Easy... do the same thing all the thiefs do when you put 1 wheel lock on. Loosen the other 4/5/6 rotate it to the top, grab on to the bottom of the rim and jerk really hard away from the car. Here in Houston that is how they steal your rims even when they have a lock nut on them. HPD says there is enough leverage to easily break the torqued wheel stud once this happens as it is not intended to see lateral forces.

All I know is 1,000's of chevy truck wheels are stolen each year in Houston using this method. Had several friends have it done and seen several trucks on blocks in the morning from it. In one of my friends neighborhoods they got 19 trucks in one night that's 76 wheels! They must be driving a damn UHAUL into the neighborhood and loading it up!

Anyways yeah, remove the other nuts and use leverage to break it, if you aren't stong enough to do it with your hands (never tried it just know thiefs do) then use a comealong to pull the wheel, just make sure the car is secured so it won't fall off jack stands and maybe put a ******** the opposite side wheel to keep it from pulling the whole car.
 
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dr_clyde

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You can't cut aluminum with a torch. A torch works by oxidizing the steel and burning it, not by melting it. Not to mention large thermal capacity of an amuninum rim. You'd never get it hot enough. I would look at drilling out the stud, and using an air hammer or a big sledge to knock the rim off.

Even if you cut the rim off, you'll still have the broken bit connected to the hub. Plan on replacing all the wheel studs and possibly the bearings depending on how severe the pounding gets.
 
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Zeke

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steel 35 said:
Big azz hole saw over the stud, but maydays pop it version sounds good.
Click to expand...

Yes, that will work but you're still left with the nut on the stud. He'd still have to saw it off or whatever. I'd put the other nuts back on, run over a screw and drive to the tire shop for a flat repair. Let them deal with it. Bet they have Ol' Bertha the big *** air gun.
 
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Steinmetz

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Try cutting the "soft" lug nut with an abrasive wheel on opposing sides with the cuts tangential to the stud. Then remove with a punch (or chisel) and a hammer. Since the nut is recessed, you will also have to cut into the wheel material, which means the wheel becomes scrap. But I think that you are ready to sacrifice the wheel anyway, right?
 
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Bigplum

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Tighten the rest of the nuts up , takes the pressure off the stuck one , try again , drill some 2mm or 3mm holes in the nut and try whacking a old socket on it with a 2lb hammer with a bit of luck the holes will let the nut deform into the socket
 
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welder4956

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What make of car is this? I know some old Mopars had left hand threads on the drivers side studs. Not sure if any others did the same. How about posting a pic of the offending wheel and lugs so we can see what it looks like?

You may wind up drilling the end of the stud out of the lug. You'll have to center punch the center of the lug nut and drill a pilot hole to the depth of the lug nut, then step up the drill sizes until you reach the stud diameter. Should pop right off when you get to that point with a hammer or lug wrench. Then you have to replace the stud as previously mentioned.
 
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48RON54

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jim1987 said:
Are turning the right way? 6' breaker bar would have gotten it or snapped it.
Click to expand...


I have had this issue before too. I'm not sure how in the hell the threads on that stud got so mashed or the lug nut got so cross threaded, but it was a nightmare. Even the breaker bar/pipe combo only managed to bend the **** out of the wheel stud actually making the problem worse. I can't remember how I finally got them (it was actually 2 that this happened to) but since mine wasnt recessed like his I bet it was grinder or torch.
 
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09zkrankin

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I would try to drill it or split it as others have recommended. In an absolute last resort scenario I would try to wrap some sort of shim stock around the hole in the wheel to protect it somewhat and then use the gouging tip on my plasma to cut the lugnuts and stud until it came loose. If you do any sort of heating I would remove the valve stem first

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
 
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MikeF2316

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Bigplum said:
Tighten the rest of the nuts up , takes the pressure off the stuck one , try again , drill some 2mm or 3mm holes in the nut and try whacking a old socket on it with a 2lb hammer with a bit of luck the holes will let the nut deform into the socket
Click to expand...

At my buddy's shop, the precede this with prying the far side of the wheel away from the hub with the aim of stretching the stuck stud/bolt slightly.
 
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48RON54

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MagnumForce said:
How in the world did the stud not snap with a 6 foot pipe?
Click to expand...

If you are talking to me, it probably would have had i kept pushing. It had bent the stud to such an extent that I was going to have to cut anyway so I stopped there. I suppose i could have snapped it but it was starting to look like i was going to make more work for me if I did it that way as opposed to just taking the grinder to it. The bend was so bad that I was starting to wonder how the hell I was going to get the drum off after the rim was off, let alone getting the stud out completely so i could replace it. It got hairy is all about all the excuse I have for that lol.
 
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48RON54

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in all fairness I doubt i was actually using a 6' pipe, probably 2 or 3'..... <-- disclaimer for the engineers of the forum lol
 
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MagnumForce

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A 2 foot pipe compared to a 6 foot pipe is a huge difference, not 3 times the difference either, I believe it is exponential so like 9 times different.

Wouldn't snapping the stud off have been far easier than anything you are attempting to do? Even if you have a spare that is the same size you have now destroyed a rim worth at least a couple hundred bucks. Seems like you have destroyed things so badly at this point you will probably have to replace the drum anyway so I just don't understand why you simply didn't just snap it off. Get the rim off and then cut the bent part of the stud off flush to the drum so you could get the drum off.

Are you a shadetree guy or pro? My mind is boggled.
 
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91bronc300

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Zrexxer said:
While it was mentioned here briefly, it should be said very clearly: Never never NEVER cut or weld on a rim with a mounted tire. The heat can cause a condition called pyrolysis, in which the pressure inside the tire can skyrocket causing it to explode.

Click to expand...

Very interesting! I had no idea a runaway chemical reaction like that could be started just by applying some heat but then removing it. You would think you would need to keep applying heat to create a risk and that once you pulled the heat away you'd be safe.

Very good to know since it's so counter intuitive. Thanks for posting.
 
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MikeF2316

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91bronc300 said:
Very interesting! I had no idea a runaway chemical reaction like that could be started just by applying some heat but then removing it. You would think you would need to keep applying heat to create a risk and that once you pulled the heat away you'd be safe.

Very good to know since it's so counter intuitive. Thanks for posting.
Click to expand...

We welded up the cracks in the hubs my snowblower wheels late this past winter!! Without letting the air out!!
I know a 6" snowblower wheel exploding isn't going to be anywhere as violent as that transport truck wheel but still...
I'm removing valve cores from now on.
 
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