Post #352641 by Mai Tai on Thu, Jan 3, 2008 1:10 AM

Yeah Jen, I must have just missed you. I just got back from the first F.I. Wednesday of the New Year.

Well, that nut cracker tool didn't work as well as planned. The problem is that the lug nut has some kind of soft metal in it, like lead, and it makes the lug nut rather malleable. So the nut doesn't fracture under pressure, instead when using the tool the side that induces pressure ends up mashing the hell out of that side of the nut more than the cutting side actually cuts or splits into it. It would work much better on a nut that was made of a harder material, though.

But it has helped. There are several large gouges cut into the nut, and one section is actually cut down to where you can see the threads on the stud. And man, are those threads corroded!!! I managed to get some PB Blaster penetrating fluid in there twice tonight, once before and once after Forbidden Island, so hopefully by morning it will have soaked in enough to help get that nut off with vice grips, or a socket hammered onto the lug nut.

One spot has started to peel off like a peel on an orange, and I worked the small sledge and chisel into that section, to peel it back even more. I was fairly successful, but decided to hang it up because it was after 10:30pm, and I didn't want to annoy my neighbors any further - they already hate looking at the VW Bus through their living room and kitchen window, so I didn't want to push it with them. The rains from the upcoming storm are supposed to come in around 9am or so, so I will be out there this morning at 8am, hammering away at that damn lug nut! Hopefully I can get it off before it starts storming.