[Jake Robinson]

Full disclosure: I don't know nearly as much as I should about cars. Got a flat tire way up in the middle of nowhere on a mountain road recently. One of the lug nuts was very stuck, so I resorted to standing on the lug wrench and trying to use my body weight to loosen it. I guess I didn't have it on square, so when I weighted the wrench it popped right off. Did this a second time (stupidly), same result. Stripped the lug nut real good, rendering the wrench useless. Luckily I was able to pop it off with a pair of vice grips attached to a couple of the bars (for some extra torque) that came with my vehicle's tire changing kit, but this got me thinking: what if I hadn't been able to get the lug nut off? That would have been a fun 20 mile walk in the dark. Is a stuck/stripped lug nut a situation people plan for, is it a fluke, or am I just dumb for getting myself in this situation in the first place?

[Malachai Constant]

Had you recently changed or replaced a tire? I once had a a tire change at a place who cross threaded the nut then torqued it on with an impact wrench and striped the stud. Usually you are not strong enough to do this by hand without a long cheater.

[Jake Robinson]

I had some work done on the brakes about a month ago, which would have been the last time the tire was removed. All the other lug nuts loosened easily, so I'm hoping there was something wrong with that one in particular and I'm not just a big weakling... The thought of messing up the lug nut with the tire iron didn't even cross my my mind, which probably led to some carelessness on my part. I didn't strip it completely, just enough that the tire iron wasn't fitting on properly anymore. I was still able to get the vise grips on well. I'm definitely feeling lucky that I just so happened to have the vise grips in the car with me, otherwise I would have been hosed. They were factory nuts to the best of my knowledge.

[Riverside Laker]

Reading about striped nuts reminds me of the chaffing threads from a few years ago.

[Seventy2002]

It sounds like a fluke. If you start lug nuts by hand, for several turns, there's really no way to cross-thread them. With a properly-sized wrench, you shouldn't be able to round off a nut. Maybe someone slipped you an undersized nut.

[Ski]

[Jake Robinson]

Ski - thanks for the all the helpful info. It appears that I was using the term 'lug wrench' and 'tire iron' interchangeably. Per your images, I was definitely using the 'tire iron' that came with the car. Still very much a beginner here, as mentioned at the top of the post, so thanks for clearing up the confusion The nut itself is definitely damaged - not the threads on the nut, but the outside, six flat sides are deformed to the point that the tire iron is no longer usable on the nut. Perhaps 'stripped' is also confusing terminology, as again, the threads aren't damaged (as far as I know). I believe the wheel stud is ok too, but I'll have it looked at. I will definitely be talking to the shop owner about this issue, as well as purchasing a 'lug wrench' for future tire changes.Thanks everyone for the help!

[moonspots]

[Seventy2002]

[DIYSteve]

[Ski]

[Jake Robinson]

Sorry to all who were confused by my original post - I was misusing the terminology. I believe ski's latest post outlines what happened pretty well - there was an over-torqued lug nut and I was overzealous with my jumping/stomping of the tire iron, rounding the nut head. I think the threads on both the nut and stud are ok, as I was able to screw the damaged nut back on just fine and tighten it as much as I could with vise grips. Thank you to all who have been so helpful and willing to share your knowledge with me. I think it's time I expanded my car knowledge beyond the bare basics of knowing how to change a tire, check the oil, and jump a dead battery. One last question - does anyone have any thoughts on fix-a-flat? Would this be a useful item to carry as a form of insurance in case I find myself in a similar situation in the future?

[Chief Joseph]

Fix a flat sometimes work an tire shops hate the nasty, green, slimy stuff. A much better imho is a small compressor that plugs into your cigarette lighter. I loaned mine to a friend who's tire was losing air when we parked for a hike. He stopped about ever 5 miles to air it up until he made it to the tire shop. Of course that only works on fairly slow leaks. They cost around 20-30 bucks. You can also use it to air up your raft, air mattress, etc while camping.

[Ski]

We sold thousands (if not tens of thousands) of cans of "Fix-A-Flat". As noted, employees in tire shops hate the stuff. It is essentially raw uncured latex with a (usually) propane propellant in an aerosol can that coats the entire inside of the tire (and the outer part of the wheel) with a sticky, gooey, slimy mess that's damn near impossible to remove - gets all over their hands and their tools. People use it because it's a quick fix and if used properly will seal up small leaks in a tire. IF you are going to use "Fix-A-Flat": Warm the can up first, either by dunking it in hot (not boiling) water, or lay the can up on the dashboard in the sun, or somewhere under the hood in the engine compartment for a few minutes. This will cause the propellant to expand inside the can so that you can be sure that most all of the contents in the can will go into the tire. Make sure the tires are warmed up good. Do not use "Fix-A-Flat" on a cold tire. Rotate the wheel so that the tire valve is at 4:00 o'clock or 8:00 o'clock. Unlike most aerosols, "Fix-A-Flat" is designed to be sprayed with the nozzle down. Ideally, remove the Schrader valve core from the valve stem on the tire. This requires a special valve core tool - about $5.00 bucks at a parts store or bicycle shop. Sometimes the gooey "Fix-A-Flat" will gum up the Schrader valve core and you will not be able to get all of the contents of the can into the tire. Screw the nozzle on the can of "Fix-A-Flat' onto the valve stem, empty the entire contents of the can into the tire, replace the valve core, and drive the vehicle so that the liquid "Fix-A-Flat" gets dispersed and coats the entire inside of the tire and the wheel. I had maddening slow leaks in a couple tires on my 1968 Pontiac. Drove it all the way down to Chehalis on the freeway, pulled into a gas station next to the air hose, pulled all four valve cores and let all the air out of the tires, pulled out four cans of "Fix-A-Flat", put a can into each tire, inflated each tire to 35 PSI, and drove back home. Never had to put air in those tires again. Works great if you do it properly. Doesn't work worth a damn if you don't do it properly. (We got all kinds of the stuff back as "defective", when it was actually user error.) Tire shops will still cuss you whether you do it correctly or not. Great favorite among guys who repossess cars for a living; used to have a customer up in Yelm who bought the stuff by the case. === The "plug-into-the-cigarette-lighter" compressors are great, but they're slow, and not very effective if you've got a punctured tire. == And Jake: your last post illustrates clearly why I said that "tire irons" are effectively useless except for removing hub caps. A good lug wrench isn't that much money, and it will work on your next car, and the one after that, and the one after that.

[DIYSteve]

The better 12V compressors have battery terminal clamps with 8G or thicker wire. They are popular with 4WDers