Cool Automotive Products and Tool Recommendations > Hand Tools > How to Remove a Stripped Lug Nut

How to Remove a Stripped Lug Nut

Stripped Lug Nut Removal: What Works and What Makes It Worse

Quick Summary
Lug nuts strip for two reasons: 1) You used the wrong size socket, and it rounded the corners of the lug nut, or 2) The lug nut has rusted and swollen up the chrome cap. Here are the two best ways to remove those lug nuts:

• Use a half-size socket: Tool manufacturers

Steelman Pro 1/2-Inch Drive 6-Point Thin Wall Double Ended Impact Flip Socket Bundle, 18.5mm x 19.5mm and 21.5mm x 22.5mm Sizes

offer half-size sockets to deal with these problems. If you have a 19mm lug nut and it’s swollen, purchase a 19.5mm socket. The same applies if you have a 21mm lug nut; buy a 21.5mm socket.

• Use a reverse spiral socket. These sockets are designed to rotate and grip when rotated counterclockwise. They work with stripped/swollen lug nuts and keyed lug nuts where you’ve lost the key.

Article

First: Diagnose What Kind of Problem You Really Have

Whenever someone brings a stripped lug nut to me, the first question I ask is: Is it capped or solid? Capped lug nuts are far more prone to trouble. Under that shiny chrome, black, or painted cover is a steel nut. Over time, heat, corrosion, and wheel impacts cause the steel to swell, the thin decorative cap to distort, and suddenly your socket spins. That’s where the trouble begins.

If you’ve got a lug nut with no key — a wheel lock — the problem is different but just as frustrating. Keys get lost, break, or wear down. Without the correct pattern engagement, the lock becomes a useless round blob laughing at you.

But both problems have solutions.

When a Stripped Lug Nut Still Has Hope

When I’m dealing with a capped nut that’s just beginning to round over, I’ll switch socket sizes — SAE to metric or metric to SAE — sometimes a half-millimeter difference creates a tight, grabby fit. Or, I’ll use a half-size socket: 19.5mm or 21.5mm. A stripped lug nut doesn’t care what system you use — it just needs a secure connection.

Remove a rounded-over lug nut or lug bolt

This is a little trickier. You can try switching from metric to SAE sockets, or vice versa to get a better grip. But if that doesn’t work, it’s best to stop what you’re doing and buy a special stripped lug nut removal socket. They work by tightening onto the lug nut as you apply counterclockwise force. The harder you turn, the harder they bit into the stripped lug nut.

These aren’t capped lug bolts. They’re just regular, solid steel lug bolts that are rounded over

Stripped lug nut removal sockets come in two styles: reverse-spiral flutes and reverse-threaded. I’ve found that the threaded style works better, but is much harder to start. The reverse-spiral-flute lug-nut socket starts right away but doesn’t bite as aggressively once it’s started. Just so you know, removing the stripped lug nut from inside the socket is much easier with the spiral fluted style shown below. Find the spiral flute set on Amazon for $38. Or buy the half-size sockets at Amazon for $28/set

GIREORAN Wheel Lock Removal Kit, 10 Piece Lug Nut Remover, 1/2-Inch-Drive Impact Easy Out Bolt Extractor Socket Set for Removing Damaged, Frozen, Rusted, Rounded-Off Bolts, Nuts & Screws

If that fails, I’ll chisel the cap off. It sounds crude, but it works beautifully. I tap around the outer sleeve until the cap splits and peels off.

Underneath? A real lug nut with fresh edges that grip perfectly. I’ve saved customers countless dollars with this trick.

How to identify a capped lug nut

Lug nuts that are capped will strip more easily than an open-end lug nut or a solid acorn lug nut. On a capped lug nut, the cap is made from thin chrome-plated aluminum. As the steel lug nut rusts, it expands and distorts the cap, causing it to strip in your socket.

Chrome-capped lug nut

Save

rounded over corners on a capped lug nut

Stripped lug nut cap

If you don’t have access to half-size sockets, use a hammer and a small cold chisel to cut off the lug nut cap. Then use the sharp chisel

cut the decorative cap off the lug nut and use a socket to remove it

Find a perfectly good lug nut under the decorative cap.

blade to slice down the sides of the thin metal cap. Remove the cap, and you’ll find a perfectly good lug nut with sharp corners. Find the right size socke,t and you’re back in business.