stuck rear lug nut

[firerob6]

While trying to remove rear wheel one lug nut just spins . I dont know how to get it off without ruininng the wheel . It seems like i have a stripped stud.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[NoleFan4Ever]

You are correct, it has stripped out the splines it presses against. The best way to remove it now it take a die-grinder and split the nut with three or four linear grooves and then a couple of good whacks with a 4lb beater & cold chisel and the nut will come off in pieces.

[Phil_Billy]

yep, you will have to drill it out. use a open/box end wrench to hold the lug bolt and drill it out. start by using a small bit like 3/16" and gradually step up to 3/8" drill down pass the hub if possible and then using a socket and a long extension try to snap it. you may need a pipe to fit over the extension.

if its an Ezgo and you can get access to the castle nut, you can remove the whole drum or hub with tire. drill it out from behind the hub, so much easier. if you have a center cap you will have to break it.

[alchemy]

I would have had a celebration once if I just had one wheel stud to drill instead of 6 broken flywheel bolts on one of my tractors where a shop shaved the flywheel and didn't shorten the bolts. Broken bolts still at 110 ft lbs and I had to leave nice thread too. I used a small craftsman drill press bolted on the block.

[Fairtax4me]

Impact wrench usually gets them to knock loose.

If you have a cross type lug wrench and it’s an open center (steel) wheel, put the lug wrench on the nut and pull up and down and side to side and it should break the stud.

On larger wheels a nut-cracker works well. Standard golf cart wheels may be too small for it to fit.

On an aluminum wheel with the lug holes that provide no access I have drilled holes on each side of the stud between the threads and stepped up drill bit size until I drilled through the lug nut on each side. Then a few taps with a hammer and punch or chisel gets the halves to split away. You need to have very good drill bits for this.

The other option is to drill straight through the center of the stud.