Broken Lug Wrench

I was trying to remove my inner dual today when I broke my tire tool. Apparently, the thimble nuts are either rusted in place or so over-torqued I can't break them loose. It seems I will have to get a new tool. I tried to weld the cracks, but my welds didn't hold and it broke again. Unfortunately, I cannot drive it to a tire shop as I have no brakes as of yet (which is why I was taking off the tire in the first place).



Since my tool is no longer functional (for the thimble nuts), what do you guys recommend? I have a DeWalt 1/2" Impact wrench but I doubt it will have the strength to break the thimble nuts loose. I also don't have an impact socket that will fit the square heads of the thimble nuts. I am so open to suggestions. I am at a "stuck" point on my brake repairs.

Peace in Christ...
Leo

Buy yourself a torque multiplier. It'll save yourself a lot of work and stress.

When a friend of mine had this happen, he took the hub and wheel assembly off at the wheel bearings and brought it to me. The thimbles had broken at the top so I had to weld nuts on there repeatedly and use the 1 inch impact to break them off, one piece at a time, until all the broken pieces came off and it released the tire. But it took a while. Hopefully you could just take yours to somebody with a good impact and have them removed.

Your local NAPA will have a socket for the Budd thimble, it might be 3/4 or 1" drive however. They might also have a new tire tool.

thank you guys for the GREAT ideas. It never occurred to me to remove the entire assembly and take it to a shop. I will do that tomorrow. I will also bring a lug and thimble nut to Napa to see about a replacement tool.

Elk1111 said:

Buy yourself a torque multiplier. It'll save yourself a lot of work and stress.

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OK.... I have heard of this tool, but where does a person get this thing and how does it work? I am willing to try ANYTHING.

rmesgt said:

..... where does a person get this thing and how does it work?

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Harbor Freight, Tractor Supply, eBay.........
Something like this one.... which I'm sure will include some instructions.

My fight with the thimbles was a major factor in flipping the hubs and running singles.....the military had the right idea and converted quite a few.

Sent from my SM-G991W using Tapatalk

Torque multipliers are the way to go. They come in different forms, but the style that gringeltaube posted above is what I own/use. I replaced all 10 tires when I bought my Deuce, and the lug nuts were no problem. I found a video that shows how to use them. You can skip to around 1:30. Hope this helps.

That tool has saved me a lot of hard work on MV's.

Even though the torque multipliers are made of Chinese cast iron, they've done the job for me. I used them to set torque on my A3 rim clamp rings (450 ft-lbs), using a 1/4-in torque wrench and doing the gear ratio math and accounting for about 15% slop (which I verified with a torque meter).

The torque multipliers work using multiple planetary gear sets to deliver a very low gear ratio at the output. They require a surface, like another lug nut on a stud, to react against, otherwise it will just spin in place and not do anything. I believe the military ones have a long reaction arm that digs into the ground to fulfill that purpose.

To speed up operation, use a beefy drill, like a 10 amp hammer drill with the hammer turned off, adapted to the input drive to spin the multiplier.

After watching the video, I am sold on this torque multiplier tool. I found a system on Amazon for under $60.00. I have to wait to order it, but I am excited to try it. The product description stated that the sockets are metric. I am guessing the 38mm socket will fit the front tires and the outside duals. The square socket (21mm) should fit the 13/16 square head thimble nuts.

I had my tire tool fixed at my local welding shop, but the welds didn't hold and the tool split again. I have a plan to fix it.

cattlerepairman said:

My fight with the thimbles was a major factor in flipping the hubs and running singles.....the military had the right idea and converted quite a few.

Sent from my SM-G991W using Tapatalk

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I am not sure what "flipping the hubs" means. I don't see how that would work. I did notice that the hubs on my daily driver are completely different than the hubs on my parts truck. Both data plates show these trucks as M35A2s. I have attached pictures of these hubs. Can someone explain why these hubs are different? I assume the hub on the axle is to allow a person to run a single tire rather than dual tires. Is this single tire
hub rare or is it the norm? Everything else seems to be the same.

They are both exactly the same thing! Same bearing cups #3920, inside and outside.
Just remove those eight 1/2" hex bolts attaching the drum to the hub. Then you knock out the wheel studs, and press them back in, from the other side.
Finally flip the hub upside down and bolt back together.

rmesgt said:

I am not sure what "flipping the hubs" means. I don't see how that would work. I did notice that the hubs on my daily driver are completely different than the hubs on my parts truck. Both data plates show these trucks as M35A2s. I have attached pictures of these hubs. Can someone explain why these hubs are different? I assume the hub on the axle is to allow a person to run a single tire rather than dual tires. Is this single tire
hub rare or is it the norm? Everything else seems to be the same.

View attachment 933272View attachment 933273

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You essentially separate hub and brake drum, press the wheel studs out, flip the hub around and press the studs in from the other side; reassemble brake drum (and safety wire the bolts). That way, single rims will track correctly. You will need an extra set of "front" lug nuts for each wheel because you get rid of the thimbles and larger internal diameter lug nuts.

This is GENIUS! I would have NEVER figured this out on my own. Perhaps that is what someone as done with the hubs on my parts truck.

When running singles on the back of a deuce hub flipping prevents additional wear and damage to the wheel bearings. The M44 trucks (M35A3 and related included) came from the factory with the rear hubs flipped to run singles.

The 5-tons can have their hubs flipped too but it's not necessary. I guess the axles and bearings are tough enough to not care about hub flipping

The military issued geared lug wrenches are my #1 choice in unpowered lug wrenches.