Silly me...I thought I would remove the lug nuts with a breaker bar and cheater pipe.

[frioman]

Yesterday was the day that I finally attempted to fix that slow tire leak on my M923A1 (14.00 x 20 tires). I'll admit, I decided to go the easy route and travel about 2 miles to a local tire shop -- I've seen dump trucks and 18 wheelers getting their tires service there. Uh...this was the right choice.

Once there I discussed the plan to replace the O-ring with the tire guys. They would remove the tire, split the wheel, and I would clean the wheel with my pneumatic drill and wire brush attachment that I brought. Afterwards I'd paint it and use some silicone grease on the O-ring and reassemble. Torque the two halves to 450 ft/lbs. Wheel onto truck at 250 ft/lbs.

The tire guys could have easily went right to work using an impact wrench; but for practice, I tried to remove the lug nuts (left threads) using WD-40, the lug tool, a breaker bar, a 3 foot long cheater pipe, and my 185 pounds. Ha! Nothing. Then a 275 pound guy came over and stood at the end of the pipe. Again...nothing.

After several attempts at this, they brought over the huge, heavy duty impact wrench. Oh yea, that did it! I say all this in hopes that it might help others while traveling. I THOUGHT that I was properly equipped. I THOUGHT that I had a long enough cheater pipe.

I either need to get a much longer pipe or see if my own impact wrench using the truck's air system will work. I'm glad I found out this way versus on the side of the road.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Glad you were wise enough to try it before your broke down on the side of the road!

Its amazing how tough they are to remove the first time. I know this will get the hens in the hen house going, put anti-sieze on the studs while everything is apart!

 

[M35A2-AZ]

Castle Bravo and I have talked about when you get a truck it is a good idea to go round and loosen all the lug nuts and retighten for that very reason.
The problem with the trucks air supply is it is very short on volume you have, you are only getting air from the wet tank when you use the glad hands.

 

[Csm Davis]

I once had a 8 foot cheater pipe on a 3/4" breaker bar and I weighed 340 and was bouncing and couldn't get a single one broken loose. I recommend everyone have a geared lug wrench or better to remove lug nuts

 

[jasonjc]

Get the 1" impact and a 1/2" hose from HF. It will take the nuts off fast enought that you will have enought air. I take my with on trips but not every day runs to sonic.

 

[KsM715]

One way to do it in the field is to take the cheater bar and rest it against the ground then drive the truck in the direction needed to break them loose. ( I would do that as a last resort)

 

[goldneagle]

I got a one word solution SWENCH. Buy a 3/4" SWENCH tool and you can do it yourself without any air or electric tool. It has a 18" handle and can do a safer job than a 8' cheater bar. SWENCH tool is a 3/4" impact ratchet that puts out up to 800 ft lb of force and only requires 50 lb of force to use. It impacts every 30 degrees of handle travel. It is used by our military mechanics.

 

[tbar123]

I feel your pain, When I replaced my 11.00' for the 14.00's I had a serious problem breaking the lug nuts. I had a 3/4" impact wrench and that did nothing. I was very fortunate to borrow a mechanics 3'4" drive by 3' long breaker bar and when I was done, I really had to go get a colonoscopy to get everything back together!!!! Not really,but it sure felt like it!!!!LOL

 

[mikey]

I could not get a single lug nut loose on a deuce front wheel. I tried the 3' breaker bar with cheat pipe and even drove it against the ground until the 3' braker bar bent.

I ordered the 3/4" air impact gun from HF for $79. It arrived a few days later and all lug nuts came off with no problem. It took some time for the gun to get them loose, but I didn't break a sweat.

That gun, the bud socket, a 50' 1/2" air hose with Glad hand on one end and quick disconnect on the other, and my 20ton air bottle jack are all permanent additions to the tool storage box and I don't leave home without them.

It goes without saying, but just don't use the air impact to tighten them like the previous owner of my most recent deuce did! This was the result of over tightened lug nuts on the recovery trip home.

Mikey

 

[ralph3162]

I use a 75:1 torque multiplier for my deuce with it a 10 year old could spin the lug nuts off and requires no air to operate. They are easy to find got mine at NAPA I think it was.

 

[swbradley1]

GE beat me to it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxx6ymQO83M


You know it has some power and it big when your wrench has a lifting eye on it to move it around.

Use it underwater for those underwater Deuce trips.

 

[maddawg308]

I remember CARNAC calling me one time on his trip to Aberdeen, he lost 5 out of 6 lug nuts on the front of his deuce, the studs just broke right off. I believe the previous guy with the impact wrench just went to town and left the 1" impact on them for a few hours or so. Someone local was able to help him out, I can't remember why at the time I couldn't, I either didn't have the proper tools or I couldn't leave work or something.

 

[todds112]

My Harbor Freight 3/4" Impact with the trucks air will spin the lugs right off. I thought the rim bolts were only torqued to 200-250 ft/lbs?

 

[ke5eua]

Best investment I ever made:

http://www.milwaukeetool.com/power-tools/cordless/2664-22

Cost me about 480 with tax from norther tool in San Antonio, TX but it is worth it.

I have two chargers and keep one on an inverter with a battery in it at all times when traveling. Also have a battery pack with a little inverter that will power both chargers at the same time, and trust me I've done it.

I also carry a 1" air impact in the truck also but I'll use the cordless before I break out the air impact. I put a hose reel on my truck and tied it into the blow off valve spot on top of the tanks. Also have a glad hand to quick connect hose just in case. I'm pretty sure I could swap an engine if needed with all the tools I carry on the truck.

SPECIFICATIONS

Voltage	18V
Battery	M18™ REDLITHIUM™
Charger	M18™ and M12™ Multi-Voltage Charger
Tool Warranty	5 Years
Length	9"
Peak Torque	525 ft-lbs
Battery Warranty	3 Year
Charge Time
No Load Speed	0-1,900 RPM
No Load IPM	0-2,200

[TD"]1 hour[/TD]

 

[M813rc]

And, of course, remember the left hand thread/right hand thread lugs. I've seen tire folks battle mightily trying to remove a "frozen" lug nut that they were busily tightening on the "righty-loosy" side of the truck.

Cheers

 

[Csm Davis]

By the way I own one of each of all of the tools that are listed on here. I would recommend that if you are strong enough to change the tires on one of these trucks that you get the geared lug wrench to carry on board each truck, they will work after many years of neglect and don't take up much room. The other tools are great but not as hardy as the geared lug wrench.
They are still available directly from Ken-tool and many of the vendors on here.

 

[gimpyrobb]

I'm gonna have to agree. I have a 3/4 drive and 1" drive Swench, they are great, but I carry a geared lug wrench on my truck. The Swench in its kit with all the sockets and adapters weighs too much to carry around and isn't compact.

Also, if you run duals you won't find a tool better than the geared lug wrench for getting a stuck thimble off.

 

[ke5eua]

First time I changed a tire on one of these was when I was a dumb private. Didn't know about the reverse threads and my battle just stood there while I struggled.

When I changed the tire on the 818 recently I was glad to have the torque multiplier with me. I bought the impact right after that.

 

[frioman]

Is this the geared lug wrench y'all are talking about?

Torque Multiplier Lug Wrench, 1:78 Ratio, Heavy-Duty: https://youtu.be/0OY40gkE0N8

 

[ke5eua]

KEN TOOL MILITARY GEARED TRUCK WHEEL LUG STUD WRENCH BARS KEN40543




Lifted the images from a vendor's ebay auction.