Lug nuts seized

[Ten4321]

So I was trying to remove the tires from the rear of my 72 F350 dually and all eight lug nuts are seized. There is no rust on the nuts or studs. What would cause all eight nuts to seize? If they were cross threaded wouldn't the threads on the studs be all chewed up? Could over torquing cause this? It took a breaker bar and a five foot extension pipe to get any movement out of the things. And of course I sheared one of them off doing this. I was so close to getting this truck registered and on the road and then this happened.

[sargentrs]

I've seen left hand threads on dual wheels before. RH on the inner, LH on the outer or vice versa.

[chad67]

Good thinkin', sarg'! I know for sure that F600's are that way. Crazy how much difference there is when you start working on "vintage iron".

[Red Mercury]

I bought a wrecked 1970 F100 once that had new tires put on it 2 days before it was wrecked. Couldn't budge the lug nuts with a breaker bar either (I actually broke the breaker bar). Turns out that the shop (actually a Ford dealer) had laid the lug nuts on hard with their impact wrench. Amateur mechanic didn't know what he was doing. The only thing that would move the lug nuts to get them off was an impact wrench.

[chad67]

O'reilly's does list LH threads for the '72 F350, so that is probably your problem. There should be LH on one side and RH on the other.

[colnago]

As weird as it sounds, I actually understand the logic. In a former life, I was into bicycling, and the pedals were done the same way. It's because if you used the same threading on both sides, the particular pedaling motion would tighten one side, but loosen the other side. By threading each side differently, you actually end up tightening both sides as you pedal (bicycle or gas). Things have changed a tad in the last few years, so you don't see that on trucks anymore (but you do still see it on bicycles).

Joseph

[Ten4321]

That was exactly the problem, the studs were LH threaded. I've never heard of this before. Now I have to spend 30 bucks on a 2 9/16 socket so that I can remove the drum. Probably be another week before its on the road now.

[sargentrs]

Another mystery solved. That's one thing, among many, that I love about this site. No matter what the issue, somebody has experienced it or knows something about it

[Calfdemon]

Didn't see this thread until now... But yeah, all of the old F350's have reverse threading on the rear drivers side wheel. Its not just a dually thing either, my 69 F350 is SRW and it has the reverse lugs as well.

The best plan is to have the wheel re-lugged with regular threading. This way you don't need special lug nuts for one wheel. This is something I have to do myself as I am running 5 slot mags and my lug nuts are the type that have a lip that sinks down into the lug hole of the wheel. I can get 32 of them with the proper threading, but I would have to custom order 8 of them with reverse threading if I keep my lugs the way they are and the lug nuts are expensive enough as it is without have to have 8 of them custom made...

[Ten4321]

I went the cheap route because I didn't want to replace all eight lug nuts. My local Napa had the LH studs in stock. They also had a spindle nut socket for only $15. I replaced the two studs that I broke and two others that looked questionable. If I ever sell this truck I am going to make sure the new owner is aware of the situation.

BTW how do you safely remove the brake drum seal so that I can gain access to the second wheel bearing. Trying to get advise this time and not just break things.

Anyone know if the rear axle is a limited slip? I want to get the right gear oil
Axle tag reads:

D2TA-HCA
603201-14 4.56

Checked the tech section but there are no axle codes for 72

[1972hiboy]

Yeah I just went through this on my 73 f350 srw super camper special. The ONE rear wheel was left hand thread. Both front wheels were RH. I had to step back and take in that there was only one wheel that was left hand. " note to self......"

[pincheweddo]

Make your life easy. Use some anti-seize compound in copper or nickel to make removal easy. You don't have to apply it every time and you will "bust a nut" a lot easier.
I put some on my studs 20 years ago and they came right off. Of course it doesn't do any good if you don't turn it the right way.

[averagef250]

I replace them with RH studs. I have twisted off too many to trust myself to remember. It used to be really common for LH threads on the left side of vehicles. Not so today. I've felt so stupid snapping a stud off with an impact when I knew better and just totally forgot about the whole LH thing.

Last time I bought them they were only a couple bucks each.

I have always found the best prices for wheelstuds through Rockauto. I've bought a lot of the 9/16 Ford ones and used to stock the 12mm studs that will press into chevy Dana 44 spindles to use on Toyotas.

The inner wheel bearing-

The whole drum and hub slides off the spindle after the spindle nut is removed. You pop the hub seal out then you can get the inner bearing out. If the hub doesn't want to slide off you may need to turn the brake adjuster to slack the shoes.

[Ten4321]

She's all back together now. I replaced the four studs, repacked the bearings, put in new seals, and changed the diff fluid. The drum ended up coming off real easy. I could tell from the damage to the spindle nuts that someone was to cheap to buy a socket for it and just hit it with a chisel. They were also way under torqued.