Most Stuck Nut Ever Called Today

[G-ManBart]

...To tell me I'm an idiot, and it's left-hand threaded!

Arrgh....seriously, any company that doesn't mark LH thread stuff needs a swift kick in the tush!

Yes, I know better, no I didn't think of it until I'd already spent an hour making a fixture to hold the part in a vise then heating it with a torch. At least it was good practice making the fixture...facing, drilling boring and tapping off the top of my head.

 

[pdentrem]

Not the first to do so! A buddy had a flat tire on the hay wagon while baling hay. Not the time for this to happen. Naturally goes to remove the nuts and broke the first one. Did not think too much about it as the equipment lives outside. Proceeds to break the other 4! I show up a few hours later and he showed me his broken studs and the nuts. I mentioned to him that he missed the stamped “L” on the ends of the studs. He looked at them and asked ??? I said left hand threads. Slap to the back of the head moment!
Pierre

 

[RJSakowski]

I had a similar experience. I was visiting a friend, a fairly competent mechanical engineer. He and his buddy had just purchased a vintage automobile and were attempting to remove a wheel. They were struggling with the lug wrench and got a long breaker bar to no avail. I walked over and asked, "What do you suppose the L on the lug bolt stands for?". Big head slap.

I happen to know because I had previously owned a '58 Buick and they used left hand threaded lug bolts on the drivers side wheels. I don't remember if I had read that in the Glenn's Auto Repair Manual or if I learned the hard way myself.

 

[Reddinr]

Way back when, for a part-time job to help pay for college (beer), I pumped gas and changed tires between gas customers. I broke two studs on a customer's car before waking up that they were left handed. Customer was not happy, boss-man was not happy.

 

[Lo-Fi]

Got a couple of mates who spent a day struggling to remove the hub nut (about 2" AF and fine threads) on a Ford Sierra. They made a giant spanner and all sorts. Rang me up "got it done, threads are wrecked it had been done up so tight".....

Silence on the end of the phone when I asked if they realised that side is left hand..... Oh, how I laughed. You won't be the last!

 

[cathead]

Years ago I built a two wheel trailer using Rambler spindles. Now it's been a long time since
I have had to change a tire on that trailer so appreciate the post. If I remember correctly
one of the two wheels has left hand threads. At the time, I liked the Rambler spindles because
one could unbolt the spindle easily from a junk car and bolt them on a new trailer axle. Another
plus was that you could change the caster and camber with washers if needed. Finding Rambler
front wheel spindles now would probably not be practical unless you are the one who has a
junk one in the weeds, even better if the wheels are still there.

 

[projectnut]

Some years ago, I bought a new 1987 Ford Bronco. Since I planned on doing all my own maintenance, I also purchased the Ford shop manuals. A few years later it was time to change the water pump. It was fairly easy to remove, but the fan pulley was being obstinent. I consulted the shop manual and went through the procedure outlined. They had cautioned in bold type that the bolt holding the pulley to the pump was left hand thread. I tried as hard as I could to remove it, even taking a torch to heat it, but still no success.

For some odd reason I decided to see if it would turn in the opposite direction. With very little effort the bolt unscrewed, and the pulley was free. I called Ford to ask why there was such a glaring error in the manual. The response was that the 1987 manual was merely an update of the 1986. The 1986 model did use left hand threads on that bolt, but the belt routing was changed for 1987, so the bolt was changed to a right-hand thread. The manual writers errored in not updating the manual to reflect the change.

 

[ChazzC]

Two guys were out on a Harley enjoying a late Fall ride, but the Sun went in and the guy driving pulled over. It was getting cold and since he only had a regular jacket (no flap over the zipper) he was getting it worse than his buddy who was shielded. Driver took his jacket off, put it on back-to-front and Bob's your uncle, they were off again.

Then it starts to rain & sleet, some idiot cuts them off and they went into a skid, ending up in a ditch. When the ambulance crew arrived, they asked the folks who had stopped to assist what had happened and where were the injured. "Well," said the ringleader, "One of them is over there, but he was gone when we got here; and by the time we got the other guy's head turned around right, he was gone, too."

Moral, always check the direction of the thread!

 

[finsruskw]

Chrysler products for many years in the past were always left-hand thread on the driver's side.
Maybe common knowledge back "in the day" but not so much now I guess.

 

[RJSakowski]

The problem with L.H. threads is by the time you realize that they are left hand, you have already torqued the nut or bolt to a zillion lb-ft and now you have to undo it.