4 out of 5 lugs just spin and don't loosen, advice?

Hey, searched, advanced searched, found similar issues but none quite providing an answer I can use. I am going to try to replace my wheels and tires tomorrow and found that my front passenger tire won't cooperate. If I had the vehicle with me right now I would be on my knees diagnosing but unfortunately I don't. In hopes to reduce how much trial and error I will go through on my limited schedule tomorrow I'm asking you fine men and women if you have any advice.

Here are the details:
1997 ZJ Limited 5.2 NP249 so all time 4x4
The lug nuts hold the current wheel tight but I need to remove due to sidewall damage.
I don't have a lot of money and prefer the hands on experience anyway
I don't have a cool shop full of tools

What I'm thinking of trying first is removing the one that is functioning and finding a way to put pressure on the tire to hopefully hold the lugs still long enough to remove them and replace... what I'm hoping not to do is need any sort of super awesome tool that I can't afford or don't have.

Thank you for reading and I very much appreciate any advice. I don't want to come off as sounding like I need my hand held through the process, I just don't have the Jeep in front of me right now and would love to make it as quick of a process as possible since I have a small window to work on my DD/money pit haha.

Adam

To remove studs that are not cooperating...

I smash the chrome cap with a hammer to get the cap loose, then remove it.

Then starting with a 1/8" drill, I drill down the stud.
I work up to a 1/2" drill.

Just curious as how did they got stripped?

-Ron

make sure you are doing it with the weight of the vehicle on the ground.

electric or air impact will help

You need to determine the source of the problem--stripped lug nuts or studs that are spinning in the hub.

If the lug nut AND stud are spinning, you can try jamming a prybar against the back of the stud and use an impact to remove the lug nut.

If the stud and nut are spinning together, you have two issues to look at, getting it apart and will a new stud fix the problem.

I would grind the nut/stud down as far as possible and then drill down the center with progressively larger bits while holding the nut with a pair of vise grips or a closed end wrench.

Good luck

Thanks for replies, ended up drilling it out. When is the best time to do this? When everyone you know is at work... because you hoped that the issue was just the studs. Ended up walking to the parts store and walking back with a new hub because the old one got stripped out and the holes looked oblong.

Appreciate your replies and sorry my response was a little late but here are answers to above questions.

Old_Man: Stud and nut spun together. They held the tire on firmly but two of them could be spun either direction by hand. Two others tightened, but wouldn't loosen more than maybe a quarter turn before going into left free spin mode.

Joe_Peters: I don't think the nuts were stripped, they went on just fine. I think the terrible wheels that were on it were possibly too thin or that I had the wrong style of lug nuts allowing it to tighten further down that proper?? Whatever happened, they were holding on fiercly and I think Les Schwab or my four-way and I got a little carried away one day and overtightened enough to do some damage. I tried looking from underneath to pry against the lug stud heads for pressure, or even to try driving them in, but there was limited space and I couldn't see much to modify in such a small space.

Rockclimber: Thanks, tried with it on the ground but to no avail. also lifted the tire, pulled the lug nut that I could easily get off and then used a stretcher to pressure the wheel outward... was a long shot and didn't help either. =(

WBY9ZU: I think overtightening likely did it. After bringing it to Les Schwab on afternoon I didn't make it more than 3 blocks down the road before getting some clunking. I checked the tires and this one was loose in the lugs. I figured they didn't tighten enough, so I snugged them up then continued. Not long after that, the same problem happened. This time I put some force behind tightening them. They held for longer than my tire's sidewall... didn't think that they wouldn't want to come off after the abuse. Lesson learned. =)

May a suggest you invest in a torque wrench to prevent something similar from happening in the future?

Kobalt has a lifetime warranty and won't break the bank. Even a Harbor Freight torque wrench would be better than nothing.

(If you can swing it, I'd highly recommend a Precision Instruments split beam style torque wrench. I have one and love it, but they cost a bit more).

Thank you, Donthelegend, I may invest in one now... Even the Precision Instruments wrench is less expensive than the costs of this mishap. Appreciate the advice =)