Please help me out.
I recently had a lugbolt break off duiring tighting. Now the post of the lugbolt is stuck in the hub. How do you go about getting it out?
My local mechanic (suspected shyster) acted as if this was going to be a very expensive venture. Nothing would make me happier than to do it myself.

 

two scenarios. one is that the bolt broke due to being cross-threaded. if this is the case, forget about it. you'll need a hub. if, on the other hand, it went in fine and then broke while torqing against the wheel, you should be able to get it out yourself. get a sharp punch and a nice size hammer. pick a nice flat spot on the bolt toward the edge, but not too close, and make a dimple. then tilt the punch to angle the force so as to make the bolt turn in a counter clockwise direction and start tapping. it should start rotating out. the part you need to be careful with is not making the dimple too close to the edge or it will expand the metal into the hole making it tight. good luck!

 

The other thing you can try is to drill it out with progressively larger drill bits until the lug is weak enough to bend it out. I tried to use an easy out which broke . I ended up getting a new hub, to the tune of $350.00 parts and labor at BMW. I don't have the reciept handy but I think the hub was around $165. So yes it can be a expensive unexpected repair.

 

how much torque did you put on your lug bolt before it broke?

 

use and EasyOut. Never. They have a tendency, particularly in the hands of amatuers like us, to break off in the hole you drilled in the bolt and there's almost nothing on grid's green earth any harder than an Easy Out and you'll never drill it out.

The best method I've found in forty odd years of part-time wrenching is to use a Dremel or similar tool to cut a groove in the top of the broken off piece. No, not the one in your hand, ya nit, the one in the hub. Cut a groove deep enough to hold a screwdriver blade. Use said screwdriver to unscrew the broken bolt.

If the bolt is broken off even with the hub you can still do this, you just can't cut as deep. No big deal.

If your bolt is stuck fast, it's because it's cross threaded and your going to need a hub, IMO. I'd not use a helicoil in a hub, but others may disagree. It's most likely that your bolt isn't stuck; just overtorqued. If so, it'll just unscrew and you can smile as you hold it in your hand.

Good luck.