If any of You Geniuses can explain this....

[BobPalma]

...you're better than me!

So I go to the store this evening and buy a copy of the June 2010 Muscle Car Review to see Richard Poe's article and write-up about R-engined Studes. Very nice; very appropriate and well done.

Elsewhere in this issue is a series of many Shop Tips; little ideas for making tasks easier and such. Some I had seen, some I had not. All seemed valid and easily-understood.

Except this one:

Before you frustrate yourself trying to pull a seized steering wheel (with a proper puller, no less), try this: Tighten the steering wheel nut before installing the puller. It usually gives the puller a better shot at loosening the wheel."

Yep, that's exactly what it says, word for word. No more, no less.

Uh, "What's up with that, Doc?" BP

[rockne10]

I suppose, if there's a chance of pushing the wheel a fraction of a millimeter further on the splines, it may help break a bond that has been enhanced by oxidation?
I'm guessing here; no clue.

[jclary]

My bet would be on having a "proper puller" to trump any "tip" related to the task!

[PlainBrownR2]

Same here, if that wheel has really taken a set, I think they may mean seating the nut down just a little above the steering wheel itself, and then really turning down on the puller. Or it may mean putting the nut clear down to the bottom of the threads above the wheel, and giving the wrench that's turning the puller a good whack to "shock" it loose. I should say I have yet to encounter a wheel that's really taken that much of a set though.

[Lothar]

Tighten the steering wheel nut before installing the puller.

I think that they're not explaining a step. Tighten the nut down, then loosen it back off. You are hopefully breaking "the set", as R-2 calls it, by pressing down on it. Spray some penetrating oil. Then use the "proper" puller to pull. I think it does help loosen wheels, pulleys and gears, etc..

[Chris_Dresbach]

I have done something simiular to this in the past, just with rusted bolts. If I have a bolt that is rusted in place, sometimes I will pourposely tighten it first to break the rust and keep from rounding the nut by imidately loosening it. Then loosen the bolt. It works even better with oil.

[BobPalma]

I think that they're not explaining a step. Tighten the nut down, then loosen it back off. You are hopefully breaking "the set", as R-2 calls it, by pressing down on it. Spray some penetrating oil. Then use the "proper" puller to pull. I think it does help loosen wheels, pulleys and gears, etc..

I'd agree, Lothar (and others); that's probably what they mean. At best, it is a poorly worded "tip," for sure. BP

[rockinhawk]

My Father-in-law was a shipfitter. He spent much of his life working with nuts and bolts that had been exposed to great amounts of sea water. He told me many times"The best way to loosten a bolt is to tighten it first". NT

[N8N]

I'd think this would work well on wheels with straight splines like a VW, but a lot of American cars have tapered splines, don't know if this would work well?

In any case, I have not yet run into a Stude wheel that was so stuck it wouldn't come off with a puller that wasn't trash already. (I have, however, had to tap some of the puller bolt holes deeper due to previous mechanic not threading the puller bolts all the way in and ripping the threads out...)

nate

[Retired]

OK Here's what the mechanic uncle preached: Always tighten a nut first then back it off and continue to remove it. In my teen years I knew better then to question an elder, I just did it.. But as others have commented it breaks the seal and also provides for a few free turns before chewing into the rusted threads.