I recently had new front brake discs fitted on my 2017 XFS and one of the wheel nuts snapped off while it was being tightened back on. Sounds like it's a common problem with the wheel nuts holding water and rusting so I want to replace all of the stock nuts.

Couple of questions:

1. Any recommendations for replacement wheel nuts? There are loads on ebay but I saw this post suggesting that they might not fit right. I found some on ebay with measurements but the lower section of those is 10mm while the picture on that forum post suggests it should be 8mm
2. Do I also need to replace the locking wheel nuts? My understanding is that the rust issue is due to the caps on the other nuts which can hold water and lead to rusting. I don't think the locking nuts have the same issue so presumably I just need to replace the non-locking nuts?

Here's hoping the other nuts come off ok and the studs are all in good condition!

 

I saw a video on this problem where they heated up the nuts and end of the studs enough to melt wax from a candle when pressed up against it. The wax goes down the threads and loosens the rust bonds.

 

Do you have a link? Cleanest solution I've seen so far is a 20mm hole saw to cut through the remainder of the nut until you hit the washer, then remove the wheel and use mole grips to remove what's left on the stud. I've heard of garages cutting the wheel off and seen other videos of people butchering the remainder of the nut with various-sized drill bits.

 

 

Ah that's mad. In my case the one that failed sheared clean off leaving nothing to get a wrench on to.

 

I would try the wheel nut extractor kits that are available in retail

 

Can anyone help me locating the jacking points? I'm seeing a tonne of conflicting info online and crap diagrams in workshop manuals that look nothing like what I see under the car.

For reference I've borrowed a Halfords 2t floor jack, same as this one: https://www.halfords.com/tools/garag...ck-657099.html

I've found the triangles on the underside of the plastic trim. Behind these I can see the pinch welds, but I've read that I shouldn't use these with a floor jack and that they're intended for emergency roadside use with a scissor jack (which I don't have). I've seen pads/pucks mentioned in places such as these https://www.halfords.com/tools/garag...ds-539766.html but I'm not sure, given the flat surface, that they're any better on the pinch weld?



I haven't found a workshop manual for the XFS but I've seen some posts with the following diagram, but it looks nothing like what I see underneath the car.



I spotted this point a bit further in but, again, it looks nothing like the diagram above. Not sure if I can use this point with the jack?



At the back I've no idea again - the point shown on the diagram above looks like it's behind the sill/pinch weld, but that area has a soft cover with a big empty space above it. If that's the jacking point I might struggle to reach it with this jack.



So, am I safe to lift each wheel up one-by-one on the pinch welds using this jack? Do I need a pad on there, and if so can I use a flat one or do I need one with a ridge matching that pinch weld? Would a chunk of pine wood be better? Do I need to remove the soft cover underneath the car to reach the intended jacking points?

Sorry if I'm asking a bunch of stupid questions. My usual garage don't want to do this job and I've seen what can happen when you don't jack a car up properly!

 

To use the floor/trolley jack properly with pinch weld jacking points you need a rubber puck that has a slot cut in the face, plenty on Fleabay.
You then position the slot over/around the pinch weld and the other/bottom side of the pick centrally in the "cup" of the jack.
I learned this the hard way on my old 2010 XFR (same pinch weld jacking points as an X260), after one too many ham fisted applications of the trolley jack straight on the pinch welds I managed to bend those pinch welds enough that the emergency/roadside scissor jack (with a slot in the head) had no chance of getting around the pinch weld!

 

Legend! Asked around and managed to get sorted for jacking it up.

Now I'm down a 19mm socket! Snapped a second nut off while loosening it, then put a screwdriver through the crappy chrome cap while trying to force it out of the 19mm socket.

 

Quick update for anyone that stumbles across this thread with the same issue!

I took a blow torch to the final nut on this wheel before loosening it and that one came off fine. On the next wheel all of the nuts seemed overly tight so I hit them with the blowtorch before loosening and they all came off clean with no breakages.

For the snapped nuts, I cut through both fairly easily using the 20mm hole saw. I took it easy with the drill as I would have been a bit stuck with the car unusable and no suitable tools so I stopped quite a lot to check progress and to try and avoid overdoing it with either the drill or the drill bit. Probably 15-20 mins per snapped nut but it can probably be done somewhat quicker. You'll know as soon as you've cut through the nut and hit the washer as the drill will jump forward a bit as it goes from the nut to the washer. The remains of the nut may come out on the hole saw. I used this hole saw for reference: https://www.screwfix.com/p/starrett-...saw-20mm/6401p, just don't use a pilot bit in the shank.



It's worth noting that the 20mm hole saw can leave a fair chunk of the bolt around the stud (see photo of the remains below) but if you remove a good lug nut you'll see that there's a decent bit of clearance so the wheel will still come off. Also, make sure you're not drilling the only nut holding the wheel on

Once you're done drilling, undo the remaining nuts and remove the wheel and you should be able to remove the remaining part of the bolt easily. I was able to undo once by hand and the other I started off with mole grips.



I replaced the nuts with these ones: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/362814031016.

Two wheels done. Will get the other two done tomorrow and hopefully I won't have to drill out any more nuts!