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Apply penetrating oil to the lug nut and surrounding area to loosen it up. Let the oil soak in for at least an hour to allow it to work through the rust; if you have time on your hands, use a rag to clear away the acquired rust at 10-minute intervals, reapplying oil each time. Try to separate nut from bolt with a 1/2 inch ratchet and socket or 1/2 inch breaker bar after an hour. Review the wear and placement of the nut before selecting a tool. The ratchet wrench can apply more force, but it also risks breaking the nut if used excessively.

Heat the nut with an acetylene torch or cigar torch to loosen the rust and cause it to flake off. Select the torch based on your experience. The cigar torch is lighter, easily movable and readily available at most hardware stores. The acetylene torch is more precise but should not be used by beginners. Direct the flame from the torch to the outer edge of the nut. Circle the nut slowly, maintaining an even line of fire. Focus first on the outer layer and move up to the inner circle after rounding the outer edge at least 10 times. Heat will cause the nut to expand, allowing oil to seep further down, separating the nut from the bolt.

Find a socket wrench one size smaller than needed to remove the nut. Center it over the nut and hammer it until it fully covers the nut. Rotate the wrench left and right to remove rust and apply pressure to widen the mouth of the nut. Remove the socket wrench from the nut and use a heavy-duty ratchet to remove the stripped nut.

Count the number of lug bolts on your vehicle. If it has five lug bolts, youll need to measure differently than if it has four, six or eight.

Lay a ruler across the ends of the lug bolts and measure from the center of one lug bolt to the center of the lug bolt directly across from it, if you have an even number of lug bolts. If you have five lug bolts, measure the first and third bolt, from the center of one to the outer edge of the other.

Convert the measurement from inches to millimeters, if necessary. Express the result in inches as a decimal by dividing out the fraction and adding it to the whole inches. Multiply the result by 25.4 to convert to millimeters. For example, to convert 4 5/8 inches, divide 5 by 8 to get .625. Add that to 4 to get 4.625, then multiply it by 25.4 to get 117.48 millimeters.