My brother told me to use a breaker bar on my truck's lug nuts and it saved my knuckles.

I was trying to change a flat on my 2005 F-150 with just the factory tire iron. After five minutes of jumping on it, my buddy Jake walked over and said, 'Dude, go get a 24-inch breaker bar from the auto parts store.' I spent $30 on one, and the nut came off with one easy pull. I would have stripped the lug or hurt myself without it. Anyone have a favorite brand for a solid breaker bar that won't snap?

3 comments

3 Comments

patel.leo1mo ago

A breaker bar for a flat tire? That seems like overkill. I've changed dozens of tires with just the factory iron. Sure, you have to put some weight into it, but it's not a superhuman task. Maybe your lug nuts were just rusted solid from never being rotated.

elizabeth_hunt1mo ago

Depends a lot on the car and where you live. The factory tool works fine on my sedan, but I needed a breaker bar for my old truck after a shop overtightened the lugs with an impact wrench. It's not always about rust, sometimes it's just about having enough leverage when you're on the side of the road.

zarapalmer17h ago

Oh man, my buddy had the exact same thing happen with his SUV. He got a flat last winter and the factory wrench just bent, it didn't even crack the lug nuts loose. Turns out the last oil change place cranked them on way too tight with a power tool. He had to call a tow truck just to borrow a real breaker bar. It's not about strength, it's about that stupid over-torque from a shop.