So saturday i tried to remove the wheels from my truck so i could take them up to have new tires mounted. This is the 1st time i have attempted this since i bought the truck. After looking at it i realized the guy i bought it off of used the original lug nuts on the aftermarket aluminum rims. So the lug nuts are set inside the wheel and have been mashed into the rim so bad that you can only get on to about 1/4 of an inch of it with a socket. After breaking 3 extensions i finally got 3 out of the 4 wheels off. I could not break one of them free and ended up rounding off 1 of the lug nuts. So what are my options. I want to put new studs in as on another wheels i noticed 2 out of the 6 studs just spin when tightening it down. There is pretty much no way to get anything in there to cut the lug nut off so the only option i was seeing was to drill the studs out and then just pull the wheel off and drill the holes out and replace them with bigger studs... is this possible? Or what are some other options  

Another thing. I hauled my 1st load with it this weekend. I pulled a 3/4 ton 4x4 with a 7 1/2 foot blade. This truck definently needs regeared. Took me nearly 3 miles to get up to 60mph on flat surface. I have a 1980 1/2 Ton 4x4 with 350 tranny and right now i have 31 x 10.5's what gear ratio would you suggest would be the best?  

When this happens to me with nuts the only thing i can recommend is getting a smaller sized socket and beating it on and then loosing it. ive never tried it with lug nuts but it will probably work the same.  

There is a simpler solution here. Get a few Cobalt drill bits and drill the bolt off. Get a 3/16 to cut a deep pilot hole and then a 7/16 or 1/2 inch drill bit to remove end of stud so bolt falls off. Do not bother to use regular high speed steel bits here because studs are hard. Cobalt will cut them. Lowes sells Cobalt bits.  

i tried that hammering on smaller sockets this is when the snapping of 3 extensions came into play and when i finally got a strong enough extentions i just tore the crap out of the lug nut.

I'll try to drill them out when i have the truck up to replace the rest of the front end.  

Do not waste time trying to drill them out without Cobalt bits. Cobalts bits are really tuff and can drill through hardened steel.I have a Several Cobalt bits here and a few of them have drilled a few dozen holes in hardened steel and still cut good as new. They are 5 to 10 bucks apiece (depending on size mentioned above) but well worth it.  

Hey Sno thanks for the tips! I'll definently look into those drill bits. I might also give the Bolt Out set a try as im sure it will come in handy many more times even if it doesnt work in this aplication. Also what gears would you recommend putting in my truck to make it pull better with the above mentioned components. Im not sure what it has now and i dont have a tach to get a reading on rpms at certain speeds. I figured if im going to put in all new u joints and have the truck up in the air anyway might as well slap some new gears in it if i can find some cheap  

To suggest the proper gear ratio I would need to know more about your vehicle (type, engine, tranny and tire size)  

I listed all that in the 2nd post but i will list it again....

I have a 1980 1/2 Ton 4x4 with 350 tranny and right now i have 31 x 10.5's what gear ratio would you suggest would be the best?  

try a chisel worked for me plentyof times. hammer torwds  like ur loosing sometimes they the break free sometime u can just chisiel the nut to peices just dont nic ur rim.  

gachevyguy:
try a chisel worked for me plentyof times. hammer torwds  like ur loosing sometimes they the break free sometime u can just chisiel the nut to peices just dont nic ur rim.

Drilling with proper bit is best way to protect rims.  

fedspunisher:
I listed all that in the 2nd post but i will list it again....

I have a 1980 1/2 Ton 4x4 with 350 tranny and right now i have 31 x 10.5's what gear ratio would you suggest would be the best?

Myself, I would go with 4.10's here as 1980 series engine were not very strong in power department.3.73 would be second choice with your tranny but I would go with 4.10 if you wheel a bit.  

Its an 80 but as far as the engine goes its out of a van i asked the guy what year it was but he couldnt remember what year it was out of. A little more on the purpose of this truck. I bought it because we are building a house and because i find myself needing to haul stuff more than not. I also bought it to mount a 7.5' Blade on to move snow. As far as going off road or mudding i doubt i will be doing much of that mainly just pulling and hauling and pushing snow. The only time it will be on the highway is if im going to pick up something out of town.  

Okay, go with at least 4.10's. I have plowed snow for over 20 years and deeper gears rule here in pushing power and traction. 4.10's will help towing a lot too. If you you plan bigger tire I would go deeper but I would suggest you stay with 31's because it would make for a more bullet proof drive train pushing snow and carrying a plow. I have two plow trucks, one of which I retired from plowing a few years ago and plan to restore one day.(it is a old full sized Jeep Truck) My current main truck is a 2000 K3500 SRW that I bought new and only has about 43K on it. It has stock tires and 4.10 gears but I have had a set of 4.56's on shelve for it for a few years now that maybe I will get installed this summer. I have owned over a dozen 4x4's since very early 70's and I understand and have seen the power first hand of deeper gears in 4x4's even with stock tires because back then 4.10 and 4.56 were standard in some models and that was before OD too. (I had a 66 Chevy 3/4 ton with a 6 that had 4.57 gears in it and ran well too) A 350 can pull like a freight train with deep axle gears. Sound like your truck is more a work tool to you than toy (which mine are too). One more food for though thing here... If you have some extra coin and want to turn it into a real stump puller and snow pusher that will not even need low range most of the time, get some 4.88 gears and swap in a 700R4 with OD in it. The 700R4 has a much deeper first gear and OD so with 4.88 it would be awesome low end and yet cruise at a lower RPM's than with 3.73's and a THM 350 speed. To put it into further perspective, your effective gear ratio in low range first gear with a 700R4 and a NP208 with 4.88's would be 40 to 1 vs 20 to one with your 205, THM 350 and 4.10's. Also in hi range is would be 15 to 1 in first gear with 700R4 combo and 10.3 to one with THM 350 and 4.10 and reverse (backing up a trailer) would be 8.5 to one in a high and 16.5 to 1 in low with THM 350. 205 and 4.10's and 11.7 to one in high and 30 to 1 in low with 700R4 combo with 4.88's. It would be a easy swap because later model trucks came with 208 and 700R4. If you do this swap you want a later model 700R4 with a 30 spline input shaft (85 and latter) not a early one with a 27 spline one. Also 700R4 does not need a computer to work either unlike later 4L60 (which is a 700R4 with a electronic valve body) or a 4L80 (which is a THM400 with OD and a electronic valve body)  

I only had to read that about 10 times to fully take in all the info. Thank you so much. How much would i have into this if i put in 4.88's anda 700R4 I would have modify the drive shaft or get a new one right? I just bought a 74 chevy 3/4 ton i believe. It has a 350/350 I'll have to check it out and see what gears it has in it. Might end up using it as a doner truck. I bought it for the plow it was $500 for the whole thing. The tranny is shot was wondering how much i could get for a rebuilt TH350 if i do this i will just put the 700R4 in my 80 and take the tranny from that and put it in the 74 if it is a 3/4 ton are the axles bigger would they fit in my truck or would i need to pull the whole rear and front end? I just need some guidance on what my options would be for these 2 trucks what i can and can not swap. How much money im looking at if i do the 700R4 swap things like that.