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Problems taking off your lugnuts?

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bsaint

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Apr 26, 2010
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Manchester, CT
Yes I understand they are diffferent sizes. But I just take the impact socket that is suppose to fit and use a socket air hammer attachment and on it goes.

But usually on swelled chrome lugnuts.
 

House Sparrow

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Apr 12, 2012
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Lewistown, PA
That is a good idea. I hate those lug nuts, too. I recently had a Charger and a Ram 1500 in which required replacement of all 20 nuts. They swell up and/or twist a bit, and nothing will fit them correctly. I end up using twist sockets on them if they're really bad.
 

Infidel

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Sep 24, 2010
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if chrysler would stop making ****** lug nuts then you wouldn't even need this lol.
 

Dust

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Santa Ana, CA
I have that set from the OEM, Lock Technology. Bought it at ToolSource.com some time ago. I just wish it came with a 7/8" style socket for the trucks, since the 22mm/22.5mm is not the correct size, though on extremely swollen truck lug nuts it will work quite well.

The set is well worth the money, as is the extra-large twist socket set that Snap-On sells. Though I'd try to source it through Irwin, since they're the ones who make it and it is much cheaper. I paid $150 for the Snap-On branded set, and Google Shopping is showing it at around $80. To say I was a bit peeved when I found that out is putting it mildly.
 
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Skin

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I have that set from the OEM, Lock Technology. Bought it at ToolSource.com some time ago. I just wish it came with a 7/8" style socket for the trucks, since the 22mm/22.5mm is not the correct size, though on extremely swollen truck lug nuts it will work quite well.

The set is well worth the money, as is the extra-large twist socket set that Snap-On sells. Though I'd try to source it through Irwin, since they're the ones who make it and it is much cheaper. I paid $150 for the Snap-On branded set, and Google Shopping is showing it at around $80. To say I was a bit peeved when I found that out is putting it mildly.

Unless there is another set i dont see i dont believe Irwin makes the Snap-Ons. The irwin set is essentially large bolt-outs, Snap-On manufacturers real sockets.
 

xurusaibobx

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Jul 23, 2011
Messages
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every tire man hates those lugnuts!!

the manufactures say your not suppose to use Impact guns on lugnuts! thats why it gets deformed! i say chrysler/dodge you make a ****** product!!

lol
 

Dust

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Unless there is another set i dont see i dont believe Irwin makes the Snap-Ons. The irwin set is essentially large bolt-outs, Snap-On manufacturers real sockets.
Read my post again. I'm talking about two different products, the socket set posted by the OP, which looks identical to the Lock Technology set I linked to and own, and the bolt-out set, which I also own in a red Snap-On badged case. After I found out the bolt-out set was rebranded, I asked my Snap-On guy who makes it, and he checked and told me Irwin.

Judging by the product image, and the description ("Comes in custom vinyl bag"), it sounds to me that Snap-On is just rebranding someone else's product, same as they did for the Irwin set. Even the part numbers are virtually identical (See here, here, and here). So why pay Snap-On prices for a product you can get for less than sixty bucks from an online tool distributor?
 
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MattPersman

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Apr 1, 2009
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Indiana
I bought a 23 mm socket years ago and use that. I work at a dodge dealer on a lot of trucks. If it were my truck I would get some aftermarket lug nuts and be done with it. the jeeps before the trucks had crappy lug nuts where the caps all fell off. so they have a nice history of junk lug nuts

so if you want to save some money and you run into the crappy lug nuts try a 23 mm socket. GP makes one, I would guess Matco ADV has it as well
 

Outlander

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Last fall I went to change my wheels with the winter tires. Did not get the second lugnut off the first wheel of my Dodge Ram 1500. Took everything to my friendly neighborhood mechanic who I have known for 30 years. He laughed and said he expected to be doing this job on my truck one day.....and he expected I did not have the right sockets to even make an attempt myself. He was right.

Picked it up with shiny new lugnuts and studs. All 20 if I recall correctly.

Of course, it is in his best interest as I dropped it off last week for rear brakes. Made doing the brake job easier, I'm sue, and he had 'squeezed me in' before my weekend ATV ride.
 

bcradio

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Last fall I went to change my wheels with the winter tires. Did not get the second lugnut off the first wheel of my Dodge Ram 1500. Took everything to my friendly neighborhood mechanic who I have known for 30 years. He laughed and said he expected to be doing this job on my truck one day.....and he expected I did not have the right sockets to even make an attempt myself. He was right.

Picked it up with shiny new lugnuts and studs. All 20 if I recall correctly.

Of course, it is in his best interest as I dropped it off last week for rear brakes. Made doing the brake job easier, I'm sue, and he had 'squeezed me in' before my weekend ATV ride.

Anyone know of a good cost effective set of lug nut replacements for a Dodge Ram 1500?

I have those horrible ones on mine and am missing 2 caps already. Also, I spent 20 minutes trying to get a stuck lug out of my 21mm impact socket last time I took off the tires.
 

eljefino

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Feb 21, 2008
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Rockauto has ONE HUNDRED plain steel lugnuts for $20 in at least 1/2 inch by 20?

I worked for two stinking months in a tire store, on weekends, to see if I liked the industry. I also kept my day job in an unrelated field. (thank God-- more on that in a bit.)

I thought it was a local anomaly, having poor and or idiotic customers with **** cars. In hindsight, all mopars. I thought the inch long (tall?) chrome lugnuts were some aftermarket junk from pep boys. As you so aptly describe, they get twisted. I was using 21mm on 19 with an impact and it actually worked! I stuck the mangled nuts back on to be someone else's problem down the road... corporate policy to pass the buck and all.

So one day I was taking these chrome lug nuts off a dodge dakota (see a pattern?) and every single one was getting jammed on my socket. So I'd walk over to my toolbox for a punch to pop things loose, over and over. I was getting frustrated and wanted something that should have taken a lot less time to finish taking so much time so I wouldn't look like an idiot newbie. Eventually I tripped over my own feet and broke my ankle.

And then I decided the physical demands were too much and I should leave it to the pro's. :D
 
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metalhead212121

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if chrysler would stop making ****** lug nuts then you wouldn't even need this lol.

as I always say.... "the end justifies the means." A lot of companies out there believe they gotta make as much profit as possible and if there is a few issues with quality control... well.... they'll just ignore it for as long as they possibly can.

I do like those the design of those sockets by snap on.. havent used them so I cant say how well they work.
 

JDS968

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Apr 14, 2012
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Miami Beach, FL
[rant]
I really [edited] hate those lug nuts. ALL of the Jags have them, and they love to swell up and deform (but much more often on the X-types and S-types, huh wonder why?)

I wouldn't mind much IF I could just use my brass hammer to knock my 19mm Snap-On deep impact onto them, remove them, and then tap them out with an extension. BUT we're not supposed to do that because it dimples the top of the chrome, and the customers don't like that or something. You know what? [edited] the customers, they bring in their [edited] decrepit X-types with ALREADY ruined lug nuts and expect us to work on damaged parts without marking them up any? Either don't ask me to touch them, or replace them, but damaged is damaged and asking me to remove and replace a fastener that doesn't fit the tools anymore is just [edited] stupid.
[/rant]
 
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JDS968

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Also, I spent 20 minutes trying to get a stuck lug out of my 21mm impact socket last time I took off the tires.
If nobody's going to complain...hold the socket in your left hand (or vise, depending on how stuck), drop 3/8" drive extension (impact, if you've got it) through back of socket, tap with brass hammer. A bit of PB Blaster can help greatly.
 

drew03cmc

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Mar 9, 2012
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It is a pain in the ***. Rarely does a day go by that I don't have to **** with messed up lugnuts. 99% of these are on modern Mopar vehicles, Jeeps and Rams. The thing I like about the heavy duty Rams is that their lugnuts are 15/16 rather than 7/8.
 

Ken81590

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Too bad that doesn't help the fact that all Stratus' and Caravan lug nuts threads strip out every time lol. Everytime one of them comes in I know I have to order atleast 10 new lug nuts before even getting started.
 

wafrederick

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It is not only Chrysler using these piece of **** lug nuts,GM uses them too.I found out the price of them from someone that works at a GM plant.GM pays 25 cents a piece for them and then resells them at dealership for $3.00 a piece.Another problem with the chrome cap lugnuts are the caps come off and an 18mm socket needs to be used.
 

drew03cmc

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Too bad that doesn't help the fact that all Stratus' and Caravan lug nuts threads strip out every time lol. Everytime one of them comes in I know I have to order atleast 10 new lug nuts before even getting started.

Bull. I own a T&C, my buddy has a Caravan, I have worked on both multiple times and have NEVER had this happen. In five years in the tire game, I have NEVER had to replace lugnuts on a T&C, Voyager or Caravan. I don't know what you are doing wrong, but you should stop it. Quit crossthreading them and running your impact at full bore. Problem solved.
 

Mr.Nutcase

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Bull. I own a T&C, my buddy has a Caravan, I have worked on both multiple times and have NEVER had this happen. In five years in the tire game, I have NEVER had to replace lugnuts on a T&C, Voyager or Caravan. I don't know what you are doing wrong, but you should stop it. Quit crossthreading them and running your impact at full bore. Problem solved.

Do you have the open nuts, with steel rims? Those dont give problems,
the ones that does are the ones with shell
 

drew03cmc

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Nope, alloys on both. They have the enclosed, chrome covered lugnuts that come apart on your Jeeps.
 

Ken81590

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Bull. I own a T&C, my buddy has a Caravan, I have worked on both multiple times and have NEVER had this happen. In five years in the tire game, I have NEVER had to replace lugnuts on a T&C, Voyager or Caravan. I don't know what you are doing wrong, but you should stop it. Quit crossthreading them and running your impact at full bore. Problem solved.

Don't be so quick to call bull until you work on them every damn day. Stratus' are the worst. 8/10 times they need lug nuts, 6/10 times they need rear brake shoes. That's mainly with stratus' '04 and older. Newer one's I haven't had a problem with.

And trust me, It's not me doing something wrong, it happens with everyone in the shop, it' can be a stratus we have never touched before and the lugs still won't come off right.
 
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ietech

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East Sacramento California
Bull.In five years in the tire game I don't know what you are doing wrong, but you should stop it. Quit crossthreading them and running your impact at full bore. Problem solved.

Fit for tools is the problem I see and that would be found at the initial removal of the lug nuts so I think the following comments apply.

You might keep in mind that the guys are talking about removing the lug nuts being a problem --- In my short 69 years I have never seen ANYONE no matter how inept they were CROSS THREAD anything when removing a nut. I have seen GALLING --- if you know what that is ---- but very rarely.:lol:

PS: five years where I come from is nominal experience ----
 
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JDS968

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Miami Beach, FL
It is not only Chrysler using these piece of **** lug nuts,GM uses them too.I found out the price of them from someone that works at a GM plant.GM pays 25 cents a piece for them and then resells them at dealership for $3.00 a piece.Another problem with the chrome cap lugnuts are the caps come off and an 18mm socket needs to be used.
$3.00?? I wish. If only they were $3.00 each, I could probably get away with telling the writers to sell full sets of them as SOP. Up until recently they were running something like $68.00 each (I am not making this up), making them nearly impossible to sell, no matter how badly damaged (and for good reason, who would buy a $68 lug nut for a passenger car??) Recently they made some (all?) of them significantly cheaper, something like $25 each, which is still crazy and doesn't help much when I get a car with 10-20 bad lug nuts, but does help when it's only 1 or 2 of them.
 
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drew03cmc

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Don't be so quick to call bull until you work on them every damn day. Stratus' are the worst. 8/10 times they need lug nuts, 6/10 times they need rear brake shoes. That's mainly with stratus' '04 and older. Newer one's I haven't had a problem with.

And trust me, It's not me doing something wrong, it happens with everyone in the shop, it' can be a stratus we have never touched before and the lugs still won't come off right.

With the amount of Strati I have worked on, yes, I can say that. I have never had an issue with Stratus lugnuts. Jeep Grand Cherokees and Ram 1/2T pickups are the worst. I replace lugnuts maybe 1/20 Grands and 1/30 Rams. If you are having more issues, that must be a volume thing, but no way in hell is it 80% that you have to replace them. I can see maybe 2/10, but 8/10 is an exaggeration.

Oh, and Ken, I do work on them everyday ;)
 
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House Sparrow

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Lewistown, PA
I guess that's one good thing about the fact that my 2011 Ram 2500 HD is pretty close to a "base" truck. Fake chrome wheels with plastic centers that snap over the plain, old open 15/16 nuts. No snazzy chrome caps to f**k up and disfigure. The fake chrome wheels really don't look all that bad, either.
 

Ken81590

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With the amount of Strati I have worked on, yes, I can say that. I have never had an issue with Stratus lugnuts. Jeep Grand Cherokees and Ram 1/2T pickups are the worst. I replace lugnuts maybe 1/20 Grands and 1/30 Rams. If you are having more issues, that must be a volume thing, but no way in hell is it 80% that you have to replace them. I can see maybe 2/10, but 8/10 is an exaggeration.

Oh, and Ken, I do work on them everyday ;)

Well then it must be a North East thing (rust). Because, believe it or not, I'm not exaggerating.
 

drew03cmc

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In Kansas, we get a great amount of rust, but we don't have nearly that kind of issue. I assume it is definitely a NE thing then.
 

House Sparrow

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The NE US is the rust capital of the world. If rubber and plastic ever figure out how to rust, it will happen here first. Liquid road salt is a killer corrosion agent.
 

Murphy4570

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Feb 27, 2012
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West Deptford NJ
[rant]
I really [edited] hate those lug nuts. ALL of the Jags have them, and they love to swell up and deform (but much more often on the X-types and S-types, huh wonder why?)

I wouldn't mind much IF I could just use my brass hammer to knock my 19mm Snap-On deep impact onto them, remove them, and then tap them out with an extension. BUT we're not supposed to do that because it dimples the top of the chrome, and the customers don't like that or something. You know what? [edited] the customers, they bring in their [edited] decrepit X-types with ALREADY ruined lug nuts and expect us to work on damaged parts without marking them up any? Either don't ask me to touch them, or replace them, but damaged is damaged and asking me to remove and replace a fastener that doesn't fit the tools anymore is just [edited] stupid.
[/rant]

Dude, haven't you figured out how to solve that issue by now?

Learn how to refuse work. I do from time to time. Let some other mechanic deal with that nightmare job that comes knocking on the bay door every now and then. It isn't worth the stress and aggravation.
 

Skin

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he sounds like he works at a jaguar dealership. Not sure it would go over well refusing to work on what you sell.
 

The Dutchman

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PA
Problem with the mopar 22mm lugnuts is simetimes a 23 mm socket is a tight fit for them, much less a 22.5. Not one of the hardest problems to solve, though!
 

Wakefield

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The NE US is the rust capital of the world. If rubber and plastic ever figure out how to rust, it will happen here first. Liquid road salt is a killer corrosion agent.

We are seeing trucks spraying some kind of saltwater down,it is something new,when there is just a prediction that it might snow.
"Pretreatment" is a buzzword now and the public doesn't seem to understand that salt eats cars and is a pollutant that builds up in soil and poisons plants.
 

joecon

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Oct 4, 2010
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I have seen this for years mostly in GMs if I remember.I used to keep aftermarket
lugnuts in stock, mcgard was the brand I used 1/2 the price and a prmadent solution.
even if the cars are not exposed to salt they will start to fail if they come off and on
enuff.
 
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