PSA swollen lug nuts

[rmsg0040]

Recently I bought the Milwaukee stubby 2554 impact wrench and decided to test them on my mom's Equinox as they have the highest torque spec of all the vehicles our family has at 125 ft lb.

Using a step up adapter I used a 22mm socket and it was a no go which surprised me because the Milwaukee is rated at 250 ft lb.

1/2" Breaker bar 24" long was a no go also.

Tried my Milwaukee 2763 and thought for sure but also failed.

Upon closer inspection I noticed that some of lug nuts were swollen.

Went to Napa and bought some solid one piece design lug nuts.

Had to hammer on the socket for some of them. Using my SLF80 ratchet and a 4 foot pipe, my dad was pulling and I was pushing. I thought the ratchet was going to break or the studs would have sheared but luckily I was to get them off with a little bit of effort.

Researching online I noticed that a couple of car manufactures have this problem

Just something to be aware of


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[TTA89]

My 2015 F150 had the same issue, it's very common on those as well. I ordered replacements from these guys and they have been perfect so far.

http://www.gorilla-auto.com/lug-nuts

 

[4xdog]

My old XJ Cherokee used to lose stainless covers on its lug nuts from time to time, but I never found that those covers affected tightness of the nut.

 

[Bad Eye Bill]

Not uncommon, deal with them almost daily, make of vehicle has no bearing.

 

[rmsg0040]

I talked to a guy at work about them, he said he had an old Chrysler and that the cover would fall off so when you go to use the socket you expect it wasn't right

Imagine being in an emergency situation on the road

 

[FULLSCALE302]

Definitely an ongoing issue. I wonder why the OE nuts are like that, you’d think it’d be less expensive to make a one piece nut. I look after the seasonal tire changes for many of my family members so every new vehicle that is purchased gets a shiny new set of solid McGard nuts.

 

[F451]

Imagine being in an emergency situation on the road

Exactly why I changed them out on my '17 F150. Dark, raining, towing a horse trailer, can't change a flat?

No thanks.

 

[bwringer]

Yup, them thangs is pure d-u-m. DUMB.

And yeah, no matter the manufacturer, they WILL corrode and swell sooner or later.

No idea why any manufacturer uses the feckin' things.


Also, it seems you had two separate but sorta related issues -- swollen nuts on the outside, bad corrosion on the inside.

Once you found a way to turn them, if you had to get a hunka pipe that long to get them off, it's very possible the studs are weakened. I'd very seriously consider replacing the studs. Cheap and easy, most of the time.

 

[PoorOwner]

I have problem with the Volvo have to replace them regularly because the cover is aluminum and comes loose from impact use 19mm cover inside is a 18mm but that is thru hole. Using a impact that is weak breaks them due to too much wiggle and not turning the nut.

I have not found Mcgard or gorilla make the taper cone outside diameter as big as the factory ones so I have not replaced them! The factory hole OD is quite large.

 

[finn]

A maintenance schedule with regular tire rotation should at least make one aware that the lugs need replacement.

Should also prevent the seized lugs.

Were the tires ever rotated on the Equinox, or is it on a typical “drive it until it stops running, then panic “ maintenance schedule?

 

[Showkey]

There is another post on the topic.......

There is warranty extension or recall on some Ford products and class action law suit. Yes....the lawyers will collect millions.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/s...ng-ford-drivers-time-and-money-lawsuit-claims


There are under and over size sockets to deal with the issue as well. Impacts seems to make the problem worse.........hand wrench helps.

 

[sberry]

Stuck = dry install and too tight. Did my neighbors 15 150, bad too.

 

[Showkey]

Grease or never seize on lug nuts and how it effects torque and clamping force values is completely different topic. Over tightening/under torque and no torque wrench is another topic.

The lug nut covers was a cost saving that went bad over time........thank the product cheapening Department.

 

[welder4956]

Already had to change out the lug nuts on our 2015 Expedition due to this issue. I bought aftermarket solid ones, don't recall the brand but got them on Amazon. A lot of the issue is use of an impact gun distorts the chrome covers to the point that a socket won't fit on the lug. Owner's manual says no impact tools to be used, but no doubt every time the Ford dealer rotated the tires they used an impact gun to do it. No one other than the Ford dealer rotated the tires on this car. I pulled the wheels to change brakes twice, but used a breaker bar and socket both times. Also have to torque the lug nuts to 150 ft-lb on this car, so a torque wrench is needed on the reinstall. I doubt the Ford dealer did that. Definitely a bad design.

Edit: Here are the ones I bought - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JIUKHG0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[snyder]

Snap on , maybe others even make a special half size socket that fits lug nuts missing the cover. I.E, 18 .5 mm. I replace these two piece nuts with the solid style on our families cars.

 

[Bruce Amacker]

This seems to be an American issue that's been around for several decades- how about Asian cars? I've never seen skinned lug nuts on one.

 

[Two Speed]

Imagine being in an emergency situation on the road

I stopped for some lady in distress like that, flat tire, can't get the tire off. Luckily I was in my work truck so had plenty of options, ended up cutting a piece of sheet metal to hammer between the socket and lug nut. Put them back on the same way, gave the lady the strip of sheet, told her to have the shop she goes to put on solid lug nuts, not the capped junk or she'll be stuck with the same problem again.

Back when I started driving, same deal, factory capped lugnut had me stranded for longer than necessary, luckily old school steel wheel and some vice grips to the rescue. From that day forward, the first thing I do is replace any capped lug nuts with real acorns.

Alex.

 

[larry4406]

My 2012 Ford Focus has this same swollen lug nut problem. I buy replacements from NAPA and they have the same disease.

Never thought of lug nuts as a consumable.

Any link to solid units like days of old?

 

[rmsg0040]

^^ Replacements I got were from NAPA and they were 1 piece solid design

 

[rmsg0040]

A maintenance schedule with regular tire rotation should at least make one aware that the lugs need replacement.

Should also prevent the seized lugs.

Were the tires ever rotated on the Equinox, or is it on a typical “drive it until it stops running, then panic “ maintenance schedule?

I am the one that finds the problems, last year I popped the hood on my sister's car and noticed that the serp belt split in two

 

[plinker]

Daily thing here. Any brand vehicle is affected. The 1/2 size flip sockets, 22.5, 21.5,19.5 & 18.5 sockets get used regularly, even a 20mm is handy at times.

 

[58Yeoman]

I had those same stupid design nuts on my 76 Dodge Aspen. You would think that they would've have gotten rid of them by now.

 

[finn]

The capped lug nuts on my thirty year old plow truck swelled and separated. No problem, though. The base lug nut still works fine, it just takes the next size down socket.

I lube the nuts every few years to keep thread corrosion in check.

 

[scissorman]

I haven't run across a single nut or bolt that my IR W7150 wouldn't remove. Those tin covered lug nuts are garbage as you've discovered and always get thrown away if/when I come across them.

 

[Jazz1]

I replace with steel or chrome lug nuts and scrap any lug nuts with covers. Had one give me trouble once and decided they are not fit to go on any vehicle i own. Just asking for grief using cover nuts.

 

[428PI]

I work in a shop that inspects 15 cars a day by removing the wheels, etc. Never in a couple of years have had to resort to cheater pipes to get lug nuts off. Just a good 1/2 inch impact. Yes, the Ford's are the worst for swollen nuts. We do replace them if need be. I suspect it's more to do with salt corrosion. I've got original on my 96 Lincoln and they're fine and I always use impacts to remove and replace them. I believe that the stainless steel cover doesn't rust and look bad like a solid chrome nut could with time.

 

[Eric29]

You can use something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007QV22A2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

It worked when I’ve used it on cars

 

[chaosracing]

My dad's 1990 F150 had the capped style. We would replace them every so often due to lost caps (luckily our one neighbor worked at a Ford Dealer and brought a bunch home) I never had a problem with any other vehicles since that one (01 Sport Trac, 08 Explorer, 98 F150, 02 F250, 12 F250, 14 F150, 08 F150, forget years Expedition and Escape, plus the Ford trucks at work)

 

[theoldwizard1]

Went to Napa and bought some solid one piece design lug nuts.

Sadly almost ALL OEMS use those stupid lug nut chrome caps that peel off after they have been tightened and loosened 5 or 10 times.

Get some buddies together with the same size lugs. You can but Gorilla (solid) chrome lugs for about $0.66 EACH in quantity of 100 on eBay. That is $13.20 for all 20 lug nuts ! CHEAP !!

 

[tinmanwpk]

My 2015 F150 had the same issue, it's very common on those as well. I ordered replacements from these guys and they have been perfect so far.

http://www.gorilla-auto.com/lug-nuts

Gorilla are what you want. Guys on my car forum swap them out all the time and Gorilla is our "go-to".

 

[nh_yota]

This seems to be an American issue that's been around for several decades- how about Asian cars? I've never seen skinned lug nuts on one.

They are common on Toyota alloy wheels. I have to use a 22mm socket on my 21mm capped lug nuts.

 

[gungatim]

nothing new, those style lugnuts have been in use since the mid 70's...especially GM's. since they are hollow, you can sometimes poke a hole in the center and pry the chrome cap off and use the next size down socket...

 

[cupcakemike]

I had those 2 piece jobs on a fullsize Chrysler car that had 14mm studs...a couple of the lugnuts wouldn't come loose on one wheel from corrosion, etc. Dealership had to cut a wheel off because even their 1" impact wouldnt snap the stud. Crazy stuff. I meediately replaced with gorilla lugnuts

 

[Lonnies Performance]

The stainless caps **** for sure. Unfortunately they seem to be used by almost all manufacturers. My friends '19 Dodge RAM has had the wheels off twice & the stainless covers are already distorted. My CTS has only been installed/removed by hand & they are even showing wear.

Some of the ones that wont come off are due to corrosion in the area of the taper seat, not the threads. I recently had one on my car require a large breaker bar to remove. The threads were coated in anti-seize & previously tightened with torque wrench.

Another interesting item... I've seen torque ranges for 14mm lugs anywhere from 120-150ft/lb. I was checking the lugs on the '19 RAM (at 125) & a few did not want to come up to setting. The manual called for 130. Found out they sprayed WD40 on a few studs. I tighten my CTS to 125 with Anti-seize (calls for 140 dry) so I was rather surprised.

 

[Justind97]

For those of you that don't want to buy solid chrome ones from online, you can get solid ones from Costco, and they're about $13 for a set of 20.

 

[bwringer]

This seems to be an American issue that's been around for several decades- how about Asian cars? I've never seen skinned lug nuts on one.

They are common on Toyota alloy wheels. I have to use a 22mm socket on my 21mm capped lug nuts.

Yup. I've had to replace three or four of these on my 2010 Sienna. The others are showing no signs of problems, but I check them carefully at every tire rotation and keep a few spares on hand.

My Sienna is sort of American; it was built in Toyota's factory in Princeton, Indiana. One of my cousins might have helped build it.


And yeah, it's much worse on Ford and Chrysler vehicles, in my limited experience.

 

[epmills]

Worst yet is Mercedes lug bolts. Chrome cap combined with a terrible designed head. It takes a standard 17mm, but over time it distorts and you have to beat sockets on, and beat the bolt out of the socket. After market makes special sockets that fit the contours better, but I have yet to see any that don't split after about 2 uses.

 

[Jbullfrog]

The morons that design new vehicles need to drive one in the midwest for a year before they are allowed to make decisions. Capped nuts, GM's plastic clad alloy rims, the obsession with 19 and 20 inch wheels and low pro tires, fender liners that are looped at the bottom, receiver hitches that are closed at the front, Ford's chrome running boards with cutouts around the treads, every crossover suv and the massive voids under the plastic on the tailgates that collect gravel dust, It's a never ending list of thoughtless designs that customers have to deal with in the end.