Swollen Nuts

Lured by title. Disappoint.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPpcfH_HHH8

 

This thread deserves a picture of Randy and a wheelbarrow from South Park.

 

Problem and answer - buy solid steel replacements.

 

So, are swollen nuts cheaply made?

What makes them swell?

To me...swell means they expand and possibly require a bigger lug nut to remove?

Or do they get so tight around the groves they are hard to remove and break off?

I'm so confused. lol

 

I was serious in my previous post.
That was a WTF is this crap…..?
It won’t happen again.

 

Never experienced swollen nuts...therefore,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDhJU_cNCZE

 

ELO......
Brings back memories....

I'm not that old, But we had a garage with a radio. And my dad controlled the radio.
Many hours spent in that garage "fixing stuff". Mostly a 1979 Trans Am and a bunch of dirt bikes.

 

Yea, happens pretty often on most vehicles that have chrome capped lugnuts. Using a worn out/incorrect size socket on them will speed things along as far as the caps swelling (like using a 7/8 on a 21mm lug nut).

Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep/Ram and Ford seem to be the worst about it, don't see it too often on other stuff.

Just replace them with solid lugnuts when they start getting to a point that the socket is starting to get stuck on them.

 

I believe the cladding material is a "deep forming" alloy of stainless steel. The ability to "deep form" also means it is easily deformed by a loose fitting socket hammering on the corners of the hex. My '74 Oldsmobile had these dumb things too.

Sloppy tire mechanics use that 21.5 mm socket first - rather than trying the right one - which ruins the corners of a brand new clad nut.

 

No. The issue is corrosion between the lug nut and the "chrome cap" on the lug nut.
It's not the sloppy mechanic.......
It's a cost vs beauty thing.
They made it "look better" by using a cheap chrome cap on a steel lug nut.

 

Is that why they're misshaped?

 

Hard to believe the thread has made it this far without any specific recommendations for replacement solid steel lug nuts. (In this case, for alloy wheels.)

Here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/lugnuts-going-from-stock-steelies-to-alloy.838777/#post-30028635

 

I lube my nuts. Had the swelling years ago on another Toyota.
Yes, it's a stainless wrap on a steel nut. The threaded portion needs to be carbon steel so it has the hardness to retain the threads over multiple cycles of removal and installation. The stainless wrap keeps it looking pretty.

I squirt a little WD-40 into each one from time to time. My truck is a 2014 and has one nut that's getting a little tight in the socket so it won't completely eliminate the problem, but it will help.

 

Figured I'd Google it to get a better understanding...................


DONT DO THAT!!!


Thanks for the updated lug nut recommendations.

 

they are 2 piece metal cover over a solid core. over time the outer cap gets loose and deformed/swollen. And socket either slips or you have to hammer on a socket to loosen the lug nut.

 

Which did you go with?

 

I prefer to lube the stud. Find they screw better

 

I will admit to having lost the name of the solid steel nut vendor I used - but I did take two samples to work and tested them for hardness. just to make sure they were up to the job. After I sprung to buy them, I was thinking it would sure be dumb to get some soft "wanna be's"....... They've been through a couple of tire changes and still look and work OK in the socket.

I believe the studs are metric 10.9 material (SAE Grade 8) so the nuts should be 8.8 (Similar to SAE Grade 5). Internal threads are mechanically stronger than male threads due to the geometry (greater root diameter).