our tacoma's "21.5mm" lug nuts + costco = stripped lug nut hell!

i tried to rotate my tires this weekend. my jack is too short, and my special 4x6 lumber "Shim" was missing. rotation failed.

my wife saw my frustration and saw me shopping for a new and improved high lift floor jack, decided to help out. she took my truck to costco for my free rotation and balance. i was touched, but nervous when she called from the shop.

sure enough, she said my truck has "mal bings" which is taiwanese for "big problems". what? she said the tech stripped 3 of the 6 lugs on my front driver's side. and the tech said it was not his fault because the 21mm socket could not slide on the lug. ok..

CRAP!! i left work an hour early and surveyed the damage. i got some bolt outs, including some lug removal tools. i ran thru the closest sizes, and managed to spin the retarded chrome sleeve loose. i pryed it off with a small prybar, and revealed the most beautiful sight..a relatively UNMOLESTED 20mm steel lug underneath. it was tight as a mother effer, but i got it off with a simple ratchet with some minor stripping.. i took off the other less stripped lugs..and replaced with 3 new toyota lugs ($15).

all of mine are tight, so i use a 22mm with no issues. the costco tech went at it with a 21mm.

i am gonna buy all new aftermarket lugs..when i find them. this problem any where but on my driveway would have been disasterous.

pics.

 

she wants to go back to costco to let them finish the driver's side. err..no.

i'll take them off, let them balance them..and take them home for the reinstall. they are not touching those weird lugs.

 

My 21mm 6-point socket fits my lug nuts just fine.

I think it is more likely operator error, or the dipwad tried to use a 12 point socket.

 

It's common. Those little "sleeves" swell up and it's hard to get the correct socket size on. The little "sleeves" are very common on most lug nuts. Chrylser is horrible for swollen lug nuts. Toyota lugs are 21mm.

The most correct and crappy way to remove lugs like this are to beat a socket over the lug with a hammer, then remove the lug. You'll more than likey have a crappy mintue of then beating on your socket to get the lug out. Rinse, repeat at worst 24 times. (6 lugs x 4 wheels)

I would not consider what happened to you "stipped lug nut" worthy. Stripped lug nuts would not tighten down when installed on the lug studs, it would be hard to even get them on the studs to begin with. They just damaged those retarded little sleeves that cover the lug.

 

x2, I would guess improper use of a worn down 12 point socket was the problem. Either that or the socket was deep enough and he was only catching the top of the lug. My 21mm 6 point works fine as well with a 3" extension to get the ratchet out past the tire.

 

If he only screwed up a couple of lugs, why not just replace the damaged ones? There is nothing wrong with the stock lugs, and they fit your rims perfectly. It just seems like a waste to go buy a complete new set just because some dushbag did not know what he was doing and damaged a couple of yours...

 

Next time you rotate them yourself always put anti sieze on the threads as well, and make sure you are using a torque wrench with the proper spec for the lugs. Snap on makes a pre calibrated torque stick for an impact gun which is what I use every time makes it alot quicker to rotate the tires.

 

You should bebe ablebuy the stock looking lugnuts that are solid and not sleeved from any tire shop for like $2 a piece. The same thing will happen to the Toyota ones you bought.

 

Sorry for spelling errors in above post... Stupid phone

 

I replaced all of the lugs on my truck because I do my own rotations if needed and did so when I first got the truck, I got the socket stuck on this one nut that was getting on my nerves, it looked just fine but did not fit for shit! I have not had any isues with the new nuts so maybe I had one bad one, that was the only one that did that.

 

I use a 13/16" socket on stock OEM lugs. That's the size specified on McGard's web site. Fits very well.

BTW, where is the jack coming up short, in the front or in the rear? In the front, for brief work like changing wheels, I put the jack under the LCA.

 

Your story reminds me of this.

I think your tech was sick on lug nut day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itoEIFm4y5A

 

done with this. found Wheeler's supplied Gorilla hardware on my desk this morning.

hate spending $$ on wheel hardware.