Swollen lug nuts

I had new tires put on last Friday at Americas tire, made a point to get it in writing that the lugs nuts were to be started, tightened, and then torqued all by hand. The guy mad a big deal about it and tried to tell me that the gun is fine, yada yada yada... Told him if he wants the sale to do it that way or I will find another shop. They did it all by hand, the shop guy was not happy about it, but hey it's my truck bro- after he did it I kicked him a 20 after to say thank you.

 

Yes my OEM was swollen becuase of the thin sheet metal wrapped around.

America's Tire sold me 24 Gorilla solid lug nuts for $50. I thought that was a fair price because Wheeler's Offroad is charging $60 for the same Gorilla lug nuts.

 

They a a good deal . Costco sells them for 1.75 each

 

Only time I've ever seen them 'swell' is when someone took a 22mm or 7/8 to our lugs. They do that once, and congratulations - you now have 22mm lugs.

At least ours are better off than ford. Even with the right size socket the tin can wrapping warps then you're using a hammer to remove, install, and torque. Try doing that 20 times to remove lugs, 20 times to install, and another 20 to torque

Always get solid metal lugs, none of this tin can coated crap or you'll be on the side of the road pounding your tire iron on with a rock when you have a flat.

 

I had to replace the front hub on my 2006 Tacoma the other day, imagine my surprise when I could barely get a socket on the lug nuts. I went ahead and bought 6 new ones from Toyota to finish the job and then today to Discount tire to complain about them wrecking my lug nuts. They gave me the same story about "swollen lug nuts" and kind of blew me off. So, I asked to speak to the manager and asked him why I hadn't been informed about the problem in the last 10 times I've had the tires balanced. After asking how I was going to change a tire on the road with the trucks lug wrench that didn't fit, he changed his tune and gave me a box of lug nuts with an extended head. I can't really blame Discount though, Toyota sold me the same lug nut that would probably "swell" and be a nightmare on the side of the road...

 

It’s probably because they are using a 21.5mm socket.
Most shops have them, you almlost have to if you are in the tire business.
It’s so common, most shops don’t even think to tell the customer.

I will agree, it would be nice to tell the customer “before the customer” has to change the wheel.

And yes, I found out the hard way.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/i-got-a-case-of-the-swollen-nuts.686539/