Best lug nuts...

Riptide

Will work for Mustang.
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fdjizm

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Nice little fix courtesy of the paintball industry

20190413-113815.jpg


Before
20190413-112902.jpg


After
20190413-112847.jpg


Just enough clearance to spin freely in the hole. Love it!
 

fdjizm

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Yes those are the good ones, little skinny but should work fine as opposed to the other lugs made of play-dough.
I didn't like the gap between the lug and the wheel so I made some spacers.
 

808muscle

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Yes those are the good ones, little skinny but should work fine as opposed to the other lugs made of play-dough.
I didn't like the gap between the lug and the wheel so I made some spacers.


Thanks dude.....I'll see if I can make some of those spacers too.
 

08MustangDude

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The lugs that came with my wife's 2009 focus are total junk. I did a search on it and it was surprising to read how many other people had the same thing happening with them. At this point we're going to have to completely replace them. If I let them go any longer, it's gonna be a pita getting them to back off.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a...g-ford-drivers-time-and-money-lawsuit-claims/
ALL cars that have the lugs with the metal jackets/covers suffer the same fate.
My former Charger, same deal, but the driver sides always swell up first. The
heat causes them to swell. Air tools scar them... Even with the Mustang, the
driver side ones were swelled up. Then the rust keeps them swelled up.. I needed
to go up to 20mm to get them off the driver side; same with my Charger, +1mm
to get them off when I had it. I did replace all the Charger ones with nice SOLID
chrome lugs... I sold the car, they're still on, and not rusted...

The best replacements are SOLID lugs, no metal jacket/cover. I just used a set from a
2013 Viper, I got them for free, so why not... I did buy solid ones prior, but they rusted,
and looked bad...

Thing is, the good ones cost $5-$9 a lug, for the nice SOLID ones. Don't get the cheap
ass eBay $24.00 set, they will rust within 5 months. The chrome plating came off
easily. I was going to evap-o-rust them all, and paint them black, but for the work,
wasn't worth it. They were solid lugs, bad quality. I was given some other lugs that fit,
then given a complete set of '13 Viper lugs, and used those. I have a good 12-15 extra
ones too.
 

fdjizm

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ALL cars that have the lugs with the metal jackets/covers suffer the same fate.
My former Charger, same deal, but the driver sides always swell up first. The
heat causes them to swell. Air tools scar them... Even with the Mustang, the
driver side ones were swelled up. Then the rust keeps them swelled up.. I needed
to go up to 20mm to get them off the driver side; same with my Charger, +1mm
to get them off when I had it. I did replace all the Charger ones with nice SOLID
chrome lugs... I sold the car, they're still on, and not rusted...

The best replacements are SOLID lugs, no metal jacket/cover. I just used a set from a
2013 Viper, I got them for free, so why not... I did buy solid ones prior, but they rusted,
and looked bad...

Thing is, the good ones cost $5-$9 a lug, for the nice SOLID ones. Don't get the cheap
ass eBay $24.00 set, they will rust within 5 months. The chrome plating came off
easily. I was going to evap-o-rust them all, and paint them black, but for the work,
wasn't worth it. They were solid lugs, bad quality. I was given some other lugs that fit,
then given a complete set of '13 Viper lugs, and used those. I have a good 12-15 extra
ones too.
What lug nuts cost $5-$9 each? I have to see these.
Are they made out of titanium? lol
 

08MustangDude

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What lug nuts cost $5-$9 each? I have to see these.
Are they made out of titanium? lol
Yeah, no kidding.. Someone I know that works in a shop, if they were
to replace them, they want $5.50 each. The dude keeps asking me if
I want lug-nuts, and I keep saying; "Not at $5.00 a piece dude!" Yeah,
he thinks his are made of gold..

McGard Chrome or Black Chrome - $9.29
McGard Cheapie - ~$3.00
Dorman $1.99 - $7.99, various makes and metals, and quality.

I am saying GOOD SOLID lugs that are going to last, are going to be a little pricey.
I don't want the ones with the metal jackets, and I don't want ones that are
going to peal or rust...
 

Pentalab

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Are you folks using..... 'never seize' on the studs ? I do, and it makes lug removal a snap. You also don't require as much torque. 80- 90 ft lbs is ample.

If you look at any fastener specs, you will see both a ...'dry' and also a ..'wet' tq rating. ( wet is lubricated). The wet tq rating is tp 60-70% of the dry rating. You are not after tq per se.... but tightness, between 2 x surfaces.
 

08MustangDude

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I never have galling or rust issues, and you WILL NOT if you always tighten
them to spec. The reason they get stuck on, is when tire shops, or a local
shop air-guns them on. I have never, EVER had a lug-nut I could not get
off. When I get my car back from the shop, I will loosen them, and then
torque them to spec. Damage to the casing of the lug is also done when
they're on too tight and the casing sheers, or strips out. This stuff won't
happen if they torqued on right from the beginning. Air guns can severely
over-torque them. If any lube was used, well, they're WAY over torqued
with an air tool.

You only have rusted on issues with steel rim at the ball or acorn seat, not
with alloy or aluminum. In fact, with those, once you torque and run it 100
miles, you need to retorque.

80-90 ft-lbs WET is the same as 100 dry, because you still over-torqued
at ~90 wet. You allow for up to 15% over torque when "wet." You're
just under torquing to account for the lubrication. If you were to torque
to 100 wet, you're at 110 or 115. SO, yeah, 80-90 wet will be ~98 dry.

Seriously, all you need do is tighten to factory spec, and they should never get
stuck, unless they're steel rims without any covers. Or, simply replace the
jacketed lugs with sold ones, and still don't over torque.

In the case of the casings expanding, you only need to upsize the socket,
as I did. They're 19mm, I needed 20mm to get the driver side off. They
were not king-konged on either, they came right off, and I replaced them.
If the casing falls apart or breaks, then you hammer on a socket that
fits and take them off, you will be replacing them anyway. Once the
lug is lose, you can knock the socket off by hitting it side to side, then
repeat on the other damaged lugs. Don't over think it, the simple solutions
are usually the ones that work.
 

Pentalab

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If you get a flat tire...and try and use the rinky dink lug wrench on most cars..have fun....esp after some 16 yr old with his airgun has gone to town on em. That happened to a buddy at work....who was on a hunting trip, in the middle of nowhere... in late fall..with his pickup.

You are correct though, re-trq em to your own specs. I have had what appears to be minor surface rust or crud build up on the threads of the studs...hence the use of never seize. I use never seize on SS fasteners for other applications, so have loads of it in the shop.

I had a few of the oem acorn lug nuts go awry on my 2010 stang. Finally got pissed off with em, and replaced all 20 with quality nuts. On long rd trips, I take the 2' long tq wrench...+ 1-2 spare nuts.

I did have one of the oem nuts on my 2011 Fusion separate....pita. Piss poor quality.
 

08MustangDude

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I keep a 1/2" drive pry-bar and socket instead of a lug-wrench. Though my factory
tire iron is almost as long. I also have a 12V Kawasaki electric impact in my primary
work vehicle, and plug kit. Man, that makes changing to the spare so easy and fast.
Then I can stop at a sheetz, plug the original tire, and get it back on.

Pry-bar also makes for a nice billy-club...
 

07 Boss

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So I got the good McGards and the racestar shitlugs, both have play in the hole for the lugs. McGard has a bit more.
I am going to make some sleeves to take up that space, my OCD won't let me run them like that.

Kinda feels like I am creating a big impact wrench out of the wheel with the amount it moves around the lugs, I can't image that is great for hard launches.
No bueno and a bit disappointed in the loose tolerances with these wheels.
Yup, I am aware everyone runs them like that just seems shitty. And pretty sure I can do something about it.

Don't they have a conical end on those? The shape of the lug end centers the hole over the stud. Play between the shank of the nut and the wheel does not hold it on.
 

fdjizm

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Don't they have a conical end on those? The shape of the lug end centers the hole over the stud. Play between the shank of the nut and the wheel does not hold it on.
No it definitely does not you can wiggle the lug in the hole all you want.
Pics below...
 

07 Boss

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No it definitely does not you can wiggle the lug in the hole all you want.
Pics below...

Yeah, but once you put it on a stud and torque it down it will center itself. That's the way it is designed. The shank of the lug does nothing to hold the wheel in place and there is no play when they are torqued properly.
 

fdjizm

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Yeah, but once you put it on a stud and torque it down it will center itself. That's the way it is designed. The shank of the lug does nothing to hold the wheel in place and there is no play when they are torqued properly.
I just don’t see how that is possible, the end of the lugnut just has a washer on it that sits flat against the wheel. There is nothing to center the actual lug in the wheel, the face of the hole in the wheel is flat. And so is the washer that goes around the lugnut. Maybe you have a different wheel?

The wheel when all lugnuts are in and not tight yet can be clocked back and forth (when the sleeves I have are not in) because of not filling the hole up enough. As I’m sure you can imagine that’s a do it yourself impact wrench smacking your lugs when you launch hard on slicks.
 

07 Boss

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I just don’t see how that is possible, the end of the lugnut just has a washer on it that sits flat against the wheel. There is nothing to center the actual lug in the wheel, the face of the hole in the wheel is flat. And so is the washer that goes around the lugnut. Maybe you have a different wheel?

The wheel when all lugnuts are in and not tight yet can be clocked back and forth (when the sleeves I have are not in) because of not filling the hole up enough. As I’m sure you can imagine that’s a do it yourself impact wrench smacking your lugs when you launch hard on slicks.

Don't they have a conical end on those? The shape of the lug end centers the hole over the stud. Play between the shank of the nut and the wheel does not hold it on.


My Race Stars use washers that center the lug. I thought we were talking about Race Stars and replacing the lugs for those.

If you are using washers, are they not asymmetrical? Don't they sit in some kind of recess or tabs? I have washers on my old Cragar SS wheels and they center the lug in the hole. I only know of 3 kinds of lugs for wheels. Conical, Ball and Mag. The conical and ball use the shape of the bolt to center it. Mag style lugs use a washer to center the lug. In my 39 years of driving and wrenching on cars have I ever seen a wheel that allowed rotational movement of the wheel while it was bolted on.

Can you post up a pic of the front face of the wheel showing the holes for the lugs?
 
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