Alloy Lug Nut Dangers

[DLO01]

Hey guys,

Thought I would start this thread after speaking to a number of Qld boys and seeing that many people don't know the dangers when buying aftermarket Alloy Lug Nuts for their wheels.

We all consider the basic things when buying a lug nut:

- Thread width
- Thread pitch

Sure we think this is all to take in to account (me included originally) but there are other issues that you need to consider when buying these Alloy Nuts.

1. Oem wheels and Aftermaket Alloy Lug nuts: The "Seating" face. Honda Oem wheels have a 'bowled' (Acorn) ball seating face and by looking at your Oem wheel nuts you can observe this. (see photo below) See how the chrome oem nut, seat face is 'curved'. Next to it is a aftermarket Alloy nut. See how its mating face is chamfered, not curved, but straight. You can also see on this aftermarket item the affects when using it mated against a Oem curved seated wheel (see the wear mark around the top). As you can see, because of the mis-match of mating surfaces the whole surface area is focused along 1 point around the nut. "So?" you may think? Well instead of the whole load being distributed across the 'whole' 100% mating surface. You are now distributing the load over at a guess 10% or less of the area and it will astronomically multiply in load at that point. The dangers speak for themselves. These Nuts were not designed for this focused load and can and may fail.



This is the nuts I had on my ITR oem wheels. ie. not good.


2. Aftermarket Alloy Lug nuts and Wheel Studs: Another thing we all do is chuch these Alloy nuts on without considering the strength difference between Alloy nuts Vs Oem Steel nuts. Sure they are "forged" alloy, but they will never be as strong as Oem 'given the same length of thread'. So therefore it is extreemly recomended to purchase "Extended Wheel Studs" for these Alloy nuts. This will give them extra thread to bite on to. Skunk2 recomends the use of extended wheel studs when using their Alloy Nuts as I am sure a lot of other top companies would. And a tip, don't use an air gun to tighten up your nuts, use a manual brace.

These are the different types off seats, Ball (OEM wheel), Conical (aftermarket wheel)



This Checklist is what we SHOULD consider when buying Alloy Lug nuts:

Thread size
Thread pitch
Mating surface profile (make sure your lug nuts are matching to your wheels)
Extended wheel studs (install these when using Alloy lug nuts)
Torquing the lug nuts (Use a manual hand wheel brace, not a air gun)
Buy a brand name quality product (No substitute for quality)

To sum up. Sure these aftermarket lug nuts are cool, light and a cheap addition to your car. But we really need to take in the consequences of just throwing them on our cars. It is a big safety issue which I don't think is that well known out there. I hope this write up thread provides some information to everyone on the dangers that can be involved with a what we think is 'just a simple/straight forward mod'.

Please, if there is any other info you wish me to add to this post, discuss away and I will endeavor to keep it up to date.

Additional Reference:

http://customwheelsmarket.com/wheelinkit.html

[T-onedc2]

Nice heads up there Dean! Does this not apply to using after market lug nuts with aftermarket wheels? i.e. I have Work rims with Work lug nuts.

[beeza]

Nice one Deano!
Hope U and ya Teg are Ok...

[DLO01]

Nice heads up there Dean! Does this not apply to using after market lug nuts with aftermarket wheels? i.e. I have Work rims with Work lug nuts.

Thats something in the check list you need to look at before buying the nuts. Visually check out the wheel mating surface. I think most if not all aftermarket wheels are a chamfered straight mating surface. Yours being same brand rims and nuts, you should be fine.

Thanks Beeza.

[T-onedc2]

Thanks Dean, will check them out soon anyway

[vippy84]

good one!! thanks mate
what if u dun drive hard ur car? will it be okaY?

[vincikwan]

wat about the ones that max-power honda are selling? i'll be getting those...they seem to look ok.

[aaronng]

Before you buy nuts, always ask if they are tapered or curved (acorn)

[Alexx]

Very true dean great post.

I found this to be the case when i got my new wheels and tried to use a set of those extended nuts - the same as yours but black. They mating surface was small and inconsistent, with the nuts in some places not even going on straight as they were hitting the side of the seat at one point where it was raised compared to the rest of the seat.

Within a day i changed to another set of after market nuts that fit perfectly to the design on the wheel seat. I made sure to try them on to see if they were right for the wheel before i purchased them. Considering that they are the only things holding your wheel on, you want to be sure they are suitable for your application.

be careful guys and get the correct nuts to suit your wheel

[DLO01]

Yep yep, Alexx

good one!! thanks mate

what if u dun drive hard ur car? will it be okaY?

Hard driving or not, if its a mis-match then don't use them. Use the right nuts for your wheels.

wat about the ones that max-power honda are selling? i'll be getting those...they seem to look ok.

Those are perfectly fine. Main point I am trying to get at, you need the right one for the wheels you have. If your looking at using Alloy nuts, also invest in extended wheel studs.

Before you buy nuts, always ask if they are tapered or curved (acorn)

Acorn. Thanks Aaronng.

[ek4-guy]

Hey mate could you feel that the nuts didn't sit in the wheels properly eg: did the nut roll from side to side. My skunk2 lugs seem to sit very firmly into the buddyclub rims but i'll get out the ruler just to make sure the rims have a flat surface.

+1 rep for joo

[Alexx]

Another thing to add, just expanding on deans point about extended wheel studs:

With your oem steel nuts and wheels there are approximately 5-6 turns before the nut is completely on.

When you change your wheel, this may change.

if this value is the same or less, it is definatley suggested that you get extended wheel studs. If the number of turns is around 8 or more it may be ok, but its your call.

Safety first



edit - replying to darryl

yes, the nuts rolled around when you tried to put them on the seat when the wheel was off. Definately not an ideal situation