Lug nut issues with MRR designs!

[pthomas11b]

Hey everyone.

So let me explain. I purchased a set of MRR wheels from another member on the forums. Totally righteous deal but he only had spare lugs to go with the purchase as the matching set went with his car when he sold it. So I figure hey I'll buy a set of splined MRR lug nuts to go with my MRR wheels. Perfect combo! Well that was ABSOLUTELY not the damn case. And mind you to the day of this post MRR will not reply to an email or voicemail I have left. So for then I'm obligated to make anyone else aware of the circumstances of my situation. I'm not questioning the quality of their wheels as they fit perfect and now the only damage to them was incurred by myself because of their choice of lug nut manufacturing.

So that being said what happened was I installed their lug nuts. On the 11th lug nut torquing it down per factory spec for the s550 it broke off. At the base of the splines into the conical portion that makes contact with the wheel itself. So obviously now in my mind the others are in question I then remove all the others. Well breaking the others loose another snaps in exactly the same spot while loosening!

So here we have a problem! And not a host of wheel extractors or tires shops or even the ford dealership will touch the car because they know the wheel is in jeopardy of being damaged and they dont want to be liable.

So that being said I end up using a milwakee 5/8 bi metal hole saw to drill off the outside threads of the factory wheel studs and the shittastic mrr splined lug nuts. Which they first sent me lug bolts! For some European vehicle. Mind you no packing invoice was provided not was a label on the damn glorified ziploc bag they came I to specify what the contents where. So I had to call them and explain I had the wrong parts to begin with and they finally agreed to overnight the correct parts to me which still took 3 days to get to me.

But I digress I finally manage to take enough of the material off and get the lug nut to break loose to allow the wheel to come off the car. Again using a 5/8 bi metal armored hole and some light work with a dremel tool and diamond bur bit.

Let me tell you it's not worth the hours I have in this project nor the $250 I now have in fancy ARP wheel studs to deal with their poor manufacturing choices. Buy quality stuff elsewhere and be happy. Included will be pictures I sent to mrr.

Thanks for listening and hope nobody else ever runs into this problem!

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[pthomas11b]

Also to add these wheels in question are vpf5'S 19X 9.5" with a 285x35r19 continental extreme DW tire on all four corners. They are hub centric and fit awesome no rubbing at full steering lock or anything I still have clearance on stock suspension at stock ride height.

 

[pthomas11b]

Also to add these wheels in question are vpf5'S 19X 9.5" with a 285x35r19 continental extreme DW tire on all four corners. They are hub centric and fit awesome no rubbing at full steering lock or anything I still have clearance on stock suspension at stock ride height.

 

[Notheryote]

That sucks, hope they help you out. I'm not buying any of their stuff.

 

[Mustangpursuit]

I am just curious, the nut your showing looks almost like factory bulge size? So MRR wheels accept full acorn bulge factory style bolts? I have aftermarket wheels and only nut I could use was a small diameter one. hope mine are still ok when wheel needs to come off again (gorilla) tire shop hand torqued the rest of torque on each bolt to 150

 

[VinnAY]

Never liked those splined lugs.

 

[Labradog]

hope mine are still ok when wheel needs to come off again (gorilla) tire shop hand torqued the rest of torque on each bolt to 150

Gorilla lugs are great. Mine survived being torqued to well over 200 lb-ft.

 

[CarlosMRRDesignWheels]

Hey everyone.

So let me explain. I purchased a set of MRR wheels from another member on the forums. Totally righteous deal but he only had spare lugs to go with the purchase as the matching set went with his car when he sold it. So I figure hey I'll buy a set of splined MRR lug nuts to go with my MRR wheels. Perfect combo! Well that was ABSOLUTELY not the damn case. And mind you to the day of this post MRR will not reply to an email or voicemail I have left. So for then I'm obligated to make anyone else aware of the circumstances of my situation. I'm not questioning the quality of their wheels as they fit perfect and now the only damage to them was incurred by myself because of their choice of lug nut manufacturing.

So that being said what happened was I installed their lug nuts. On the 11th lug nut torquing it down per factory spec for the s550 it broke off. At the base of the splines into the conical portion that makes contact with the wheel itself. So obviously now in my mind the others are in question I then remove all the others. Well breaking the others loose another snaps in exactly the same spot while loosening!

So here we have a problem! And not a host of wheel extractors or tires shops or even the ford dealership will touch the car because they know the wheel is in jeopardy of being damaged and they dont want to be liable.

So that being said I end up using a milwakee 5/8 bi metal hole saw to drill off the outside threads of the factory wheel studs and the shittastic mrr splined lug nuts. Which they first sent me lug bolts! For some European vehicle. Mind you no packing invoice was provided not was a label on the damn glorified ziploc bag they came I to specify what the contents where. So I had to call them and explain I had the wrong parts to begin with and they finally agreed to overnight the correct parts to me which still took 3 days to get to me.

But I digress I finally manage to take enough of the material off and get the lug nut to break loose to allow the wheel to come off the car. Again using a 5/8 bi metal armored hole and some light work with a dremel tool and diamond bur bit.

Let me tell you it's not worth the hours I have in this project nor the $250 I now have in fancy ARP wheel studs to deal with their poor manufacturing choices. Buy quality stuff elsewhere and be happy. Included will be pictures I sent to mrr.

Thanks for listening and hope nobody else ever runs into this problem!

Good morning Preston Im not that hard to get a hold of... Im always loaded up on this forum, I wish you would have contact me to help you out, I dont know if you remember but on Friday you emailed MRR wheels about receiving the incorrect part number in which we did apologize to you and shipped you the correct part number required that same day on Friday which unfortunately UPS delivered to you right away on Monday. after that we never heard from you again, until this morning ones I seen your post. I think is ok to voice your frustration as I would feel the same way but what strikes me off is your story, I think you should be honest with the forum members, also I did apologize for the wrong shipment sent to you as it was a accidental mistake from our shipping department. anyway is a HUGE concern for us on the lug nuts, the only way a spline lug will split that way is by completely over torquing or using a air torque gun which even then is odd usually the key will split first.
any way Im actually happy this came up as we are in the process of changing our accessories manufacture.

If you can send me a PM with your invoice number I can have our accounting send you a full refund as we are in agreement that a lug nut should not sheer in half like that.
on another note your car looks great man and I would personally thank you for choosing MRR wheels.
If you ever need something or have any issues feel free to reach out, I Personally handle the MRR Info email for customers and I also handle the Forums for MRR wheels in which Im always logged in so you and other customers can easily get a hold of me.

 

[Cobra Jet]

Had the above response not been posted - I would have stated the same:

The only possible way a lug nut would shear off would be from over torquing. Now that is NOT any bash on the OP at all - because of the fact that if a Torque Wrench was being properly used, it is highly possible that the Torque setting does not actually represent the true torque value, which would result in damage or over torquing.

Also to mention, if and when using ANY Torque wrench, regardless of brand OR type - once that wrench “clicks” that click is to inform the user that the set Torque spec has been reached. It does not mean to keep torquing past the click, apply more pressure OR go beyond 1 click with multiple clicks.

Quote from another site that explains it better:

When you hear a click from the wrench, it will have reached the correct torque. This click is not overly loud and many people feel the click rather than hear it. At this point your bolt has been tightened to the specified tightness. If you go past the click then you will have over tightened the fastener which can cause problems. The click occurs when the pivot point and the handle grip have reached the breaking force.

Again every Torque Wrench is different and another word of caution - if you are torquing any bit, nut, stud, lug, etc make sure you are using the proper Torque Wrench (FT LBS vs IN LBS).

——

Aside from that, based on the OP’s images, it’s hard to tell if those splined lugs are imitation or knock off Gorilla-style lugs - and of so, then it’s quite possible to bring the metal composition into question, because from the pics alone the sheared images look to be pot metal. (Again, no scientific data, no engineering studies or known composition other than seeing what appears in image)

 

[VinnAY]

AH well that worked out nicely. thanks @CarlosMRRDesignWheels

 

[CarlosMRRDesignWheels]

Preston good morning ! I have not heard from you as of today but I do have good news, I was able to locate your order and as of 5 minutes ago our accountant produce a full refund buddy, sorry for any headaches.
if you do need anything else please contact us, also one of our reps will try to contact you, we would like to get the broken lugs back so we can send to our current manufacture and fully inspect the lugs that way no other person will have to deal with any safety issues. rest assure we do have a new source as I write this info.
Thank you !

 

[pthomas11b]

Good morning Preston Im not that hard to get a hold of... Im always loaded up on this forum, I wish you would have contact me to help you out, I dont know if you remember but on Friday you emailed MRR wheels about receiving the incorrect part number in which we did apologize to you and shipped you the correct part number required that same day on Friday which unfortunately UPS delivered to you right away on Monday. after that we never heard from you again, until this morning ones I seen your post. I think is ok to voice your frustration as I would feel the same way but what strikes me off is your story, I think you should be honest with the forum members, also I did apologize for the wrong shipment sent to you as it was a accidental mistake from our shipping department. anyway is a HUGE concern for us on the lug nuts, the only way a spline lug will split that way is by completely over torquing or using a air torque gun which even then is odd usually the key will split first.
any way Im actually happy this came up as we are in the process of changing our accessories manufacture.

If you can send me a PM with your invoice number I can have our accounting send you a full refund as we are in agreement that a lug nut should not sheer in half like that.
on another note your car looks great man and I would personally thank you for choosing MRR wheels.
If you ever need something or have any issues feel free to reach out, I Personally handle the MRR Info email for customers and I also handle the Forums for MRR wheels in which Im always logged in so you and other customers can easily get a hold of me.

Carlos,

First and foremost, yes I do recall sending the previous emails and also calling upon receipt of the wrong parts initially. And yes you are correct I got the replacement lug nuts very quickly. But regardless today I got a response via email. It's all good I appreciate you posting our personal business of you guys refunding me amount for the lug nuts in question. and theyll be on the way back to you when I get a chance to take them by the post office with your return label. Though the prior circumstances had nothing to do with this entire post but that's not the point of any of this.

What i do not appreciate is having my honesty questioned when i tried to reach out to you in other avenues professionally. Be that as it may and your so hooked up on the forums that's all fine and great at least it got taken care of one way or another.

As for the other members of this forum question the circumstances/ my honesty however you like. Simple thing was it's a hardware failure being torqued to 150lbs per spec by Ford.

I know how to use a torque wrench nor am I a gorilla when it comes to properly tightening down fasteners. I dont use impact guns for tightening for this very reason as I've seen coworkers in shops do stupid shit and leave it for the next guy to worry about.

As for you being happy about this issue because you are in the process of switching accessories manufacturers!? Well I'm glad I was able to be a test dummy for your product and also justify the switch to some extent. Oh and incur personal financial, time, and vehicle issues on your behalf. Poor choice of words.....

 

[pthomas11b]

On one other note for anyone curious as to what the end result was to the wheel stud and lug nut. I though I had taken pictures of them but hadn't until yesterday repacking these for shipping back to the manufacturer.

As you can see the depth of engagement with the factory wheel studs which is identical to the factory acorn style lug nuts with the factory wheels installed.

As to the other question about these looking close to factory bulge style lug nuts. They are in fact quite smaller in outer diameter and in the conical seat area making contact with the wheel and also the overall thickness of material.

That being said the ford racing open style lugs I found on americanmuscle.com do fit the wheels perfectly. But should the hole diameter for the lug nuts to pass through on the wheels ever change in the future with the manufacturer resulting in a decrease in size they probably wont fit.

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