Recommendations for replacement lug nuts.

[EFI]

I was always taught

Safe to say whoever taught you this doesn't know squat about cars.

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[SheepDog]

So do lug nuts really make that much of a difference whether they are on stock wheels or aftermarket wheels?
I guess all I am really after is replacing the stock 2 piece lugs with a 1 piece steel set for stock rims.

The thing you have to be careful of, is the type of seat that the wheel has for the nut. Most aftermaket wheels will have a 60 degree conical seat. Ford OEM wheels use what is called a Bulge Cone seat. Same 60 degree angle, just a larger surface for the nut to engage.

https://help.summitracing.com/knowledgebase/article/SR-05022/en-us

 

[SheepDog]

Precisely, every modern ford/lincoln that uses the 14 mm studs are specced at 150 ft lbs. That includes the edge/nautilus, f150, mustang, explorer/aviator, ranger, bronco, and so on. What's so hard to understand about that?

And Chrysler, and Tesla, and GM

 

[Crew4991]

... wife would have let me put black nuts on ... but she wanted chrome.

 

[DougS550]

For me, I use Two Piece designed lug nuts where the flare seat does not turn while torquing the lug nuts, thus preventing galding of my aluminum wheel lug seats.

 

[barron64]

If you want to save your stock lugs or aftermarket lugs for that matter, break them loose by hand before using the impact gun to remove. For installation, I use the impact on a light setting to run the lugs down, then a torque wrench for final torque. 150 ft/lbs is brutal to remove or install using an impact gun.

 

[MAGS1]

If you want to save your stock lugs or aftermarket lugs for that matter, break them loose by hand before using the impact gun to remove. For installation, I use the impact on a light setting to run the lugs down, then a torque wrench for final torque. 150 ft/lbs is brutal to remove or install using an impact gun.

Even by hand, other conditions will make the stock lugs swell though. Winter driving, if you’re removing the wheels a fair amount, etc. I only remove/put on lugs by hand, never use an impact and my stock lugs still swelled up on me. It’s really just a shitty design.

 

[barron64]

Even by hand, other conditions will make the stock lugs swell though. Winter driving, if you’re removing the wheels a fair amount, etc. I only remove/put on lugs by hand, never use an impact and my stock lugs still swelled up on me. It’s really just a shitty design.

Yep...if you are dealing with harsh winter/salt conditions they will not survive.

 

[TonyT930]

If I didn't know anything about metals, why would I be arguing the (correct) point about the metallurgy of the stud being one of the determining factors of a torque value?

You asked me to site my source, and I did. There are hundreds of other articles that you can google yourself to confirm this. Now, where is your proof? Provide your documentation stating that the composition of a wheel, has anything to do with the torque value set for the fastener.

Anyone cam google shit, then stand behind like they know something. How about common sense together with mechanics in the industry? Speak to them and get back to me.

 

[ORRadtech]

If you want to save your stock lugs or aftermarket lugs for that matter, break them loose by hand before using the impact gun to remove. For installation, I use the impact on a light setting to run the lugs down, then a torque wrench for final torque. 150 ft/lbs is brutal to remove or install using an impact gun.

I generally use an impact to remove them. What can I say, I like playing with that tool... FWIW I don't have any significant damage to the lugs. I wouldn't say they are unmarked but nothing I'm concerned about. Now if I had to deal with salted roads all winter I might alter my habits. I will run them down with the impact but use a torque wrench to tighten.
As long as we're talking about torque wrenchs, in case someone doesn't know, it's best not to use a wrench with a max value of 150ft lbs. Torque wrenchs are less accurate at their upper and lower ranges. I bought a 250 max wrench to torque the Mustang's lugs so the 150 falls closer to the center of the range.

 

[Cobra Jet]

The factory lug nut design is junk - even if you’re not in a region where the nuts will be affected by weather conditions. Even if careful when removing the factory lugs, at some point the cap will swell, the lug under the cap will corrode, and there’s the possibility that when torquing the lug you’re going to get a false sense that the lug is tight when it’s really not. Or the cheap cap cover will just eventually twist or fall off….

There was a Class Action about it, but it seems to have been dismissed in 2019…. And Ford claims that the lug nut and its design isn’t the issue, the issue is that everyone is using the wrong size lug wrench and THAT is the problem, not their cost cutting measures and junk lug nuts.

https://fordauthority.com/2019/08/ford-lug-nuts-from-dismissed-lawsuit-still-pose-problems/amp/

 

[SheepDog]

Anyone cam google shit, then stand behind like they know something. How about common sense together with mechanics in the industry? Speak to them and get back to me.

Oh boy, another one of those "die on this hill alone" types huh?

You have thus far, still failed to provide any information supporting your claim (aside from your grandpa telling you) that the wheel material dictates or has any effect on torque values.

Look around fella, do you see even a single other person supporting what you are saying, in this forum or any other? It's ok to be wrong, I remember back in 1997 I was wrong about something too. I learned from the experience, was humbled by it, and am better for it. Give it a try, you might actually enjoy it.

 

[MAGS1]

Anyone cam google shit, then stand behind like they know something. How about common sense together with mechanics in the industry? Speak to them and get back to me.

Read the mother effin manual written by Ford and its engineers!! Jeezus the ignorance is astounding. If you think you know better than the engineers that designed the studs and determined the proper torque, why don’t you go talk to them and tell them to revise the owners manuals for every single model that uses those studs, including the Mustang.

 

[Garfy]

Changed out my winter tire wheel set to my all season tire wheel set yesterday on my car and noticed a few of the OEM lug nuts are starting to swell and get a little warped. I want to get a new set of lugs to use later this fall when I put my winter tire wheel set back on.

I am looking for a solid 1 piece steel lug nut set to put on my 2016 GT/CS with OEM factory rims. I did a little research on the forums and found a couple threads saying Gorilla 61148FS lug nuts are a good choice for replacing the factory 2 piece capped lug nuts. Are there other recommendations for 1 piece steel lug nuts for OEM wheels?

To clarify, I am not using aftermarket rims. I have 8 rims total of the factory black painted California Special rims; 4 rims have the Pirelli P Zero Nero all season tires and the other 4 have Pirelli Sottozero 3 winter tires on them. Specifically looking for a good set of quality lug nuts that will last a long time, won’t be easily warped and are compatible with factory rims.

I bought these from Amazon because I wanted the same chrome look as the OEM capped ones; they look the same except they're solid one-piece nuts.

 

[Garfy]

Every car I've ever had has had a torque spec listed for the lugs. Not all are the same but it's specified for the car. I've never bought an aftermarket wheel that came with torque specs.
Maybe I've not bought enough aftermarket wheels but until I do find one that specs a specific torque I'll continue to follow what they car manufacturer says. For the S550 Mustang, that's 150 ft lbs.

Exactly. All S550s have alloy wheels which is what most aftermarket wheels are. If Ford specifies 150 ft-lbs that's what we should torque them at since they manufactured the cars and their engineers/designers specified that. Someone called them aluminum wheels but frankly, if the wheels were solid, pure aluminum, I'm not sure they'd survive the force that's subjected on them, which is why they are called alloy wheels, made of a combination of different metals. I'm sure that today's aftermarket wheel manufacturers make the wheels to be torqued to whatever factory specs are for the particular vehicle the wheels are made for. Making a wheel that required a much lower torque than factory spec could open them up to lawsuits should an issue occur due to the lower torque.

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