Hot Rods Check your nuts!

Lesson learned by a friend several years ago when he took his freshly finished 57 out for a maiden voyage. Seemed like he was gone too long for a test drive so we went looking for him and this is what we found. Now every time he gets close to finishing a car, the guys at the barn leave big notes around his car reminding him to "check his nuts".

 

In the 70s, bought a set of mags at a dealership and they installed them. On the drive home, about 50 miles, I noticed on every curve a thunk, thunk, thunk...Got home and put a wrench to the nuts and Every lug nut was loose ! Had my family in the car and was pretty upset... Called the Service Manager and told him what I suspected had happened and still believe it to this day.. The servicemen used the air impact guns and spun the steel nuts on so fast that they galled into the aluminum before they were actually bottomed tight and when the gun rattled that was all they got. I could see flakes of aluminum on the long steel shank of the lug nuts.

Hand Torque Wrench !

 

I do hope the damage was minimal. HRP

 

Impact guns are for removal only! Check those lug nuts by hand when installing, every time! I too have lost a wheel after returning from a hundred plus mph drive. Pretty scary stuff.

 

I have never lost my nuts, but I did snap a rear axle at 60 mph! That almost affected another side of my shorts. Be safe out there people. Things like wheels, brakes and steering should be a part of routine up keep on anything we drive. Larry

 

We were surprised that there was hardly any damage. He was also lucky driving on a dead end country road that he did not loose control and end up rolling over in the farmers field.

 

Great thread. Reminder to check my nuts . Oh and the steelies my Coupe.

 

Another tip.
I ruined a perfectly good set of front bias ply because I didn’t check my shocks.
They cupped badly.
Expensive mistake.

 

What are the torque specs for lug nuts?Are they different for steel wheels and aluminum mags?thanks

 

Is the color BLUE associated in any way? Just saying...….

 

Before we race the coupe I do what I call nut and bolt the car. Everything I can get to top to bottom is checked to make sure the hardware is tight. I have been amazed on several occasions at how much is a little loose. Lug nuts are constantly checked. I get paranoid .

 

The color of mine....

 

Typical Lug Nut Torque Specifications for Aluminum Wheels (Tire Rack)

Lug Size FT/LBS Torque

1/2" 70-80
9/16" 75-85
5/8" 135-145

Typical Lug Nut Torque Specifications for Aluminum Trailer Wheels
Lug Size FT/LBS Torque

1/2" 90-120
9/16" 120-140
5/8" 140-160

Steel wheels vary but 1/2" most coned lug nuts seem to be based 90 - 120 FT/LBS.

 

Had a buddy of mine with a first year Firebird who put mags on with these type of lugs. The lugs were just long enough that they appeared tight but were really bottoming out on the drum. We could hear a clunking noise when we made corners cruising through town. When we lifted the car we could pull the wheels slightly back and forth but the lugs were done up.

 

We used lug nut washers made for the long type lug nuts show above. HRP

 

In a related scenario a few months ago I was driving down the highway and saw this really great looking silver truck on this side of the road with the left front wheel sticking out at a goofy angle you so I slammed on the brakes to see what I could do to help the guy. Yes his wheel fell off but the cause was not necessarily loose nuts he had bought some aluminum wheels that would not clear his disc brakes so he stuck a spacer to move his Wheels out somewhere between 3/8 and 1/2 and inch making his studs too damn short for his nuts to catch only about half inch of the threads. Guess what happened.

Ran into him again later at a small car show and he said that he had some longer studs installed in his front discs.

If ya got spacers be aware!

 

I don't have room for spacers

 

On mag wheels that use deep lug nuts there is always room for a spacer.

 

On installing or tightening lug nuts you need to get the weight off the wheel.

 

That reminds me of the morning I took our Chihuahua mix for his walk. First thing he did was piss on my right front tire, something he never did before. His way of telling me I had three snapped studs a loose lug nut and ONE holding the wheel on. Never felt a thing on the ride home from FedEx a good 20 minute ride, were I remembered hitting a pot hole. Bob

 

My bad. I forgot we're still talking about LUG NUTS

 

Bob, I am well aware of German Shepherd drug sniffing dogs but a Chihuahua wizzin' dog for missing lug nuts is a new one on me, thank goodness your dog decided to do his business on your wheel. HRP

 

The lugs are at perfect eye level for him, it just amazed me that he somehow knew things were missing.

 

I had a cat that just loved (or hated) polished aluminum wheels, couldn't walk past the car without leaving a deposit.
There is nothing more corrosive than cat piss, if left very long it will be hard to polish out.

 

Who, me!

 

My nuts are tic free

But I do have a serous nut warning
When I built my bus. I used GM suspension. GM, Ford and Dodge share a similar 8 lug pattern but the center hole is different. Plus hub piloted vs stud piloted. I used a dodge wheel on the front which broke a stud about a month later. In a couple of weeks I noticed 4 studs had broken between both front wheels.
All studs were replaced and correct GM wheel used on the front.
We use a lot of different style wheels on our rides, so make sure ya use em correctly.

 

my nuts get tightened every time I pop the little blue pill............................

 

back in the eighties I worked at a restoration shop, where the owner liked to "stage" cars on Saturday morning for customers to see. he would hand tight lots of parts on to make it appear we got a lot done. some how wheels were put on an old ford with hand tight lugs AND THE FUCKING HUB CAPS. Monday morning I come in and test drive the car. fortunately the lugs that fell off rattled like a maraca.............I pulled over, took the hub caps off and flagged a guy down to use his lug wrench to get back to the shop. I was fummin'

 

The other night I had just taking my car (57 chev)out of storage driving down Hi-way at 60,had a rear tire blow, drop down on 5 spoke,broke axle and wheel into a bunch of pieces . I watched the tire and wheel disappear in my rear view mirror as I was trying to steer car off of road . Never found drum but I'm sure lugs were tight. Scary ! Got pretty lucky not much damage to rear quarter,only bent bumper end that can be straightened.

 

How timely......You really do care...