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Featured Technical Wheel coming loose

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by chrisp, Aug 7, 2025.

  1. 19Eddy30
    Joined: Mar 27, 2011
    Posts: 3,460

    19Eddy30
    Member
    from VA

    Some times a ""Centering register"" for wheel / Rim needs to be made,
    I.D to O.D
     
    Illustrious Hector likes this.
  2. Hollywood-East
    Joined: Mar 13, 2008
    Posts: 2,111

    Hollywood-East
    Member

    Righty tighty, Lefty loosy..
    Remember old jeeps, An mopars had left hand threads.... Dr. Side
     
    Last edited: Aug 8, 2025 at 1:49 PM
  3. jimmy six
    Joined: Mar 21, 2006
    Posts: 16,732

    jimmy six
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    These are the same Americans I bought. I started with just the conical nuts. I just didn’t think them safe as they didn’t have 1/2” of threads on the stock studs. Let’s face it they are a thicker wheel. I bought 20 Gorillas with extended threads into the wheel which also helps in centering. Much safer
     
  4. Boneyard51
    Joined: Dec 10, 2017
    Posts: 6,756

    Boneyard51
    Member

    After looking close, it appears you need the flanged washer type lug nuts! Someone at some time put the angke lug nuts on a making what appears to be a mating surface, but I think it is just because it’s soft aluminum!



    Bones
     
    ClayMart likes this.
  5. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 35,639

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    The guys at the tire store I have gone to for the past 47 years always tells me to come in a hundred miles or so and have the lug nuts retorqued with the rigs that have alloy wheels. That is wheels I bought from them and oem wheels.
     
    oldiron 440 likes this.
  6. oldiron 440
    Joined: Dec 12, 2018
    Posts: 3,826

    oldiron 440
    Member

    Yes but I’m talking of a different problem, if you put a standard thread nut on a metric stud it will not stay torqued no matter how many times you retorque it.
     
    Boneyard51 and Tickety Boo like this.
  7. twenty8
    Joined: Apr 8, 2021
    Posts: 3,479

    twenty8
    Member

    By the look of the galling on the nut shown, they may have just been over-tightened until they stayed on.
     
  8. chrisp
    Joined: Jan 27, 2007
    Posts: 1,258

    chrisp
    Member

    I did not, but will do.

    [​IMG]
    As you can see on these 2 studs they seat inside the small pocket on the hub, all seat correctly on both hubs.
    The knurled part was not protruding much compared to the shank diameter, I actually thought the knurled part was short (probably just a tad over half of the thickness of the hubs) and not very agressive. I didn't like them very much in fact.

    Wheel center bore : 83mm
    Hub : 70.6mm
    Wheel stud bore : 0.63
    I do not have mag lugs, they are 60° conical without a shank.

    The nuts fit snugly on the studs. 12mm is 0.9mm bigger than 7/16" if you engage it by hand, you will feel it rocking and know something ain't right, if you engage it with a socket you won't. If you torque it with a gun you might strip something. But I'll double check anyway, I'd rather be safe than a cocky idiot.

    Lastly ARE responded that the wheels take 60° conical nuts, I gave them the part number and date that are on the wheels, hopefully the guy checked that and didn't just gave an answer pertaining to their current production.
     
  9. Boneyard51
    Joined: Dec 10, 2017
    Posts: 6,756

    Boneyard51
    Member

    My friend always said “ one cross thread is worth two lock washers” , maybe it will work with SAE and metric threads? :D



    Bones
     
  10. GlassThamesDoug
    Joined: May 25, 2008
    Posts: 1,869

    GlassThamesDoug
    Member

    My set of Americans used the shanked ones shown here. Shop called them ET style lugs.
     
    anthony myrick likes this.
  11. ramblin dan
    Joined: Apr 16, 2018
    Posts: 3,980

    ramblin dan

    Buddy of mine had the same issue. Found out that the shank was just long enough to bottom out on the brake drum before it was fully seated to the rim.
     
  12. jimmy six
    Joined: Mar 21, 2006
    Posts: 16,732

    jimmy six
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    That’s why they all changed to conical nuts. In the beginning the washers were all 1/4” thick. As more manufacturers made wheels the washers got thinner. I expect that unknowing individuals mixed wrong parts and wheels fell off/got loose causing lawsuits….
     
    GlassThamesDoug and 19Eddy30 like this.
  13. chrisp
    Joined: Jan 27, 2007
    Posts: 1,258

    chrisp
    Member

    Here's ARE final answer:
    We switched over to conical seat lug nuts way before 2018, so you will need to run a 60 degree concial seat lug nut.

    The other thing to check for is the hub size on the wheel verse what the hub size is on the car, if they are not the same you will need to run a hub centric ring to center the wheel.

    That is more probably what the cause of the probably is, is that the wheel is not center and is causing the lug nuts to back out.

    This was pointed out immediately by Zuffen then confirmed by others.
    Rings are on order as well as 60°ET nuts. We'll see, I'll keep you posted.
    The rings are 2 month out so don't expect an update next week.
    Thanks to everybody.
     
  14. If you know someone with a lathe, the rings can be turned out in an hour or so.

    Oh, and thanks for letting us know what the wheel mfg had to say.
     
    19Eddy30 likes this.
  15. I smell BS.... The conical lug nut answer I expected. Shank-style nuts have been gone for 20+ years with a few exceptions, primarily cast multi-fit wheels like Cragar SSs and some others. ET uni-fits used conical nuts almost from the beginning and ET licensed the design to Keystone for at least a while. Cragar tried to rip off ET and got sued for patent infringement so came up with their slotted hole design with large washers currently used.

    The hub-centric rings. Is it my imagination, or did ARE just admit their machining for the wheel patterns may be suspect? I got talked into buying exactly one set for my last X's shitbox when I bought alloy wheels for it and they proved to be more trouble than they were worth. I threw them away, never had any issues. Every other set of custom or alloy OEM wheels I've ran didn't have them and I've never had this problem. But one thing I did learn is nut torque on alloy wheels is CRITICAL. If their not all dead-even, the nuts will loosen. My procedure is to snug them all up, then start the torque sequence. Always use a 'star' pattern, and repeat it at least three times or more until you feel zero nut movement before the wrench 'clicks'. Steel wheels, while they should be torqued, are much more forgiving due to the raised ring around the lug holes. These act as belleville washers, absorbing any flexing and keeping the nuts tight. Cragar now uses dished washers (with the dish turned in towards the wheel) on the SS for the same effect. Flat washers won't do this.

    Lastly, are the hub/rotor and rotor/wheel mounting faces parallel to each other? If a straight edge doesn't lay evenly across each of them, that could be the problem.
     
    jimmy six and 19Eddy30 like this.
  16. 19Eddy30
    Joined: Mar 27, 2011
    Posts: 3,460

    19Eddy30
    Member
    from VA

    If where my own car & parts ,
    I would be using shank No matter if
    was Original 60 deg & the 60 deg is not correct in wheel No longer & I did not have the tool / tooling to fix.
    In my case I have tool / tooling .
     
  17. Clydesdale
    Joined: Jun 22, 2021
    Posts: 394

    Clydesdale
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Gotta agree with some comments above, I wouldn't trust what the manufacturer says unless its about a brand new product. Hell the wheels are probably older than a bunch of the staff there!!!

    Sometimes you gotta go with what you see infront of you, sure looks to me like thy need a shanked nut with a washer.

    In ARE's defence @Crazy Steve they will machine for one center bore size and recommend spigot rings to suit the application, otherwise they would need a whole range of sizes and a stock management nightmare.
     
  18. Clydesdale
    Joined: Jun 22, 2021
    Posts: 394

    Clydesdale
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Also, after all these are we panicking over ONE wheel coming loose ONCE?

    OP have you put it back together and run it up the road yet?
     
    427 sleeper likes this.
  19. chrisp
    Joined: Jan 27, 2007
    Posts: 1,258

    chrisp
    Member

    It's one wheel coming loose twice in a very short period.
    I'm waiting for the parts to put it back together.

    I do have one, rings are dirt cheap and it's a customer car, since I'm eating the cost of this debacle (I consider it's my fault for not noticing this when I did the conversion), I'd rather spend my time doing something more productive and more economically sound.
     
    Clydesdale likes this.
  20. Illustrious Hector
    Joined: Jun 15, 2020
    Posts: 572

    Illustrious Hector
    Member

    Why the spacers? As 19Eddy30 pointed out, Ya got no Register.
    There's a reason the factory cast them into
    axles & hubs. Also why early cars had reverse threads on th left side. The force exerted on the
    fronts from turning would loosen them more readily than the rears
     
  21. deathrowdave
    Joined: May 27, 2014
    Posts: 4,891

    deathrowdave
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from NKy

    Verify that the flat seat is not cut deeper than other wheels allowing the shank of the nut to bottom on the hub / hub spacer . If this is so I think this may be the issue . I ran shank nuts on Mag Americans for many miles , it’s always best to retorque or check tighten often . The taper style will hold the nut tight under load when tightened correctly . Flat face mount 10 lug , large truck wheels have issues with keeping the flat seat nuts tight also .
     

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