I have a bunch of chrome acorn nuts to install but some fit nice and snug others are loose fitting. what to do to install them so they dont fall off ? I thought of using silicon calk or can they be slightly pinched without cracking them?
Lay them on a piece of leather and tap them a little with a nylon hammer or a block of wood till they fit snug.
OK??? why? is it because the shoulder area around each lug is worn---oversized? is it because there is worn threads -lug threads are galled a bit from over tightening? is it because of too much lube on threads surface? is it because the lugs bottom out in the lugnut before they tighten on the wheel? is it because they are not american made? is it because they are not torqued to spec then retorqued after running 100 miles? hmmmm I have had more trouble removing acorn / solid lugs then ever having them come loose... CHECK ALL WHEEL SHOULDERS AND LUG HOLE DIA... I GUESS THE RIGHT LOCTITE/ TORQUE SPEC ???? SOUNDS TO ME LIKE SWEDGING THEM IS NOT A SOUND PRACTICE
These: , Right? I tap them on with a plastic hammer, the loose ones I pop back off and add a dollop of silicone. - Joe
I used strip caulk on the loose ones on my flatty. It is the consistency of sticky silly-putty but they are still easy to pull off.
a little blob of silicone goes a long way, putting too much makes them pop back off. The air gets trapped and pushes back before it dries.
This might be a really stupid theory, but that has never stopped me before. I just removed some and I was struck by how they seemed really stuck on without any visible sealant but if I could get an edge to move just a little bit, then they came off easily. Could it be that once the little bit of air trapped under the caps gets heated up, it expands and escapes around the edges? Then after cooling again, they now have a vacuum to hold them on.
Mine are metal (some may be plastic), I peened one side of them with a centerpunch. Install with punched side invisible.