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Swollen lug nuts

Posted on 10/16/23 at 10:31 am
Posted by lsugrad35
Jambalaya capital of the world
Member since Feb 2007
3201 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 10:31 am
Just went in for an oil change and tire rotation and was told they couldn’t rotate due to swollen lug nuts. I’m 36 years old and this is my 4th truck and second ford and this is the first time I’ve heard of this. At any rate, I have to replace them so my real question is, anyone else who has had swollen nuts have a recommendation for replacements that might not have the same issue?
This post was edited on 10/16/23 at 1:42 pm
Posted by AlxTgr
Kyre Banorg
Member since Oct 2003
81942 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 10:41 am to
quote:

the first time I’ve heard of this
My second, and I want to say the first time was here as well.
Posted by AlxTgr
Kyre Banorg
Member since Oct 2003
81942 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 10:42 am to
Posted by Lazer Legz
South
Member since May 2020
297 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 10:42 am to
I know tire shops overtighten lugs and cannot be loosened without destroying them. Not sure about "swollen" lugs.
This post was edited on 10/16/23 at 10:44 am
Posted by slapahoe
USA
Member since Sep 2009
7446 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 10:49 am to
Same thing happened on my 16 Ford. They were fine then all of a sudden, boom swollen. Had to punch hole in center of lug, then peel off the outer cover with pliers.
Posted by Shexter
Prairieville
Member since Feb 2014
14143 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 10:49 am to
It's been a Ford issue for a few years now. Some kind of plating they put on the lug nuts.

quote:

The problem is alleged to be that, rather than being fabricated completely out of steel, the lug nuts were instead made with a steel core and a chrome, aluminum, or stainless steel cap to match the vehicle’s wheels, according to the complaint. It claims that the lug nuts can swell and delaminate after changes in temperature and exposure to moisture. Vehicle owners then have to try (and apparently fail) to remove the swollen lug nuts with a lug wrench supplied with the Ford vehicles. Then they have to replace them.




This post was edited on 10/16/23 at 1:33 pm
Posted by turkish
Member since Aug 2016
1824 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 11:01 am to
I dealt with this myself for the first time a few months ago. I felt pissed but also lucky that i didn’t discover this on the side of the highway with no lug wrench that would fit. I bought some new nuts on Amazon. So far, so good.
Posted by Jack Daniel
In the bottle
Member since Feb 2013
25707 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 11:11 am to
Sounds painful. Try getting laid
Posted by Mister Bigfish
Member since Oct 2018
975 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 11:57 am to
Have seen them on a Nissan and a dodge. Definitely a pain in the arse when trying to change a flat tire on the side of the road.
Posted by Boudreaux35
BR
Member since Sep 2007
21678 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 11:58 am to
quote:

Just went in for an oil change and tire rotation and was told they couldn’t rotate due to swollen lug nuts.


Apparently, you did not change the air in your tires from summer to winter air in time and now you are facing the consequences.

Seriously though, I have never heard of this. What would cause a lug nut to swell? Temp change can cause some expansion and contraction but at this time of year that should be noticable.
Posted by AwgustaDawg
CSRA
Member since Jan 2023
7523 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 12:01 pm to
quote:

Just went in for an oil change and tire rotation and was told they couldn’t rotate due to swollen lug nuts. I’m 36 years old and this is my 4th truck and second ford and this is the first time I’ve heard of this. At any rate, I have to replace them so my real question is, anyone else who has had swollen nuts have a recommendation for replacements that might not have the same issue? They said look for stainless rather than alloy.



Ford ought to be forced into banruptcy over it. It is the damndest thing I every encountered. My nieces SUV had them...I did her brakes for her and it took about 12 hours, 10 of which was spent getting the damned wheels off. It would be IMPOSSIBLE to change a tire on the side of the road. I would bet people have been injured if not killed after having a flat and not being able to change it because of this well known design flaw. I quit buying Ford trucks in 2014 over a F250 that had to have 2 motors before it had 30,000 miles on it and they claimed it was due to missed oil changes (documented oil changes at dealer where it was bought every 3000 miles or less). I wouldn't but a ford product on a dare after putting brakes on my niece's....
Posted by Pirate0714
Baton Rouge
Member since May 2016
433 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 12:19 pm to
Try not to go back with a dealer lug nut. Dorman normally makes a solid lug nut and you will not have to deal with the issue again. Very common with Ford and a few other manufacturers that use this crap design.

LINK
Posted by Lonnie Utah
Utah!
Member since Jul 2012
24190 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 1:10 pm to
I got bit by this one just yesterday on the way back from a scout campout to watch the eclipse. We were on Hwy 6, which just a few miles west in Nevada is the "loneliest road in America". Drove over miles and miles of gravel road with light 4 wheeling over the weekend. Turn onto the pavement and less than 2 miles down the road, one of my brand new tires start to go down. Fortunately, our most solid and well prepared assistant Scoutmaster was right behind me. Of course, my emergency truck box was buried under all of our camping gear....

We were going to patch the puncture while the tire was still on the truck, but couldn't quite get the right angle on it. We discovered the stock lug wrench wouldn't fit, but I keep a breaker bar and a set of deep sockets in the truck. The 7/8" was a wee bit snug and the 1" was too big. We ended up having to hammer each lug out of the socket after we got it off. 5 of the 6 punched through the soft chrome on the top of lug nut in the process. In the process I managed to put the flat head into the ring finger on my left hand pretty good. We got things patched and inflated enough with my ryobi hand inflator to get to the closest town (30 miles away) to get filled up at the gas station. The couple of scouts we had with us were super helpful.

Long story short, I've got a trip to o'rileys later this week to get them replaced. Moral of the story: It's easier to replace these in the drive way than on the side of the road...
Posted by Bow08tie
Louisiana
Member since Oct 2011
4244 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 1:34 pm to
Witnessed this in a local tire shop a month back. Truck was an F-150 with aftermarket rims. The Mexican doing the removal took the socket and pounded the socket with a hammer onto the lug nuts. Guessing the truck owner was told ‘you need to get new lug nuts’
Posted by tenfoe
Member since Jun 2011
6864 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 1:36 pm to
Came here to provide advice on what appears to be a totally unrelated topic to OP. Nevertheless, the OP sounds silly until reading everyone's saying it absolutely happens. That's a shite design for sure.
Posted by Tridentds
Sugar Land
Member since Aug 2011
20718 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 2:40 pm to
By swollen I assume you mean larger so that the socket won't fit over them. Sounds like cheap lug nuts that are fatiqued. They are loaded in tension when tightened properly. Tension on nut threads are trying to pull them toward and secure the wheel.. Threads are pushing against the stud threads (which are normally incredibly strong).

Outer body of lug nuts is not strong enough to resist the outward force caused by the thread ramp engagement under tension so the lug nuts are "swelling". You either need stronger lug nuts or lug nuts with longer threads to spread the tension force out more.

Sounds like you have some cheaper lug nuts or someone over-torqued the hell out of them. Change them. Potentially dangers since the swelling means they are moving away from the studs and you get to the point where you can start shearing the threads off.


Replace them with quality lug nuts.
Posted by Stexas
SWLA
Member since May 2013
6068 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 3:17 pm to


Am I the only one that thought of Johnny Dangerously?
Posted by Jon A thon
Member since May 2019
1707 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 3:23 pm to
Dealt with this a while back on my 2018 ford. I learned about it on the side of I-45 after a blowout. Had the spare and tools all out only to learn the lug wrench supplied with the truck didn't fit. Luckily a there is a program that pays tow truck drivers to get you off the interstate at no charge to me and there was a tire shop right around the corner. Tow truck driver said he'd seen it plenty of times and he wasn't even going to attempt because the lug would just get stuck in his impact socket. It's a cap on top of the actual lug that the wrench fits on and it's a known issue that it swells. Replaced them all at the tire shop right then and there.
Posted by Redlos
Baton Rouge
Member since Jul 2005
1053 posts
Posted on 10/16/23 at 4:23 pm to
Think the OEM may be aluminum vs steel that don’t swell, at least what Discount Tire told me. It was on an Infiniti M37x.
Posted by Animal
Member since Dec 2017
4228 posts
Posted on 10/17/23 at 6:25 am to
quote:


Swollen lug nuts


Pussy impact wrench and they could not find a cheater pipe.
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