Do You Have Swollen Nuts??? - Lug Nuts?

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Illini Warrior

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direct lift from SurvivalBlog >>>> There is a lot of interest in small chainsaw mills -- Alaskan Mills. The Seven Best Chainsaw Mills of 2021.


Reader Bassinbob from Florida recommended this surprisingly pointed sermon from a megachurch in Atlanta:

Dr. Anthony George: Sunday Morning Livestream — On Consolidation. Jump forward to the 48:38 mark, to hear his message.
o o o

Harold wrote us:
“After reading the article by CJ I wanted to add some information that most people do not know about.

I recently took my Tundra in for an oil change and when it was done they had a few additional issues they said I needed to take care of.

Typically when you take your vehicle to a dealer for any kind of service they always seem to find additional items that need fixing. I usually ignore their suggestions because most of the time it is just a way for them to generate additional revenue and there really are no problems. Seems like they never find any problems when your vehicle is under warranty. They only appear when you are no longer under any warranty.

This time I was sure they were pulling a scam on me because they told me I had swollen lug nuts.

I am 69 years old and been driving since I was 14 and I had never heard of anything so silly. I asked them how much to fix the problem and they said 300 dollars. I thanked them for their concern and drove home.

Once I got home I did google swollen lug nuts and found out that it is a real and serious problem.

Seems like starting in 2007 the car makers decided to change the way they make lug nuts. They all want shiny-looking lug nuts and the way they get them is by taking a lug nut and putting a shiny cap on it. You now have two different metals in contact with each other which over time results in corrosion between the two metals. This causes the cap to swell and you can no longer get your lug wrench to fit over it.

This is a serious problem if you happen to be somewhere and have a flat. You can’t change your tire because you can’t get the lug nuts off.

Amazon sells a set of half-size sockets that you can buy and hopefully one of them will fit your expanded lug nut well enough that you can get them off. But I didn’t want to fool with that. I wanted a permanent fix, something that I wouldn’t have to deal with later.

I visited a local tire store and asked them if they had heard about swollen lug nuts and they said they had experience with them. I had them order a set of single-piece chrome lug nuts for me for 90 dollars and they installed them for free. Three of my wheels came off fine but they had to work really hard on my left front wheel to remove the cap so they could get the lug nuts off.

You can find many youtube videos on how people have come up with ways to remove them but none of them are easy and most end up destroying the socket you use. Definitely something your wife or daughter wouldn’t be able to do by the side of the road.

This affects all manufacturers so if you have a vehicle newer than 2007 please check your lug nuts and if you have the two-piece ones please get them replaced, but not by the dealer. As I said my dealer wanted 300 dollars to replace them and they were going to replace them with the exact same two-piece ones that I had. Go to an auto parts store or a tire store and talk to them. I saved myself 200 dollars and got free installation by going elsewhere.

Again this was something I had never heard of before and everyone I talk to about it has never heard about it either. This isn’t something you would want to deal with in an evacuation situation or on a lonely road at night.”

o o o
 
In an AR 15, the screw holding the pistol grip is steel and the body it is threaded into is aluminium. Same thing can happen. The iron and aluminium are sharing electrons where they come into contact. Some sort of weak electrical flow happens in this situation where there is temperature flux. For lug nuts and ARs I always coat the threads with an oil designed to combat this problem. There are several sold but old, used gear oil has that same component. That component is what makes gear oil smell so different and bad. Just coat the threads and this locking up problem should never happen.
 
I always put anti-seize grease on my lug nuts whenever I rotate my tires once a year. Never been a problem. Seems to be a way to prevent dissimilar metals corrosion since it's also a dielectric. Never trusted tire shops to install or rotate tires since they over torque the nuts. Better to get all four wheels off the ground. Tighten the nuts with an impact wrench, and then use a torque wrench for the final setting.
 
Tire stores have been sued for putting lug nuts on too loose. As far a I know, never for over tightening them. If my wife can't change a tire because the lug nuts are too tight that could be a life threatening situation.
 
It isn't just the 2 piece lug nut thats a problem, its also aluminum wheels with steel lug bolts. Also the steel oil pan plug in an aluminum oil pan. I have to keep a couple extra plugs around because I usually end up destroying the plug on my wifes Jeep when I change oil. Aluminum and steel dont get along very well. Always put some anti-sieze on any steel bolt that comes in contact with aluminum.
Lug nuts are an overlooked maintenance item for most people, especially for those who don't do their own vehicle maintenance.
Last winter one of the tracks on my side by side came off when the lug nuts loosened up causing a couple lug bolts to break. It was a real pain getting that track back on in several feet of snow.
My tractor had a problem with the front lug nuts getting loose and falling off. I always carry extra lug nuts and periodically check them.
 
Never heard of "swollen lug nuts" yet, thanx for the info. I do, tho, only buy or have steel rims and steel lug nuts for a certain reason. Now I know why it is a good idea too.
I stand by and watch the tires being changed when I buy new or rotate the summer and winter rubber. The torque down and tire pressure is specified by myself at the moment and not from the producer of the tires or vehicle, also for specific reasons. Never had a problem too.....Gary
 
Very good advice Arctic, everything I can reach, I can do. Only certain things are not possible for the needed tools or electronic devices for the computer controlled stuff. All of the basics need to be able to be done tho just as much like working on your chainsaws, lawnmowers, electrical tools, lights and switches in the house and other small appliances too.
 
Very good advice Arctic, everything I can reach, I can do. Only certain things are not possible for the needed tools or electronic devices for the computer controlled stuff. All of the basics need to be able to be done tho just as much like working on your chainsaws, lawnmowers, electrical tools, lights and switches in the house and other small appliances too.
Now days the electronic diagnostic code reader and reset tool that plugs in to the OBD 2 port isn't very expensive. Every tool box should have one.
 
I have several code readers. Check engine light is on. It says I need to replace my catalitic converter. Over $1000.00. There is no degradition of engine performance or gas mileage. Code readers are a useful tool. They were designed to make money for dealerships from people who have more money than sense.
 
I have several code readers. Check engine light is on. It says I need to replace my catalitic converter. Over $1000.00. There is no degradition of engine performance or gas mileage. Code readers are a useful tool. They were designed to make money for dealerships from people who have more money than sense.
My dad had a check engine light on his truck a few years ago. First time he took it to the dealer to reset. A few months later it came on again. This time he fixed it himself, he disconnected the light. No more problems with the check engine light.
 
This sounded crazy to me but keep an open mind is my motto, I went down, dragged out a socket set and tested all my nuts. No dramas, 19mm slides on easily, and it's a 2008 model with chrome nuts. Thing is, it's Japanese. I would suggest that this problem only effects cheaply build American cars. It's no secret that GM and ford haven't made a red cent on the cars for decades, they only stay afloat due to their finance arms and no doubt government support.
 
If you have a European car and buy tires in the USA, do not let them put your lugs on with the air hammer. You will not be able to get them off in case of a flat. Make them put them on by hand and with some anti-seize compound or gear oil to prevent seizing.
 

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