Lug nuts

[96owner]

I was told that over time the lug nuts expand or something and make them next to impossible to take them off so i would need new ones. but i also heard something about the reson they do that is becasue of a cover over the lug nut its slfe and if you peel the cover off it will fix the problem.could some one tell me if this is just a rumor or will realy work.

Also if it dosent work will Genuine Steel Wheel Lug Nuts work in place of the normal ones they seem to be cheeper

[antichrist]

Nope, not true. If they are tightened to the proper torque, 100ft/lb, with a proper sized socket, you can always get them off.

[phantom phan]

Absolutlley not true, if they did expand they would fall off!! proper tightening with a torque wrench and not an air line will see them removed when you need to.
steel and alloy wheels use different size nuts due to the shape of the two wheels. which is why its nearly always a pain here in the uk as most vehicles come with a steel spare and not the 5th alloy
regards
martin

[robbie]

think what you have heard is the nuts begin rusting under the cap, thus making the caps/nuts misshapen and needing to use a different lug wrench or socket. this can happen, but I think is fairly rare. just use correct sized wrench or socket and never let a tire monkey impact them on and you will be fine. you can pull the caps of the nuts and underneath is just steel, will just need to change out your socket or wrench for the new size. steel nuts don't fit all that well on the alloys as the alloys have much deeper wells. alloy nuts fit fine on steel wheels though, just look ugly. ymmv.

[kellijo]

Well, I'll take what you guys say is true. However, I recently had some brake work done...the mechanic had to basically demolish 2 of the lug nut covers to get the tire off. I always pray I don't get a flat...I'm not sure I could get them off myself!

How do you keep them from doing that?

On a side note, I didn't realize how expensive the replacements were.....

[TerryS]

The chrome cap on lug nuts used of alloy wheels are just crimped over a steel lug nut. Water has been known to freeze between the cap and nut, expanding the thin chrome cap cover. Generally a 15/16" socket will work on these caps, but one which is too loose will deform the cap so that a proper sized socket will not fit over the cap.

[antichrist]

Not on a D1. It's 27mm or 1 1/16"
Kellijo, there is no reason the caps would need to be demolished unless he was using the wrong size socket, or the wrong size had been used before and deformed the cap. A tire shop used the wrong size on mine, now I can get the right size on, but it's so tight I have to leave the lugnut on the stud by a couple of threads and pull the socket off before I then remove the lugnut by hand.
The best solution if you replace your bad ones is to have the right size socket in your rover, 1 1/16" or 27mm deep 1/2" drive for you Kellijo, and make sure they use it when changing tires. With a 18" ratchet it make changing a flat easier too. I haven't used a lug wrench on any of my Rovers in 30 years probably.
If they are torqued to 100ft/lb, which they should be, then you won't have any issues changing a flat.

[96owner]

ok sorry i just found oput more informaton on my question. so there is the lug nut and then there is the cover and the cover swells up and makes it super hard to get a socket on with out hammering it on. so i guess i could fix the problem by peeling off the cover and getting a new sized socket and a torque wrench to make sure i aways put them at 100ft/lb. so dos any one knoe how to get the covers off whaty size i of socket i will then need to get and any more information that will be helpfull.

[TerryS]

Originally Posted by antichrist

Not on a D1. It's 27mm or 1 1/16"

Well, I'll admit, I must have had a 'senior moment' because I knew that. I guess I just reached my max capacity for absorbing information, so something had to get pushed off the back end. Crap this getting-old shit sucks.

[MPi-KMS-72]

When I was in college I used to work full time changing tires. Since we live in the rust belt in NY and because of all the salt they dump on the roads we used to run into that problem all the time the chrome lug nut covers get swelled from rust and don't fit properly and it can be a royal pain to take them off- especially if they have been over torqued by some gorilla.

It used to cause some major headaches. Best thing to do is replace your lug-nuts when you notice they are starting to swell. Simple solution.

[96owner]

Originally Posted by MPi-KMS-72

Simple solution.

expensive too

[MPi-KMS-72]

Originally Posted by 96owner

expensive too

well you don't have to replace them all at once- they don't usually degrade at an equal rate. examine them all closely and if you have any that appear questionable replace them as needed. If you have a flat in the middle of nowhere and can't change it because your lug wrench no longer fits the swelled nuts that can be expensive too...

[antichrist]

Originally Posted by TerryS

Well, I'll admit, I must have had a 'senior moment' because I knew that. I guess I just reached my max capacity for absorbing information, so something had to get pushed off the back end. Crap this getting-old shit sucks.

I just figured you were talking about the DII's. I have no idea what size they use, nor do I intend to ever need to know.