Lug nuts have expanded, and I cannot do tire rotation. This is a seven years 0ld car with 96,000 miles on it.
If the stock lug nut wrench is 19mm, get a 20mm socket and a breaker bar.
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They’re called lug nuts with condoms.
Tester
Use a 20 or 21mm socket and a hammer to fit the lug nuts. Remove and replace all of them. $30 should get you a full new set.
Recently a coworker had a flat tire on his Focus. Due to swollen lug nut he could not change the tire. I didn’t have a big enough socket, but he used a 4 lb sledge and an old lug wrench to remove the lug nuts. He had a set of replacement lug nuts.
https://www.harborfreight.com/20-inch-four-way-lug-wrench-94110.html?_br_psugg_q=lug+wrench
Ed B.
This is the first time I hear of this situation.I usually don’t use the kit that came with the car to remove the lug nuts but a dedicated socket(black) that i use on my electric torque wrench to remove them.
If you have never heard of this, you don"t live in the salt belt.
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I don’t live in the salt belt but my wife’s car had the same problem what else would cause this?
My 84 GMC S-15 had those type of lug-nuts. They didn’t swell, but the caps became loose. I replaced all of them pronto with solid lug-nuts.
I live in Canada and we know more about rust than anyone else.
There have been about a dozen threads on this over the last several years…
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I use 4 winter tires mounted on steelies with regulars (short)cone shape nuts.I use the longer ones for my summer tires that are mounted on alloy wheels.
Then that proves Canadians DON’T know more about rust than anyone else.
Right?
Tester
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Problem is that some people over torque them and they crack.Happened to my neighboor POS Kia last month.
I’ve seen similar damage on seemingly “stainless” grill grates, which apparently only had stainless foil over regular iron base - gets swollen and fails in a similar way
I researched it a little, not a rust belt issue, expansion and contraction of the different metals allow the rust to grow due to moisture. Not necessarily a salt related issue.
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I agree. I live in Southern California and we usually don’t have salt or rust issues but a friend of mine has a 2013 Ford Escape that had swollen lug nuts. It was actually on the driver’s side only for some reason. We were trying to take off the wheels to get a better look at the condition of the brakes. At least we could inspect the passenger side. I have since bought a 19.5mm flip socket that is designed to remove swollen 19mm sockets. The other end of the socket is 18.5mm for those instances where the outer sleeve has come off.
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A grabber-tyupe socket would probably work for this problem as well. Something like this.
It seems to me that a lug nut sporting a chrome finish is eventually going to cause problems such as this. Maybe skip the chrome embellishment for the next set. My 45+ year old truck has the same lug nuts it came with new, and for many years those lug nuts have been uncovered and totally exposed to the elements. I’m not sure what they are made of, but definitely no chrome plating.
Sorry, George, but how how often you have rain (I’m not talking snow+salt) in sunny California? 