My 2014 Toyota Sequoia had two lug nuts fail (swollen) and replaced at 55,000 miles. At 60,000 miles three more failed and were replaced. The dealer said the remaining fourteen would fail over the next year or sooner. Toyota claims this is normal wear & tear and not covered under warranty. To me this is catastrophic failure of a critical safety component and should be covered on a recall. Your thoughts ?
I would not call that a failure if I understand what you mean by “swollen” The lug nuts got fat and you couldn’t put a wrench on it… it that what you mean? If so, it is rust, pure and simple, building up under the beauty cover they put over the actual nut. They haven’t “failed” because they still keep your wheel in place properly. If you live in a state that uses road salt, that is what causes it.
Just replace them and consider it “maintenance” not a “failure”.
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“Failure” is the term used by the dealer’s service manager. Do many vehicles in the Northeast require total lug nut replacement at approximately 60 – 65,000 miles ?
The answer is yes, it is a common problem in salt use states. It isn’t a mileage problem, it is a time and exposure problem. I know both Ford and GM experience this problem as they use the same design for lug nuts. And many of us swear AT them instead of BY them because of it.
A full set of aftermarket, one-piece, chrome lug nuts that fit your Sequoia can be had for about $40 or so. Why not replace them all at once and be done with it?
Thanks. I had three Explorers, 91, 99 & 04….no swollen lug nut covers on any of them. The dealer quoted me $14 per lug nut for replacements. At $40 for a full set ( 5 or 20 ?) that’s a great price.
Any parts store will have replacement lug nuts and maybe even Walmart. You will need to get the right shape so a parts house might be best.
yeah, this is not a dealer item. Buy at a parts house. Replace them all, and motor on. 
Autozone has them for @25/set of 10, so $50 for all four wheels.
Yes, Dealer! The very highest price for lug nuts that will have the same problem 4 years down the road. Aftermarket lug nuts are most often solid and chrome plated.
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I don’t understand the swollen part but I’ve spent my life in Minnesota and South Dakota and never had a single lug nut go bad in over 50 years of driving. I guess I’d like to see it first but yeah make sure you get the exact same lug nut shape.
Well that makes sense. Looks like they cheaped out on the lug nuts.
Thanks to all for the good advice. I bought the vehicle for it’s good reliability ratings in CR……among other things. No mention from them on this issue. I intend to let them know. Live in MA but spend a lot of time in ME fishing. Cold weather, salty roads, the usual. The deal at Auto Zone sounds good. I’ll follow up.
They started out smooth but now they’re ribbed !
There’s a recall on the lug-nuts for this vehicle if it is equipped with 20-inch Rockstar wheels. Ask your dealership to give you a copy of bulletin NHTSA17V311000.
I was shocked by Tester’s photo. I’ve never seen lug nuts made like this. If I discovered those pathetic things on one of my vehicles I’d be downright pi##ed off.
Yeah, I can see how these would rust under the “condom”, swell, and ruin the nut. IMHO the only solution would be to replace all the nuts with solid lugnuts with actual chrome plating.
Thanks for the info
Nothing unusual and not a safety issue. The lug nuts are steel and have a decorative chrome plated cap over them. The steel starts to rust and swells the cap a little bit. There is no danger in the lug nut falling off.
Toyota, Chrysler, Jeep, GM, I’ve seen it on many makes.
If this were an unusual problem there wouldn’t be sockets that are .5mm larger, designed to remove the nuts when a standard lug wrench will no longer fit over the nut.
Common? Really? I’ve been driving cars in the North East for 50 years…and never ever heard of this. I don’t know anyone who has either. Where I grew up at (the snowiest area this side of the Rockies)…never saw it there either. Maybe it’s the kind of a particular lug-nut. All our vehicles purchased since 1987 didn’t have hubcaps so they had exposed lug-nuts and were similar looking. Never failed or showed signs of rust - even after 10+ years in salt country and 300k+ miles.
asemaster agrees with this
As does Tester
https://www.cartalk.com/blogs/dear-car-talk/swollen-lug-nuts-are-driving-tim-nuts
CarTalk 2 years ago
Car talk 5 years ago
2 years ago
Glad you’ve never had this problem. Others have, lots of others.