2017 Ford Fusion - Swollen lugs

I most recently went through an expense of $311.00 Canadian in order to have my brakes checked, only to find out the repair shop had great difficulty removing the tires due to swollen lug nuts??? Come on Ford

This not a new thing. You have a lug nut with a decorative cover on it . If the are cracked the lug nut inside will rust . I can’t believe the shop had difficulty because this is a common problem.

2 Likes

Common problem with Ford lugnuts, but not limited to Fords. You can replace them with solid after market lugnuts or replace as needed. I had two lugnuts replaced after 14 years. The rest are still okay.
I had an Oldsmobile that had chrome covers over the lugnuts. Covers on, lugnuts in inches, when the covers fell off lugnuts were metric.

2 Likes

Why did the tire shop have great trouble removing the lugs?

The lug nuts take a 19mm socket. When they start to rust underneath the chrome covers, they swell up a little bit. Then you use a 19.5mm socket. I work at a general service auto shop and we have the correct sockets. I can’t believe a tire and brake shop doesn’t have the same.

I see this trouble mostly on Toyota, Chrysler, and Ford products. But it happens to any car, and it’s not new. The 77 Oldsmobile I had in high school had the same trouble.

Anybody who knows anything about lug nuts with condoms has a set of these sockets.

image

Pound it on, hit it with an impact gun and off comes the lug nut.

Tester

How do you put the lug nuts back on after the brake inspection when the customer declines the repairs?