FYI : LUG NUTS , F-150 and others

[ciasurv]

The emergency roadside kit thread got me thinking about an incident that happened to me a few weeks ago. While towing mu boat down
I-26 to Charleston I had a flat on my 18 F-150.

Much to my dismay , the lug nuts have an aluminum cover on them. These covers swell and you can not get a factory lug wrench on them
to loosen. No way.... Called a tow company and they tried a 21 mm & a 21.5 mm socket to fit. Not happening.

Finally took a ball peen hammer and beat the 21 mm on and got the nuts off. Then you have to beat the cover out of the socket and start
over on the next one. This x 6 takes a while, but the breeze is good from the 90 mph traffic zooming by.

When I got to my kids house in Charleston , I replaced all of mu lug nuts with aftermarket chrome. Cost about $40 plus my time.

I understand that this may go back to 13-14 models and work forward.

YOUTUBE is full of videos and plenty of info on the net. Ford is aware of the problem and offered to replace the nuts with OEM new
ones at over $100 +. THE CATCH IS , they are the same design as the originals so you will have a problem as soon as they swell.
WOW Ford , good marketing....

I think that other manufacturers have used these covers so beware.

If you own a F-150 , do the research , replace them now and save yourself some major stress problems.

[DrewFlu33]

Lots of two piece lug nuts out there with this swelling problem. My Tundra had them as well. Fortunately I was able to get a 19 mm socket over the two swollen ones to get them off, then found replacements from Gorilla which are a 1 piece. I'm sure there are other options out there, but whatever you go with, make sure to go with a 1 piece!

[PJ-Rohlf]

This has been a known issue going back to the 2012 model year f150.....

[XingEyeballs]

Haven’t had to deal with this one the truck yet but I’ve found it very common even on trailers, I actually carry a spare set of lug nuts in my emergency hub/bearing kit for my flat bed trailer because of this. I carry a small dead blow hammer now to get the socket on and a spare socket just in case I can’t get one out.

[mactlman]

Dodge and gm also have this. Sell lots of 1/2 size sockets

[mean_dean]

I've replaced them on both my '17 Expedition and '14 Fusion due to this issue. Went aftermarket with a nice 1 piece. I'm kinda surprised NHTSA hasn't called them to task at this point.

[bzbrent]

I'd never heard of this until a couple years back I went to have tires replaced on my '14 F-150. I went to a store that I'd never been to before, and when I was presented with the final invoice I came unfastened.

ME: "What's the added $XX.XX charge, and $XX.XX in additional labor?"
Salesman: "That's because the lugs on your truck had swollen and required replacement and additional labor."
ME: "I've driven Ford trucks my entire adult life. How is it possible that I'm just now hearing this?"
Salesman: "I don't know the answer to that sir, but that the final amount owed."
ME: "I'm not paying the contrived amount! I'll need to see the store owner and a Sherriff's deputy before I consider it!'
Salesman: "Fine. I'll remove the charge."
ME: "Great, thank you! That goes a long ways towards earning my business long term. Swollen lug nuts! You guys will try anything!"

Turns out...it is a thing, and I'm a complete idiot! I returned to apologize.

-b-

[dwtaylor]

I had to replace mine too.

With that being said, the shop guys at the dealership that does my oil change and tire rotation are removing and fully tightening these lug nuts with their impact wrenches which also damages the outside.

Even my newer lug nuts have a good amount of damage due to impact wrenches. Its almost like they do this to purposely try to upsell factory lug nuts.

[lakefolk]

I'd never heard of this until a couple years back I went to have tires replaced on my '14 F-150. I went to a store that I'd never been to before, and when I was presented with the final invoice I came unfastened.

ME: "What's the added $XX.XX charge, and $XX.XX in additional labor?"
Salesman: "That's because the lugs on your truck had swollen and required replacement and additional labor."
ME: "I've driven Ford trucks my entire adult life. How is it possible that I'm just now hearing this?"
Salesman: "I don't know the answer to that sir, but that the final amount owed."
ME: "I'm not paying the contrived amount! I'll need to see the store owner and a Sherriff's deputy before I consider it!'
Salesman: "Fine. I'll remove the charge."
ME: "Great, thank you! That goes a long ways towards earning my business long term. Swollen lug nuts! You guys will try anything!"

Turns out...it is a thing, and I'm a complete idiot! I returned to apologize.

-b-

they still shouldn't have done the work without prior authorization from you......

[KRC18D]

Had to do the same thing on my 09 f-150 I think this problem has been going on longer than people realize and the company just doesn’t want to change it.

[tcesni]

This is a good OP post, my wife had a flat on her Ford car and the tow truck driver really struggled to get the nuts off. I found one piece alloy nuts on Amazon that work and look great.

[CJ1]

I was having problems like this back in the 90's-2000's when I was turning wrenches full time. Nothing new and that is why I liked 6 point metric sockets! and kept alot of worn out 6 point Mac sockets. CJ

[Al from Canada]

Best is to replace them with McGard lug nuts. I have chrome ones on my 2019 Ram and black chrome ones on my 2022 Charger. The McGards are much better quality than the factory ones and you can get them from Amazon (or auto parts stores that carry McGard).

[ciasurv]

Best is to replace them with McGard lug nuts. I have chrome ones on my 2019 Ram and black chrome ones on my 2022 Charger. The McGards are much better quality than the factory ones and you can get them from Amazon (or auto parts stores that carry McGard).

I've got the McGard locking nuts on my boat wheels. Maybe truck is ok without them , thief couldn't get the "factory" OEM nuts off to steal the wheels... They are a much better quality nut though.

[99R93S]

I had to replace mine too.

With that being said, the shop guys at the dealership that does my oil change and tire rotation are removing and fully tightening these lug nuts with their impact wrenches which also damages the outside.

Even my newer lug nuts have a good amount of damage due to impact wrenches. Its almost like they do this to purposely try to upsell factory lug nuts.

We use torque sticks or hand tighten. Let me tell you as a tech how much I make removing your swollen lug nuts and replacing them $0. But I work at Ford and it’s a daily thing. We actually install aftermarket steel ones, factory ones suck. This isn’t just the trucks, it’s all of them. I have a nice set of 19.5 thru 22.5 mm sockets just for the swollen ones.

[Mizzou211]

I've replaced mine on my last three F150s. If memory serves, this issue actually goes back to the 90s. I've had to do as others describe by beating a 21.5mm socket onto them then prying the aluminum covers out of the inside of the socket.

I bought some extended length black ones for my current '14 F150. They're good old fashioned hardened steel and extended length to make it easier to get a 3/4" socket on them. And, I like the looks of them better anyway.

[Al from Canada]

I've got the McGard locking nuts on my boat wheels. Maybe truck is ok without them , thief couldn't get the "factory" OEM nuts off to steal the wheels... They are a much better quality nut though.

McGard makes regular lug nuts as well as the locking nuts. I'm currently not running locks on either vehicle but I have them if we were going to be going someplace and parking overnight then I'd put a lock on each wheel.

[krindgen]

I learned this a few months ago after a rotation. To get my 15yr old off his a&& and learn something, I thought I'd have him retorque my F150 lugs. I almost panicked - "these things aren't torqued, they're all stripped, I could wreck......." breath, then Google searched and it all made sense. Swiftly replaced these garbage two piece nuts. And make sure you have the proper size socket in the truck after replacing.

[XingEyeballs]

Maybe a dumb question but if you want to order new ones for something, where can you go to find out what size, thread count etc? I wouldn’t begin to know what’s out there with all the metric, standard, spline drive….

[Al from Canada]

Maybe a dumb question but if you want to order new ones for something, where can you go to find out what size, thread count etc? I wouldn’t begin to know what’s out there with all the metric, standard, spline drive….

On Amazon when you're ordering McGards you can put in the year/model of the car/truck and it will tell you which ones you need. If I needed new ones for my Charger or Ram it already has the year/model info in my Amazon account. Can't order the wrong ones.