Corolla Lug Nuts

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Backstory: My Corolla came with 16" alloys/all seasons. Last fall I bought some 15" steelies and snow tires, had the shop I bought them from install them. I swapped my tires back to the all seasons myself this past spring.

Now I went to install my snow tires this past weekend and I noticed that the lugnuts that were used for the steel wheels/snow tires were much harder to thread onto the studs than the set that I am taking off with the 16" all seasons/alloys. The lug nuts with the all seasons tires/wheels are able to be freely spun with my fingertips until contacting the wheel (and then I torque them down with a torque wrench). Or once I initially loosened them I could spin them the rest of the way off with my fingers. The lug nuts with the steel wheels/snow tires are only able to be threaded on one or two spins by hand before I can't turn them with my fingers anymore (they're not hitting the wheel yet).

Is it normal for some lug nuts to be harder to thread than others? I don't want to force them on with a ratchet or impact gun and mess up the threading on my studs.

Thanks for any help, I plan on stopping by the shop after work and seeing what they say.
 
There's no chance that they got mixed up with some other nuts since you took the steelies off last spring?

If you're sure they're the right nuts, I'd hit them with some light oil and a small wire brush.
 
I'd say yes, it absolutely happens where a nut is hard to go on a lug because of rust, dirt, small variations. However, I'd be worried, as you are, because you aren't sure those are the right size. I'd be afraid of stripping things by putting them on.

Any chance you can buy a stud new and thread one on? This way you aren't out much if it isn't the right size.
 
Thread pull/distortion. Happens all the time when wheels are over torqued with high pressure shop compressors. The nuts or the stud itself are often times damaged. Use oil when threading on and off in the future, but the damage is likely permanent unless you cut them again with a tap.
 
do you remember if the nuts were very hard to remove in the spring>?

look carefully at the studs and nuts, if one set of nuts works well and another doesn't... i would lean towards the nut thread being stripped. just get some new lug nuts

hopefully it isnt the studs...
 
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Might just be rust-I spray the winter lug nuts for the xB with WD-40 & put them in a Ziploc bag for the summer in the glovebox, then they go on easily in the fall. My winter steelies are actually going to need paint soon, the salt & moisture is rusting them around the holes.
 
Originally Posted By: leeharvey418
There's no chance that they got mixed up with some other nuts since you took the steelies off last spring?

If you're sure they're the right nuts, I'd hit them with some light oil and a small wire brush.


No these are the same lugnuts I took off in spring, they're the only spare set of wheels/lugnuts that I own.
 
Originally Posted By: Brybo86
do you remember if the nuts were very hard to remove in the spring>?

look carefully at the studs and nuts, if one set of nuts works well and another doesn't... i would lean towards the nut thread being stripped. just get some new lug nuts

hopefully it isnt the studs...


Not sure, I loosened them with a breaker bar and zipped them off with a small 12v impact when I took them off last spring.

The lugnuts on right now with the all seasons are the factory wheels/lugnuts. They go on/off without any problems so I don't think anything with the threading on the studs is screwed up (I hope at least).

Perhaps the snow tire lugnuts are rusty inside and just need to be cleaned. I'm hoping I can stop at the tire shop and they will have a new set that I can try one on and see if they spin on easier.
 
You can (or used to be able to) get bulk lug nuts from rock auto for 20 cents or so. Edit, they've gone up. Maybe ask at a "real" parts store.
 
I have alloy whells on several Camrys in the fleet, Toyota OEM on one and German Borbet on the other. The nuts for those wheels are higher quality and thread far more easily than the oem acorns which cane with the steel wheels I upgraded from. One tip, if you lubricate the lug threads, down rate the torque setting by about 15%. As I recall, Toyota calls for 78 pounds whthout lubrication so knock off about 10 or 11.
 
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