Loose lug nuts

[C M Smith <cmsmith@domain.elided>]

Before concentric hubs became commonplace a common source of lug nuts 
appearing to back off was due to slightly off center tightening of the lug 
nuts. This is so easy to do but only very occasionally that most times one 
never thinks of it. You accidentally snug one nut slightly off center on 
the wheel hole and then all the others are tightened slightly off center. 
Once the wheel revolves a few times with the weight of the car on it the 
lug nuts lose their temporary grip on the bolt holes and the wheel seats 
back on center, leaving just enough slack in the lug nuts to account for 
the loose fit. Admittedly this is far easier to do with steel wheels but it 
can also happen with alloys.

One more thought is if you use any lubricant on the studs be sure none gets 
trapped on the end of a stud. This hydraulically locks the lug nut before 
it seats firmly onto the wheel. No amount of torque on the nut will 
overcome the incompressible plug of lube in the end of the nut.

I use only that copper based brake caliper lube on the wheel nuts/bolts on 
my cars. I put the barest smear on the first set of threads and allow the 
nut or bolt to spread the lube evenly and thinly down the threads. It works 
well, the bolts/nuts tighten smoothly and they come off only when you want 
them to. Hubcentric wheels benefit from a thin smear of the same stuff in 
the center of the wheel around the hubcentric ring and a bit on the 
hub/wheel interface to ease removal of the wheel after a winter of salty 
slush trying to cement the hub and wheel together. this works particularly 
well with alloys as it prevents any dissimilar metal corrosion from 
cementing the wheel in place.

Cheers


Michael Smith
Calgary, Alberta,Canada
91 Alfa 164L
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