Tighten those lug nuts!

[700rpm]

A couple years ago a member of our club lost the DS rear wheel on his truck because he had failed to tighten, or check the tightening, on his wheels. His motto became, "Tighten those lug nuts!" Fortunately, no one was hurt, and we all had a good chuckle. BUT! Someone could have been hurt, and it is a good lesson learned at someone else's expense.

Now, I think I'm pretty conscientious about stuff like lug nuts, but a couple weeks ago I went ahead and checked 'em anyway. Whoa! They were loose! Not critically loose, but loose.

I share this story just as a cautionary tale. Sometimes it's the little things that can cause the most grief.

Here's a tiny tip I learned from my father, who was trained as a Model T mechanic: when replacing your lug nuts, put a drop of oil on the threads. It makes it easier to put 'em on and take 'em off later.

 

[glenn in camino]

Check your lug nuts at a rest stop on a tour. It's contagious.

 

[Doug Linden]

Good suggestion. We were touring in Nova Scotia and one of our members went around with a lug wrench one morning and found a number of loose lugs nut on the 15 "A"s in our group. Doesn't hurt to check them regularly.

 

[Reds34]

I noticed something didn't look quite right with the lug nuts on my dad's '34 1 1/2 ton truck. So I took the lug wrench out and tightened about 7 or 8 lug nuts. Always a good thing to check them.

Red

 

[Jim/GA]

Don't use oil on your lug nuts. Just clean the threads really well with a small wire brush and install them dry. If you don't they will loosen while you drive and then you will have to go around and tighten them up at every rest stop.

 

[700rpm]

Don't use oil on your lug nuts. Just clean the threads really well with a small wire brush and install them dry. If you don't they will loosen while you drive and then you will have to go around and tighten them up at every rest stop.

Thanks Jim, but in 50 years of owning Model A's that has not been my experience. Your results obviously are different.

 

[Tom Wesenberg]

Thanks Jim, but in 50 years of owning Model A's that has not been my experience. Your results obviously are different.

I always put grease on the threads and lug nut shoulder. Never had a lug nut come loose.

I did change a flat tire this past winter and after I drove to a friend's house I saw his starting crank laying on the floor. Just for fun I thought I'd grab it and check my lugnuts. It was then that I remembered I forgot to give the lug nuts the final tightening after the car was off the jack.

It's a good thing I do things just for fun sometimes! LOL

 

[marc hildebrant]

I have put some oil on the lug nut threads for many years. I found that the oil keeps the lug threads from getting rusty and making the removal hard.

Seems to have worked well.

Marc

 

[Mike Mc]

Keeping the threads clean is critical.

Last year I had a tyre replaced on a trailer that I'd sprayed the wheel nuts years previously with soft seal, to stop corrosion. The soft seal had ended up all over the threads.

The wheel went on OK & was tighted up as normal. Driving home with a load of builders mix I lost the wheel. I had to stop about every 100 meters after that to retighten the wheel until I got home. The wheel nuts felt good & snug but would not hold under a heavy load.

Cleaning the threads fixed the problem.

 

[redmodelt]

Have a customers 400-A in the shop doing a little preventive repair. When I took off the front wheels the lug nuts were not very tight. Haven't checked the rears yet. Other things to remember to check, the wheel bearings and the rear hub nut. Make sure that rear hub nut is the proper grade. We had one cust. that the nuts were hardly tight when the car was brought in. Even torquing them to 100+ they still worked loose. Those nuts got replaced.

 

[gweilbaker]

And you should watch that none of these little bad boys make onto your buggy, read new guys.

http://idisk.mac.com/forever4/Public/pages/dangerouslugnuts.htm
http://www.fordgarage.com/pages/dangerouslugnuts.htm

Referenced to Vince's site.

GW

 

[Patrick L.]

I always use never-seize.. Been doing it for 50 years on everything from a golf cart to a semi.. I only tighten the old Ford lugs to 50#..

 

[SimS]

Red;

Are you saying that the rear axle nut loosened even while being cotter pinned? Or was the nut unable to be torqued enough before pinning? I often wonder if the hub could move on the axle taper. Thanks for any clarification.
SimS

 

[brucesp]

Nobody's metioned powder coated wheels. This came up in another thread somewhere. Be sure to grind/sand off the powder coating where the lug nuts make contact (if they weren't masked in the first place). Not doing that can be dangerous. I agree with others that the threads should be lubed. It's just a slightly different torque spec. Wheel lugs run in the rain (at least mine do). Rust is a bad thing.

 

[redmodelt]

SimS, yes the axel nut was torqued to 100 and pined. It could have been other factors involved, or as we supected, the nut was too soft and the force side to side loosend it.

 

[Dave in MN]

Speed meet loss of wheel

Attached find two pictures from the Northwood, Iowa Speed Meet held this past weekend on Saturday 9/11.

A young man completed about 4 timed 1/10th mile runs and when he was driving back on the grass to make another, his rear wheel fell off. The V8 era wheel rolled about 75 feet from the car and fell with the hub cap facing down. All 5 lug nuts stayed with the wheel the whole time and ended up resting in the hub cap. 6 of us lifted the rear of the car and Nate, the young man, placed the wheel back in place, put the nuts back on, tightened them and then the car made about 6 more timed runs. Pretty funny!

Check your lug nuts!

Good Day!
Dave in MN

 

[J Franklin]

I torque to 60# cross-pattern with lubed threads and never have experienced looseness. I would look for bent or out of balance problems if so.

 

[Don/WI]

Nobody's metioned powder coated wheels. This came up in another thread somewhere. Be sure to grind/sand off the powder coating where the lug nuts make contact (if they weren't masked in the first place). Not doing that can be dangerous. I agree with others that the threads should be lubed. It's just a slightly different torque spec. Wheel lugs run in the rain (at least mine do). Rust is a bad thing.

Bruce, could you explain what is dangerous about not grinding the powder coating where the lug nuts make contact? Thanks. Don/WI

 

[FL&WVMIKE]

I have put a spot of grease on every lug of every wheel of every car that I have had, for years. They will tighten better and won't ever rust up.
MIKE

 

[Tom Wesenberg]

Bruce, could you explain what is dangerous about not grinding the powder coating where the lug nuts make contact? Thanks. Don/WI

While driving the wheels flex a tiny bit and wear away at the powdercoating (or any paint) and when the paint is worn away the nuts will become looser.