Hey while I am waiting for my car to get back I am thinking about some thing I want to change after I get it back. One of them being the lug nuts. According to my American Racing dealer I have to have crome nuts or my warrenty is void. Well I bought a nice set with locking nuts for each wheel. Here hs my beef with them. I have no problem getting the locking nuts off cause they have a key. But the other nuts are a real tight fit. I have alot of trouble geting the wrech around the nut and turing them. I thought of a few idea's

1. Thinner walled wretch
2. Smaller nutis possible
3. a nut than i can actually insert something into the nut. Almost like the key. Is that possible? I have seen them before...but wasn't sure if i was ust seeing things or if it was real.

Any feedback would be great

I had the same problem with my American Racing Hopster wheels.

I bought a set of McGuard wheel lug nuts and locking wheel nuts for them.

A standard tire iron will not work for these to help spin them on before torquing them down.

I've found that a 1/2" drive deep well Craftsman socket fits just fine.

Have you tried a deep well socket? Or is this what you mean by "wrench"?

warranty???...chrome lugnuts????...why would any other type void the warranty?..if thats true then thats a crock..and i wont buy AR rims because thats the most retarded thing ive ever heard. its a scam...unless it has something to do with the way they seat themselves in the rim. its like the difference between steel and aluminum wheel lugnuts. You cant use the steel rim lugs on the aluminum because of the hardness of the metal used in the different lugnuts.

No I have not tried a socket. I should have said a tire wrech I guess. You know the standard X wrech that we are used to using. Its just card to fit that bad boy over the lug.

As for the warrenty thing. from what my dealer told me and when I contacted American racing directly in order to guarentee the finish I HAD to have those crome covered nuts. I mentioned to them both that the wheel goes right up againts steel on and sits on steel bolts....what is the difference...? They just said its the policy of the warrenty. Now one note is that I bought these from a place that also sold cars. And they charged me $80 i think it was for all the nuts. I returned them said I was going to use my orginal nuts. Thet put on my reciept that my warrenty was not valid since i didnt have crome on them. I said "if i show you I have crome on them will you put my warrenty back on?" They said yes. Just show us you have them mounted. I drove down to a local Advance auto an bought a full set with locking nuts for $25...umm yeah...goes to show you why i hate buying things from a dealership.

Yeah. You'll need to use a deep well socket to tighten them down with. I had the same problem with my aftermarket wheels. A tire iron doesn't work.

Thanks a ton my dad was thinking about getting air or electric impact wretch for doing stuff like this for now on...alot faster....

I wouldn't use an impact gun on nice aftermarket wheels. You also don't want to use it to put the lug nuts on. You can run into problems that way.

I use a 1/2" drive breaker bar with a 6" 1/2" drive extension and a 1/2" deep well socket to break my lug nuts loose. Then I just spin them off my hand.

To put them back on, I use the same setup to snug them down. Set the car back on the ground and then use my 1/2" drive torque wrench to torque the lug nuts down in turn starting around 40-50ft/lbs and working up to around 85-90ft/lbs.

An impact gun is good for many uses including stock, steel rims that might be covered by a hub cap but I wouldn't use one on a nicely finished aftermarket rim. This isn't Indy car remember. LOL

True true...but they are so nice for us lazy people....LOL

He also wants for his truck and he doesnt care what it looks like...stock wheels...and well I will post a picture shortly you will understand.

I have a cover over my lugs...so it wouldn't matter...but i think your right I will just to the same way I ahve been doing it just use the breaker bar instead

This is what I got to remove and install my lug nuts:
Earthquake Impact Wrench
Torque Extension Set
Impact Lug Nut Socket Set
Plus a Craftsman 30 Gallon Air Compressor to run the impact.

TOC Admin
Brando

i just use a breaker bar and deep well socket to put them on and a torque wrench to torque them. I have to use those "tuner" lug nuts w/ my 18's. That's the type that has a key that goes inside the lug nut to tighten.

Lets address this first:
Nearly ALL aftermarket wheel manufacturers specify a certain type of lugnut for their particular wheels...not doing so WILL generally void the wheel warranty, and heres why....

Most aftermarket wheels have a different lugnut seat or taper, than a standard steel or stock type aluminum wheel. In many cases useage of the incorrect lugnuts can cause wheel failure due to improper seating of lugnuts, wheels coming loose, cracking in the lugnut seats, etc. Lugnut hardness itself has little effect..most lugnuts are of the same grade or hardness. Its in the type of seat designed into the lugnut itself...taper, ball seat, mag type...each has it's own useage and place on a particular type of wheel, whether it is steel or aluminum.

Also, although you will find the same grade of hardness in the lugnut itself, the quality of the outer coating is another thing....many of the "cheaper" grade generic chrome lugnuts have a single layer chrome plating, which over time will rust, corrode, and basically look like shit. Higher grade lugnuts, such as ones made by McGard and other well known reputable brands, are triple nickel chrome plated, and carry a lifetime guarantee against chipping or rusting. The nickel plating helps to prevent this sort of thing. Generally they cost MUCH more than the cheaper grade (often $1.50-2.50 per lugnut more) BUT how much do you value your car, your wheels, how they look, and how long they last? As always, you get what you pay for.

Now, to the other half of the question...American Racing, as well as other wheel and lugnut companies, make thin wall sockets specifically for use with thinwall type lugnut holes on aftermarket wheels. Most come with both a 3/4" and 13/16" hex built into the top for useage with either size wrench. As others have mentioned, deep well thin wall sockets will work as well. Lugnut torque varies with each manufacturers vehicles, but all aluminum/aftermarket wheels should be torqued in a star type pattern on 5 bolt wheels, and then retorqued after approximately 500 miles of use, to full seat the wheels and lugnuts. "Most" of the GM cars specify 85-100 ft lbs of torque, but check to be certain. Correct lugnut torque will also result in less problems with brake rotor warpage, which is VERY common on newer style "slip on" rotor type of vehicles.

Now, since Brando mentioned it.....torque extensions, or torque sticks. While they can be useful in torquing lugnuts quickly, in most cases the best they will do unless used on a fully regulated air supply, is to torque each lugnut the same, but not necessarily to the correct torque, and even at that must be used in a specific manner. Torque sticks are only to be used to torque the wheels AFTER the lugnuts have been fully seated against the wheel....simply sticking them on an impact wrench and tightening till they stop will almost always result in an overtorque scenario. While we do use torque sticks at our establishment, all employees have been instructed and trained in the proper useage of torque sticks, and even then, EVERY aftermarket wheel which comes in is hand torqued to vehicle specs.