Left hand lug nuts are back, baby!
Just a minor clarification to your first point-
"It’s also true that the different metals used for brake drums, wheel studs, lug nuts and the actual wheel all have different thermal expansion rates, so that heat cycling from braking will loosen lug nuts. Wheel balance and harmonic vibrations will do the same."
...if the rotational forces are against them.
No clarification needed, the rotational forces don't have to be against the direction of the threads for thermal expansion or harmonic vibrations to loosen the lug nuts. Those forces will loosen lug nuts regardless of the direction of thread and side of the car. Which is why EVERY wheel and vehicle manufacturer out there has a mileage schedule for re-torquing lug nuts. Because those forces can loosen even properly torqued lug nuts. Rotational force can not, they will only loosen lugs that are already not torqued to spec- and actually, they have to be VERY loose for that to happen. Now, once loosened by other forces will the rotational force continue to spin the loose lug nut off? Sure. But at that point the lug is already loose enough that damage will be done to the wheel and stud, regardless of the direction of rotation.
Bottom line, use proper torque and check it periodically and you'll never have an issue. If rotational force was such a problem, lawyers would have had a field day with manufacturers using only RH threads on every car made since ~1970. Remember what happened with the Ford Explorers and Firestone tires? And that was a pretty small number of accidents. Every moron that's ever had a wheel come off would be in on a class action lawsuit if there was anything to it beyond the complete negligence of the driver/mechanic that's tightening the lugs.
Way too much engineering style t crossing and i dotting here for me now.
I agree, you don't understand all the forces at work well enough to have a relevant, informed opinion. Thinking finger tight lug nuts won't allow a wheel to wobble should have been my first clue that you've absolutely no idea what you're talking about. A finger tight lug nut will not produce the clamp force needed between the wheel and hub to resist the road forces acting on the wheel. This is basic.
I've never had lugs loosen themselves for any of those reasons...ever.
...and I don't periodically check the torque...ever.
How could you possibly know the first thing if you never do the second thing? I mean seriously, if you never check the lug nut torque then how could you possibly have the foggiest idea what's going on?
If you're too lazy to do something as important and easy as checking lug nut torque periodically, you've got no business driving a classic car.
...but you win.
Congratulations.
:thumbsup:
This isn't about winning, just the facts. A multi-lug wheel with
properly torqued lug nuts won't have any issues because of the direction of wheel rotation.
