Cragar SS lug nut trouble

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Asher Bird-Meyer

Asher Bird-Meyer

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Hi all. I recently got some new Cragar SS wheels (Part number CRR-08060) and new tires for a friend's grandmas '68 Valiant. It's a bone stock slant six car, 5x4 small bolt pattern with 7/16x20 studs. I picked up a set of shanked lug nuts (part number CRR-27721-4 from Summit) thinking they'd fit but alas, they don't fit through the holes. I'm thinking of getting longer studs for conical lug nuts, since the holes seem impossibly small for shanked lug nuts to fit through so I'm thinking the conical ones are what I will need to make this work. Does anyone have any experience with this? Any suggestions or tips would be extremely helpful, what length I should get, etc... Thanks all

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They take the shanked lugs. You have the wrong lugs. I have some new lugs from an old project I sold. I can measure them . Your lug looks different. They should be 7/16 20 with a 11/16 head. It definitely takes a shank style lug.

I had the conical Cragar wheels . They had a tapered face on the wheel. I had "Conica"The "Shanked", and "Conical shank" lugs . Went through the same thing with summit.
 
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Oldmanmopar said:
They take the shanked lugs. You have the wrong lugs. I have some new lugs from an old project I sold. I can measure them . Your lug looks different. They should be 7/16 20 with a 11/16 head. It definitely takes a shank style lug.

I had the conical Cragar wheels . They had a tapered face on the wheel. I had "Conica"The "Shanked", and "Conical shank" lugs . Went through the same thing with summit.
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.592 shank...
 
You cannot use conical lug nuts on those wheels, as previously mentioned. The reason is, a conical lug nut must have a conical seat the same angle in order to lock down properly when torqued. Those wheels have a totally flat seat, made to fit a flat washer like what is used on the correct shanked mag wheel lug nuts that are correct on those wheels. These are wheels and tires you're talking about here. It's kinda like airplane wings. If they fall off, bad things happen. Don't arbitrarily just make an ill informed decision when you know nothing about what you're doing. You can risk your life, anyone's lives who ride with you as well as those on the road with you. I don't say that in an insulting manner at all. None of us knows everything by a stretch. If you look at a stock wheel, you will see the conical seat I am speaking about. The conical bevel on the stock lug nut fits into the conical seat and that's what locks the lug nut tight on the wheel. Conversely, the mag wheel lug nuts and flat washers are designed for those Cragars. However, since they are flat washers against a flat surface, they do not have the conical seats, so they DO require periodic re-torquing, because they can and do work loose over time. So when you do them oil changes, make sure grandma's wheels are good and tight. We don't wanna lose grandma.
 
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You have the wrong lug nuts. If you compare the lug nuts you have with the ones linked in post # 2, you'll see that the ones you bought have a .68 inch diameter shank, while the correct ones have a .59 inch shank. If you take a look at your wheel specs, you'll see that the lug nut shank diameter of your wheels is .59. (Also, the correct lug nuts are installed with a 3/4 inch socket, while the ones you have are 13/16.)

I don't know why Summit shows the lug nuts you bought as "recommended" for your wheels, but anyway, just get the correct lug nuts. If you ordered the lug nuts from Summit, I'd ask them for my money back on the incorrect nuts you ordered based on their recommendation.

Edit: Also, the wheels will look better if you paint the brake drums black.
 
RustyRatRod said:
You cannot use conical lug nuts on those wheels, as previously mentioned. The reason is, a conical lug nut must have a conical seat the same angle in order to lock down properly when torqued. Those wheels have a totally flat seat, made to fit a flat washer like what is used on the correct shanked mag wheel lug nuts that are correct on those wheels. These are wheels and tires you're talking about here. It's kinda like airplane wings. If they fall off, bad things happen. Don't arbitrarily just make an ill informed decision when you know nothing about what you're doing. You can risk your life, anyone's lives who ride with you as well as those on the road with you. I don't say that in an insulting manner at all. None of us knows everything by a stretch. If you look at a stock wheel, you will see the conical seat I am speaking about. The conical bevel on the stock lug nut fits into the conical seat and that's what locks the lug nut tight on the wheel. Conversely, the mag wheel lug nuts and flat washers are designed for those Cragars. However, since they are flat washers against a flat surface, they do not have the conical seats, so they DO require periodic re-torquing, because they can and do work loose over time. So when you do them oil changes, make sure grandma's wheels are good and tight. We don't wanna lose grandma.
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Absolutely right. I wasn't making anymore moves on this until I had my homework done and some solid answers. I see way too much backyard hackery come in at work that could have easily ended with disaster. Will definitely be re checking that torque after a test run
 
On another note, what would you guys suggest I torque these to? I've been seeing people say anything from 50lb-ft to 100. Not sure what I should go with. Thanks again
 
Here are pictures of the lugs you need and they are 11/16 not 3/4 head. I measure the shank and got .587 . I have 20 right and 10 left and they all measure the same. I also have 30 of the conical style. I sold the Cragars with a car and he never took the lugs.

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Be careful with torque! I assumed and broke a stud. Checked manual and it's something low like 55-60, but check fsm!
Asher Bird-Meyer said:
On another note, what would you guys suggest I torque these to? I've been seeing people say anything from 50lb-ft to 100. Not sure what I should go with. Thanks again
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65 Cuda 340 said:
You have the wrong lug nuts. If you compare the lug nuts you have with the ones linked in post # 2, you'll see that the ones you bought have a .68 inch diameter shank, while the correct ones have a .59 inch shank. If you take a look at your wheel specs, you'll see that the lug nut shank diameter of your wheels is .59. (Also, the correct lug nuts are installed with a 3/4 inch socket, while the ones you have are 13/16.)

I don't know why Summit shows the lug nuts you bought as "recommended" for your wheels, but anyway, just get the correct lug nuts. If you ordered the lug nuts from Summit, I'd ask them for my money back on the incorrect nuts you ordered based on their recommendation.

Edit: Also, the wheels will look better if you paint the brake drums black.
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Shank style should be an 11/16 head
 
Asher Bird-Meyer said:
On another note, what would you guys suggest I torque these to? I've been seeing people say anything from 50lb-ft to 100. Not sure what I should go with. Thanks again
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Yes check with the FSM as stated by 4spdrag earlier. Iirc the torque is 45 ft lbs for drums and 55 ft lbs for disc. Good luck.
 
Torque to spec, drive it and retorque. I usually recheck 2 or 3 times.
 
Oldmanmopar said:
Shank style should be an 11/16 head
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Yes, after I read your post I went out to my garage and checked mine. They take an 11/16 socket. Either the Summit spec sheet has a misprint or that is not the right part number. I'm trying to find my old receipt for the lug nuts, but so far have not located it.
 
65 Cuda 340 said:
You have the wrong lug nuts. If you compare the lug nuts you have with the ones linked in post # 2, you'll see that the ones you bought have a .68 inch diameter shank, while the correct ones have a .59 inch shank. If you take a look at your wheel specs, you'll see that the lug nut shank diameter of your wheels is .59. (Also, the correct lug nuts are installed with a 3/4 inch socket, while the ones you have are 13/16.)

I don't know why Summit shows the lug nuts you bought as "recommended" for your wheels, but anyway, just get the correct lug nuts. If you ordered the lug nuts from Summit, I'd ask them for my money back on the incorrect nuts you ordered based on their recommendation.

Edit: Also, the wheels will look better if you paint the brake drums black.
Click to expand...
This thread has been very helpful to me. When I bought my wheels and tires several years ago I had this same discussion with my local tire store. After several calls to their distributor for Cragar wheels they told me that the conical lug nuts were all that were available and I had to use them. I had some of the correct lug nuts and showed them to them, but they couldn’t order them at the time. I believe my dealer, but I think they got the wrong information from their distributor. Photos of my wheel and a lug nut I just removed. It’s a 13/16” socket size. As you can see, my wheels do not have the tapered seat. The car has been driven very little since the wheels were installed, and only locally at low speeds. There doesn’t appear to be any damage to the wheel. I looked on the Summit site as suggested and found the left hand nuts (9004-4) and am going to order full set (3 bags full) of each. Thanks again. I knew this wasn’t right.

I can speak personally to the need to torque correctly and re-torque the lug nuts. I had just had my high-school ‘65 Dart GoGo into a tire store for new shoes and immediately took off on a 300 mile round trip. On the way back I kept hearing a”clicking” sound and got out a couple time to check the source of the noise but couldn’t see anything to cause it. A few minutes after my last check I sheared 4 lug studs on my left rear wheel at high speed. I was able to get it stopped safely and without damage, but it was a real eye-opener. Thanks again for this post. My new new nuts are on the way.

IMG_0234.jpeg


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Yes you definitely need shank style! Can't believe a tire shop we're clueless about this...those are definitely conical nuts and wrong for your rim
azaustin said:
This thread has been very helpful to me. When I bought my wheels and tires several years ago I had this same discussion with my local tire store. After several calls to their distributor for Cragar wheels they told me that the conical lug nuts were all that were available and I had to use them. I had some of the correct lug nuts and showed them to them, but they couldn’t order them at the time. I believe my dealer, but I think they got the wrong information from their distributor. Photos of my wheel and a lug nut I just removed. It’s a 13/16” socket size. As you can see, my wheels do not have the tapered seat. The car has been driven very little since the wheels were installed, and only locally at low speeds. There doesn’t appear to be any damage to the wheel. I looked on the Summit site as suggested and found the left hand nuts (9004-4) and am going to order full set (3 bags full) of each. Thanks again. I knew this wasn’t right.

I can speak personally to the need to torque correctly and re-torque the lug nuts. I had just had my high-school ‘65 Dart GoGo into a tire store for new shoes and immediately took off on a 300 mile round trip. On the way back I kept hearing a”clicking” sound and got out a couple time to check the source of the noise but couldn’t see anything to cause it. A few minutes after my last check I sheared 4 lug studs on my left rear wheel at high speed. I was able to get it stopped safely and without damage, but it was a real eye-opener. Thanks again for this post. My new new nuts are on the way.

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Asher Bird-Meyer said:
On another note, what would you guys suggest I torque these to? I've been seeing people say anything from 50lb-ft to 100. Not sure what I should go with. Thanks again
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I would go no more than about 65. No way would I twist a 7/16 stud up to 100. You might see what Cragar says, but regardless, I think 65 would be my max. I would also consult the factory service manual, since you do still retain the factory studs.
 
My memory (??) is 55 ft. lbs for the A body 7/16 inch studs and 70 ft. lbs for the B body (and late A body) 1/2 inch studs. I probably should look that up. Will check back after supper if that's wrong.
 
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