Left hand threads on left side of mopars

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TheBigE

70 Duster - Slant 6
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Hi folks. Should my 70 Duster have left hand threaded wheel nuts on the left side wheels? They are all 'normal' right hand threads on all 4 wheels now. I'm not complaining, it's easier having them all the same. I was wondering if they have been changed or they came from the factory like that???

I'm positive that my dad's 62 Valiant station wagon and my 68 CHarger had lefties on the left. And I'm reasonably sure that I remember my 2 other 70 Mopars(Newport and 4 door Coronet) had the left threads as well. Just wondering if A-bodies maybe changed over by 1970 or if my wheel studs have been replaced.

Thanks for any info.

The Big E(from cold, cold London Ontario)
 
my 70 cuda has left hand threads...
my 71 dart does not...
 
My first car was a 1969 Dodge Polara 318/Auto 727 that I had back in 1979. It had the left hand threads on the drivers side. My sons 1974 Dart 318/Auto is right hand on drivers side.
 
MOPEkidD-3 said:
My '70 Duster has 'em too. Anybody know what the point of that was?
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MaMopar did that so that when you applied the brakes the lug nuts on that side would tend to tighten instead of loosen due to the inertia of the lug nut turning toward the front of the car. 1972 was the last year for left side left hand thread. In 1973 they all became right hand thread and 5 on 4 1/2" bolt circle with disc brakes. 5 on 4" was kept for drum brake cars but they had all right hand thread lug nuts.
 
grumpuscreature said:
MaMopar did that so that when you applied the brakes the lug nuts on that side would tend to tighten instead of loosen due to the inertia of the lug nut turning toward the front of the car. 1972 was the last year for left side left hand thread. In 1973 they all became right hand thread and 5 on 4 1/2" bolt circle with disc brakes. 5 on 4" was kept for drum brake cars but they had all right hand thread lug nuts.
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I had always read that '70 was the last year?
 
I have an 8 3/4 in my Demon that I got from a 70 duster. It has right hand threads. Of course, I'm not sure if it original to the duster or not.
 
Very, very interesting info gang.

Mine must have been changed at some point then, likely demon522's rear end was also altered. If it was a super late 1970 production vehicle I can see that maybe they ran out of studs or bolts or something...but mine was built closer to the middle of the run, Feb 10, 1970.

They are nice to have like I said if you're not building an exact resto, I hear that some shops will damage your lefties when trying to take your wheel nuts off the regular way!!!!

Big E
 
res1vw21 said:
I had always read that '70 was the last year?
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Dad's '72 Swinger (bought new) had left hand thread on the left side, my '72 Duster (also bought new) was the same way, and the '72 Dart I bought from the original owner in '98 had 'em. '73 was when MaMopar started cutting corners and did a lot of standardization across the line so she would have enough money to build a prototype tank for the Army. It became the M1A1 Abrams and cost almost 13 billion dollars to develop.
 
My 64 and 65 had left and right, i finally pounded the lefties out and put righties in, i got tired of tire shop guys saying they had trouble with my lug nuts, "UUM, its a Chrysler, let a old timer do it"

WHat is the history of left and right hand threads on a older chrysler, any one know?
 
Hi guys i know im a little late on this but i was wondering if anyone has or knows were i can get a set of left hand studs and nuts for my 67 dart gt convertible
 
grumpuscreature said:
MaMopar did that so that when you applied the brakes the lug nuts on that side would tend to tighten instead of loosen due to the inertia of the lug nut.
Click to expand...

That might be the old wives tale, but it doesn't hold water.

Fer instance, how come all the Ferds 'n Chivvies with all right-had lugs aren't parked on the road with the wheels falling off?

AND how come the new cars DON'T have left hand?

AND what about acceleration? Would that not try to loosen 'em?
 
67Dart273 said:
That might be the old wives tale, but it doesn't hold water.

Fer instance, how come all the Ferds 'n Chivvies with all right-had lugs aren't parked on the road with the wheels falling off?

AND how come the new cars DON'T have left hand?

AND what about acceleration? Would that not try to loosen 'em?
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Cadillacs also had left handed threads.
 
...and pre-'65 Buick, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile models as well as some International Scouts and many others.
 
My experience is that they changed in real late '70 to all RH thread. I only came across two '70 models with all RH threads and they were both late June build dates. Many, if not most, car makers had LH threads in the past. The reason was if the lug nut was left loose or not tightened properly, with normal forward wheel rotation, it would tend to tighten instead of working it's way all the way off. If the lug nut is properly tightened to specs, you can use either on either side. The problem today is when you take the car into a tire shop, and someone ignorant in this area, is in charge of removing your wheels. I've seen these knuckleheads snap all 5 before they figured out they were doing something wrong! LH studs and nuts are getting harder to find every year. If your car doesn't need to stay stock, do yourself a favor and swap them all over to RH whenever you need to change brake drums/rotors on the front. The rears are easy and can be changed at the same time or any time the rear wheels are off but the front need a cutter, press, and restaking tool to do the job properly.
 
i have both 7/16" and 1/2" lugs for sale......

7/16th RH ONLY(20)-$25.00

1/2" both RH and LF(20)-$25.00
 
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