Tire shop over torqued lug nuts (1969 Dart). Should I redo it?

[cb474]

I'm sorry, I linked the wrong dang one. It's this one. Trust me. This is something you can do. Just go really slow with light pressure. A very little bit at the time and check between cuts. Don't cut very long at all. All you're looking for is a clean, unifom seat. You're not trying to enlarge anything.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Drill-America-5-8-in-60-Degree-High-Speed-Steel-Countersink-Bit-with-Single-Flute-DEWSFC5-8-60/310465672

Thanks.

Here's an image of one of the wheels. I seem to have got that working now. I don't know how easy it is to see the condition of the lug seats though.

 

[cb474]

Some of the lug nuts. They are pretty beaten up. I wouldn't be suprised if most of them are original.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Thanks.

Here's an image of one of the wheels. I seem to have got that working now. I don't know how easy it is to see the condition of the lug seats though.

View attachment 1716485490

The lug nuts are terrible, but the wheels can be easily fixed with that bit.

 

[cb474]

The lug nuts are terrible, but the wheels can be easily fixed with that bit.

Yeah, my mother is the original owner of this car. It's unmodified. It "only" has 158K on the original engine (225 Slant 6). I really would not be suprised if the lug nuts are from 1969.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Yeah, my mother is the original owner of this car. It's unmodified. It "only" has 158K on the original engine (225 Slant 6). I really would not be suprised if the lug nuts are from 1969.

Very likely. But they could still be in good shape were they not abused. No fault of yours.

 

[cb474]

Very likely. But they could still be in good shape were they not abused. No fault of yours.

Yeah, I can only imagine what was done to them over the years. I only started working on the car myself recently.

Am I right that 7/16-20 is the correct thread size for the lug nuts?

 

[RustyRatRod]

Yeah, I can only imagine what was done to them over the years. I only started working on the car myself recently.

Am I right that 7/16-20 is the correct thread size for the lug nuts?

Correct.

 

[Dana67Dart]

is it just me or do the nuts and wheel seats look galled

 

[RustyRatRod]

is it just me or do the nuts and wheel seats look galled

Yeah that was the whole point of me linking that bit. So he can fix the wheels.

 

[Killer6]

is it just me or do the nuts and wheel seats look galled

Seen that a bazillion times in the shop, it happens over time, even if they're not grossly over-torqued. It was common to have them on cars & trucks to come off dragging like a torque-prevailing nut, the wear & repeated torquing causes the nuts to become swedged, to the point they gall & pull threads coming off. Sometimes I'd grind the ends of the taper off, light lube the studs & run straight lugnuts on backwards, many of them worked OK after that. Otherwise, it turned into chasing/fixing threads &/or replacing stuff.
The taper dressing of the rim seat Rusty was talking about is very helpful here, old 60° seats in alum. rims need love too, they gall & get rough over time for sure.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Seen that a bazillion times in the shop, it happens over time, even if they're not grossly over-torqued. It was common to have them on cars & trucks to come off dragging like a torque-prevailing nut, the wear & repeated torquing causes the nuts to become swedged, to the point they gall & pull threads coming off. Sometimes I'd grind the ends of the taper off, light lube the studs & run straight lugnuts on backwards, many of them worked OK after that. Otherwise, it turned into chasing/fixing threads &/or replacing stuff.
The taper dressing of the rim seat Rusty was talking about is very helpful here, old 60° seats in alum. rims need love too, they gall & get rough over time for sure.

People rarely think of it but it helps to lubricate the lug nut seats in the wheels too. It will not affect how they lock down when torqued.