Has anyone had this issue with their alloy wheels? The shop I took it to apparently rounded off one of the lug nuts (stock style nut with chrome cap) on the right rear trying to get it off. They gave up and I took it to Goodyear thinking they would be able to get it off.

The lugnut was so mangled they were unable to get it loose. They split the stud and then broke the backside of the wheel trying to knock it loose. It sounds like it also damaged the axle seal and is leaking horribly now. They are also saying that the lugs have sunken into the other wheels and may not come off either.

I bought 4 new steel 15x7, 4.5" backspace, +6mm offset wheels to swap on, which I believe should fit though they may stick out some.Hopefully once they are here that is the end of my wheel problems.

I am still bewildered that no one could remove a lug nut without destroying the wheels! Of the 31 vehicles I've owned, I have never seen this much carnage just trying to get new tires put on. If this thing takes any more damage I can't see the truck being salvageable.

 

I just replaced all the lug studs on my rears. I took the axles out since I was replacing the seals anyway, and I had to use heat and big sledge to knock them out. Getting the new ones in was no picnic either....i bought one of those lug stud donuts and it took an impact wrench and some old lug nuts, with liberal amounts of lubrication to get the new ones in. They are a pain in the *** on a rusted 30 year old truck.

 

I've never had this lug issue but I have dealt with stuck fasteners often enough. You should soak them with lube. The Dissimilar metals of the lug and alloy should not be grabbing each other like that. When I removed studs from my head I heated them cherry red with an oxy acetylene torch and they came right out. The quick expansion and cooling breaks them free of the thread rust. A propane torch would not work as it would take so long and heat up everything around the lugs making the change in temp moot.
You could cut the lugs/studs off with a cutting wheel and a grinder if you intend to replace the studs and don't care about the alloys. Using a torch to cut the lugs/studs is an iffy proposition as a magnesium wheel will burn like the sun if you ignite it. Do Not Use Water if it does! Run and call the fire department. IDK if there is magnesium in your alloys.

 

It is definitely strange, I suppose regardless it's better than it happened at the shop than the side of the road. The wheels I ordered are flat faced rather than recessed like the stockers - so that should be much easier to deal with in the future should it happen.

I do have a new set of lug nuts and locks to put on - though I may forgo the locks just in case something like this happens again. I can't imagine anyone wanting cheap wheels off my old truck anyway. I'll get some pictures of the final carnage and post them up.

 

First problem is , get rid of those "covered" lug nuts and get the solid nuts. The covered ones get water in there and rust, also the covers are loose and with these idiots at the shops using impacts to torque them down and stripping the covers ( and no standard or metric sockets will fit that chunk of crap under those covers) you end up where you are with damaged wheels, broken studs and so on. I wont buy a car from a dealer with them ( I make them install solid lugs. And if I get a used vehicle, that's the first thing I check are the lugs, yes I loosen and retighten all to make sure they come off then I stop and get solid lugs on the way home. Those are the worst, 2nd worst are open ended nuts.

 

Amen! I actually bought a full set of solid nuts to install on the wheels, since I noticed some where open end and others were the cheap covered nuts. That is how I initially ended up where I'm at, the shop "flowered" the cap that covered the nut and just kept going. Twisted the sides right off the lug nut. And with these recessed lug holes there is just no good way to remedy that without damaging the wheel.

I told them just get the wheels off and I will order new ones. I decided to go with these to stay close to stock size. They will move the wheel out about an inch, but keep close to the same amount of wheel under the fender. They are only an inch wider than the stock aluminum wheels. That should avoid changing the load point on the hubs.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/USW-044-5764P

 

Yeah the pockets for the lugs make it all the more aggravating to try to fix something where if they were exposed are easier to deal with. Sad it happens and whoever invented those covered nuts needs to be fired...lol

 

And to think that all this could've been prevented by properly applying some anti-seize to a.the lug nuts/studs b.wheel to mounting surface & c.center opening of wheel that fits over axle/spindle.

 

It really could have been prevented if I hadn't bought the truck! Haha, but yes, you can tell the previous owner was not big on car care. There is still mud stuck up under the truck, and when I bought it, it looked like the tires had never been rotated and had been on there since day 1 without a rotation.

But again, I'd rather figure this stuff out a few days after buying the truck, than find out on a long trip between here and Austin - by losing a wheel, or having a blowout.

 

Well here we go. I think it turned out pretty good for a quick and dirty stock replacement. They are US Wheels Stealth Crawlers, 15x7, I will say that the Summit catalog says they are 4.5" backspace, but they are not, the box says +7mm offset, and 4.256" backspace. So they stick out a bit further than I thought they would.

The edge of the tire is about dead even with the edge of the stock fender flair.