Hey all,

Went to change my OEM brakes last weekend, got a shiny new impact wrench, deep impact socket set, etc and was ready to go to town.

Well, my 22mm OEM lug nuts have changed. The 22mm socket will only fit maybe a 1/4". 23mm is too big. I decided to pull out the wrench that came with the jack to see if I was hallucinating and it won't fit!

I got new tires on it 14 months ago, tire shop didn't mention anything.

The lugs all look fine, no damage etc. (Standard 20" wheels BTW)

These are the lugs with the outer casing....have they swollen or something....can't tell with the nekkid eye.

Any idea's what to do? I need to get these brake on like asap, this weekend preferably.

I don't want to hammer on a socket in fear that I won't get the lug back.

Any help, greatly appreciated as always.

 

i bought one of these when the same thing happened to my challenger https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
gives you a 22.5 on one side for getting the lug nuts off. but be warned they will keep swelling and eventually get stuck in that too so you still need to replace them eventually. I went with these on my challenger since they use the same 22mm hex (which is surprisingly rare in aftermarket lug nuts) https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

my 17 lugs are starting to stick in the standard socket already so i have devised a method of quickly removing the caps from them and thinking about doing that instead of buying new lug nuts . . . . i havent decided yet, all i know for sure is that these two piece lug nuts SUCK (and everyone uses them from dodge to ford to toyota just to save a couple cents per)

 

A large 4-way lug wrench with a 7/8" should work on those swelled lug nuts and give you plenty of leverage to get them on and off.The one I use is 25" long and works great.By the way 7/8" is only about .009" larger than 22mm and is not overly sloppy like the 23mm.

 

Common problem with a 2-piece lug design. The metal underneath gets some salt into it and starts to corrode, pushing the casing out away from the base metal. You can buy a special socket for it, but they'll just keep swelling over time, and eventually the covers will loosen up enough that you'll strip one off. A couple of years ago Ford actually got sued over their 2-piece design, because theirs held up even worse than Chrysler's.
My personal advice is to replace them with a good set of 1-piece aftermarket lugs and save yourself what will eventually become a huge headache.

Edit- Just make sure you stay away from the stupid splined 'tuner' nuts. Those are almost as much of a pain to deal with as the 2-piece units.

 

Thanks so much brother for your input and assist. I ordered the socket you enlightened me to, should be arriving UPS any minute....it better, only got so much daylight left to get started!

Yeah, I'm getting rid of these junk lugs. I happened to remember I had (4) I had taken off, the truck came with a nice set of McGard wheel locks in the glove box, not sure if that was a dealer perk or what. The original lugs fit like a glove in a 22mm socket, so mine are surely swollen and screwed.

The lugs you obtained for your Challenger...happy with them? Amazon page shows they will fit my rig, they look exactly like what I need.

Again, thanks so much. Will update later once the socket arrives, etc, etc.

 

Tried a 7/8" also, same result, barely fit, maybe got it on 1/4"

 

Def going to swap them out. I can't be stuck on the side of the road with a flat not being able to change a tire out. Think I'm going to get the ones that Sharpshooter posted a link above to. Something has made them swell, salt huh...damn, what a stupid *** design. Dodge should be paying for my new lugs.

 

Update: New socket arrived that Sharphooter recommended. Nice high quality design by the way. Well, the 22.5 made it on the lugs by only maybe a 1/2" at that. Started on one wheel, got them off but with the small bite that I was able to obtain, screwed up the lugs by appearance only. Don't give a damn, changing out this garbage anyway and pretty frustrated with it actually.

Once I got them off, the swelling is now very recognizable by the nekkid eye. They're swollen right at dead center, for that wheel anyway.

Then, since this truck is only 3 yrs old and have never had to do any major maintenance on it, so 1st time I've had to jack her up. The front end for jacking points (with floor jack) is way different than my 2003. Can't get the floor jack to the lower control arm point as the owner's manual states for jacking. Going on the cross member up front really didn't make me feel all warm and cozy as it wanted to lift the truck too high for my liking. Went ahead and used the truck jack and placed my floor jack in position as a back-up safety measure and jack stand under the frame behind the control arm.

By that time, too f'ing late to do a brake job....to be continued in the morning before massive rain that's moving in. Got a covered carport outside the cabin but still get wet on the outer perimeter of course.

Thanks for everyone's input, greatly appreciated.

 

yes i am happy with them, theyv been on for just under 2 years, but they also havent seen a winter of driving (so no salt) since i put them on about the time i bought my RAM. The challenger now hangs out in the garage in the snowy season. They fit perfectly in a 22mm tho so factory jack kit will still work fine

 

https://amzn.to/2Evs5cH and will never grow.