Lug nut woes on my F250 4x4

[fatheroftwo]

I had a '96 F250 crew cab diesel 4x4 a few years back, and I managed to get my old 16x10" wheels off of it. Went to put them on my 78 F2504x4 and the wheels fit fine, but the lug nuts just fall on the studs. I need nuts for aluminum wheels that'll fit my 78. The stock nuts will chew into the wheels.

How much stud needs to stick out past the wheel to be safe? These wheels are thicker than the stock steel wheels.

 

[m78]

I found that same problem when I changed the original 16.5" wheels to some '96 steel wheels.
I'm running hub caps so I was able to find nuts but not so pretty. Being on aluminum and exposed is a tall request.

 

[fatheroftwo]

Pretty does not matter,

but a good fit w/o damage is very important.

 

[Fellro]

So, I have to ask for clarification- is a problem of the nuts not fitting the studs, or the studs not being long enough? The 78 likely has 1/2"-20 lugs, and the 96 should have 9/16" studs. You will have to find similar type lug nuts in the 1/2"-20 thread.

If it is a seat base problem, find the lug nuts with a similar base, wider is better typically on aluminum. There are lugs for aluminum wheels that will pass through the wheel, but don't get them with the shoulder too long or the wheel will never be tigth unless you stack washers. There is another type that is never supposed to seat, I do not recommend those as they also don't tend to stay tight. I pitched a few wheels that were supposed to have them, but they broke the studs off (the wheel took off on its own, that was the pitch... not fun!) I replaced the partial pass through with full pass through and never had a problem again. Did that on some old unilug wheels too, for the same problem. Thankfully, there is no more unilug wheels...

 

[fatheroftwo]

The nuts do not fit the threads, .....

The nuts that came with the wheels are 9/16 18H/T

So I am going to look for the same nut with a 1/2 instead of 9/16?

The studs stick out 1/2-3/4 inch past the wheel, is that enough? Or am I going to need longer studs too?

 

[fatheroftwo]

Where would I look inline for wheel experts that will sell me some lug nuts? Any referals?

 

[Fellro]

Yes, you need the lug nuts to be 1/2" diameter, 20 is the thread pitch. The effective length for any bolt is only as thick as the nut, so the stock size nut would be about 3/4" thick, so the length of the studs seems to be fine. You can find new lug nuts all kinds of places, Summit and Jegs are a couple choices, but they aren't necessarily the most cost effective. Ebay has a lot of options too, just put in the 1/2-20 for a search and you will get pages upon pages of them. I just got some enclosed nuts for my trailer that way. $14 shipped. I paid just over $20 for 10 of the regular lug nuts, which ended up being the wrong ones anyway. I gave them the right specs, but I ended up with GM 7/16" nuts.

 

[fatheroftwo]

Thanks Fellro, I'm off to ebay!

 

[fatheroftwo]

Found them on ebay, thanks a million for the great advise! $29.00 for all 32

 

[coloradojones]

I was going to say Amazon! I found the set for my wheels for around that price