Lug nuts coming loose

ANSWER : Hi there. I’ve seen many vehicles on the road with a lug nut missing and it does seem to work. However, what these people are unaware of is that improper/uneven wheel nut torque is a major cause of brake vibrations. The uneven/improper torque can cause the brake rotor/drum to warp. If the lug nut is loose, only drive it if you need and get the stripped nut replaced as soon as possible. I suggest having a qualified technician perform an inspection to determine if more than the lug nut needs to be replaced and avoid replacing unnecessary parts. Your Mechanic has several technicians available that can assist you with a check wheel nuts inspection.

ANSWER : Hello there, driving your 2014 Ford F-150 with a missing lug nut and wheel stud is not safe. Without all the lug nuts attaching the wheel it cannot be properly torqued in a safe manor. Your vehicle should not be driven until the wheel stud is replaced and the lug nut reattached. A qualified Technician such as one from YourMechanic will be able to inspect your wheel stud and make any repairs required to make your truck safe again.

ANSWER : I would certainly be concerned about the lug nuts falling off originally. However, I would not worry about the cap that had fallen off recently if the nut is still tight. Many times manufacturers will apply these chrome caps to the lug nuts to make them shiny. These are purely cosmetic and have no effect on the vehicle’s performance whatsoever.

ANSWER : Hello there, thanks for writing in about your 2014 Nissan Versa Note. Loose axle nuts can become a serious problem. When the axle nut is loose it allows the wheel bearing to shift back and forth which can cause damage and cause the wheel bearing to fail. When the axle nut is installed properly it is staked so it cannot come back off, though it could still become loose. The vehicle should not be driven until the axle nut is secured and torqued to factory specifications. A qualified technician, such as one from YourMechanic, will be able to diagnose this issue and can replace the wheel bearing, or make any other adjustments, as necessary.

ANSWER : Hi there. A loose pinion nut could definitely cause premature wear on the pinion bearing as there would not be sufficient preload on the bearing to maintain proper contact with the race. As for whether or not this would be a covered item due to the recall, I do not have an answer for that. The only people that could answer that would be the dealership. An inspection for the noise could provide a definitive answer as to whether or not the pinion nut is loose and was the cause of the bearing failure. YourMechanic has several available technicians that can assist you with a car has a noise inspection and provide an estimate and direction of repair.

ANSWER : The lug nut bolt pattern on your vehicle is 4 x 114.3. In practical terms, that means that an imaginary circle drawn through the four "bolt holes" will have a diameter of 114.3 millimeters. Of course, a bolt pattern designated "4 x 100" (100 millimeter diameter) will not work on your car because none of the bolt holes will line up.

Please note that certain wheels, even with the "same" bolt hole pattern as your original wheels, will not work properly or safely on your car due to differences in another critical wheel dimension, which is offset. Your OEM factory wheels have high positive offset and ideally any substitute wheel you are thinking of should have the identical amount of offset.

There are quite a few (dimensional) variables to consider when replacing wheels. Consequently, it is optimal to replace the wheels on your car with exact factory duplicates to avoid problems with handling and steering, interference (and consequent damage to the wheel wells) and premature wear-out of your car’s suspension. YourMechanic can help you with wise wheel and tire wheel selection, installation, and regular maintenance such as a tire rotation which is really critical because regular rotation, every 6,000 miles, will greatly extend the service life of your tires.

ANSWER : Hello. If this issue has occurred ever since the work was done then I would suspect that there is something that was not installed correctly. If you are getting noise also then the ABS wheel speed sensor may be contacting the tone ring which will cause all of these issues. It may also be a bearing that is bad which will cause this. Prior to changing anything the computer needs to be scanned for codes to see what comes up. I would also make sure that all of the tires are the same size as one different tire will cause the readings to be off. If you are going to have this looked at, consider YourMechanic, as a certified mechanic can come to you to [diagnose why the ABS light is coming on] https://www.yourmechanic.com/services/abs-light-is-on-inspection

ANSWER : Hello, thank you for writing in. Locking lug nuts would cause every wheel to require a special socket in order to remove the tire. These are often aftermarket, but if you have a set on the car, this may have been the cause of that particular lug nut becoming damaged. With that being said, if you simply have a damaged lug nut, there are a few tricks you can do in order to remove the wheel. One would include welding on a socket in order to be able to grip the lug nut. Not many technicians are equipped or willing to do this however, particularly when insurance is involved. A second includes tapping a socket onto the lug nut with a hammer in order to jam it onto the nut. This WILL damage the wheel, the nut, and your socket. It can also break the socket, and under pressure that metal shrapnel will fly into the air which is incredibly hazardous. Again, this is why most technicians are not willing to do it. Double check that you are not dealing with a locking lug nut (possibly by making sure you can remove another one of the tires with a normal socket), and then proceed to find a technician who is confident they can remove it. To have one of our technicians assess the issue, contact our service department.