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Just received new lug nuts from Gorilla. The correct replacement for aluminum wheels is part #61147CX. 14mm X 1.50 with 13/16" hex. These have a large conical face just like the factory lugs. And like the package says, "Use of an impact wrench may cause damage to lug nuts." Which is the major reason the chrome gets chipped and the lugs rust. It sucks taking the time to put lugs on with a ratchet and then torque wrench, but to me it's worth it. I started doing it on my last F-150 when I kept warping the rotors. I read where it was best to evenly torque the lugs until you get up to your wheel/lug specs. It either worked or was a coincidence, but my rotors (front) quit warping. On my last truck I bought the black chrome and never had a problem with rust the 4 years they were on before I sold the truck. And those were McGard lugs with the small conical face. I was worried about the small conical face, but never had any type of problem with them.
I did see on Gorilla's website that they do have these same lugs in black chrome and they also have the 14mm X 2.00 also.
As for the factory lugs swelling, I haven't seen it (don't doubt it) but lugs were ruined when I had a new set of tires put on. I could see where they used a 12 point impact socket on them because just a small portion close to each edge was marred. A friend of mine got me a good deal on tires so I just swallowed the cost of new lugs.
Last edited by dput8; 01-12-2021 at 03:26 PM.
Reason: Adding content
Changed the lugs today. As you can see from the new pics, the marks on the old lugs match perfect for the surfaces that touch on a 12 point socket. And with a 12 point socket, look at the middle portion where there is a gap and it looks to me like that would be the cause of the middle "swelling" and you can't get a either a 6pt or 12pt socket on it. A couple of the old ones I had to drive a 13/16" impact socket on it to get it off.
If you want to find the minimally abusive socket for your lug nuts, you'll need to get a lug nut, and try various brands out. I do recommend the 13/16", but you may find 21mm in a certain brand better.
You really need to see how it feels in the socket; basically how much play it has. Most newer sockets do use some sort of ripped flank drive plus system (Snap-On's Flank Drive Plus patent ran out I think 2 years ago in 2020). But still have tolerance problems.
I actually did this for my other truck. I spent good $$$ on solid lug nuts, and I went as far as trying (and sometimes returning) sockets. In my case, I found a 3/4" that fit perfect from Gear Wrench and I keep it in the glove box. The top three tool trucks were loosey-goosey, Kobalt, Craftsman, Pittsburg, Husky, etc were all weird in their own ways. Some were too tight for my likening. Yes, I also tried 19mm and even 20mm in my case for the 3/4".
Thanks for the reply. I grabbed a Husky 21mm from Home Depot and it fits the Gorilla lug nuts just fine. Better carry it with me since the tire shop that does my rotations must only have a 12 point. My factory lugs have the same marks as the pic above from dput8.
01-12-2021 | 03:07 PM
