Lug nut

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Lug nut

A lug nut is a fastener

Fastener

A fastener is a hardware device that mechanically joins or affixes two or more objects together.Fasteners can also be used to close a container such as a bag, a box, or an envelope; or they may involve keeping together the sides of an opening of flexible material, attaching a Lid to a container, etc....
, specifically a nut

Nut (hardware)

A nut is a type of hardware fastener with a screw thread hole. Nuts are almost always used opposite a mating screw#Bolt to fasten a stack of parts together....
, used to secure a wheel

Wheel

A wheel is a circular device that is capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation whilst supporting a load , or performing labour in machines....
on a vehicle

Vehicle

Vehicles, derived from the Latin word, vehiculum, are non-living means of transport. Most often they are manufactured , although some other means of transport which are not made by humans also may be called vehicles; examples include icebergs and floating tree trunks....
. Typically, lug nuts are found on automobile

Automobile

An automobile or motor car is a wheeled motor vehicle for transportation passengers, which also carries its own car engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally f...
s, truck

Truck

File:Red truck USA.JPGA truck is a type of motor vehicle commonly used for carrying goods and materials. Some light trucks are relatively small, similar in size to a passenger automobile....
s (lorries), and other large vehicles utilizing rubber tire

Tire

Tires, or tyres , are ring-shaped parts, either pneumatic or solid , that fit around wheels to protect them and enhance their function....
s. This is because tires must be changed

Tire maintenance

Tire maintenance for motor vehicles is necessitated by several factors. The chief cause of tire failure is Friction from moving contact with road surfaces, causing the tread on the outer perimeter of tires to eventually wear away....
, because the rubber on the surface of the tire slowly rubs off onto the road.

g nut can be described as being a nut

Nut (hardware)

A nut is a type of hardware fastener with a screw thread hole. Nuts are almost always used opposite a mating screw#Bolt to fasten a stack of parts together....
with one rounded or conical (tapered) end, used on steel and most aluminum style wheels.

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Encyclopedia

A lug nut is a fastener

Fastener

Nut (hardware)

A nut is a type of hardware fastener with a screw thread hole. Nuts are almost always used opposite a mating screw#Bolt to fasten a stack of parts together....
, used to secure a wheel

Wheel

A wheel is a circular device that is capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation whilst supporting a load , or performing labour in machines....
on a vehicle

Vehicle

Automobile

Truck

Tire

Tires, or tyres , are ring-shaped parts, either pneumatic or solid , that fit around wheels to protect them and enhance their function....
s. This is because tires must be changed

Tire maintenance

Design

A lug nut can be described as being a nut

Nut (hardware)

Wheel

A wheel is a circular device that is capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation whilst supporting a load , or performing labour in machines....
to threaded wheel stud

Wheel stud

Wheel studs are the bolts that the wheel of an automobile rest on. Lug nuts are fastened to the wheel stud to secure the wheel. Wheel studs can be either factory equipment or Aftermarket add-ons....
s and thereby to a vehicle's axles. Some designs use lug bolts instead of nuts, which screw into a tapped (threaded) hole. This configuration is commonly known as a bolted joint

Bolted joint

| | |}Bolted joints are one of the most common elements in construction and machine design. They consist of cap Screw#Bolt or studs that capture and join other parts, and are secured with the mating of screw threads....
. The lug's taper is normally 60 degrees (although 45 is common for wheels designed for racing applications), and is designed to center the wheel accurately on the axle, and to reduce the tendency for the nut to loosen, due to fretting induced precession

Precession (mechanical)

Precession is the name given to the process of one part rotating with respect to another due to fretting between the two. It is described as "precession, in which a round object rolling in a circular ring in one direction will itself turn in the opposite direction." "In machinery, fretting is the micro-motion of tightly fitting parts that sup...
, as the car is driven. Honda

Honda

is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan.The company manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, scooter , robots, jet aircrafts and jet engines, all-terrain vehicle, water craft, electrical generators, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment, and aeronautical and other mobile technologies....
uses a spherical rather than a tapered seat, but the nut performs the same function. Older style mag wheels have a 1/2 to 1 inch shank slipping into the wheel to center it and a washer that applies pressure to clamp the wheel to the axle.

Removing and replacing lug nuts

Only one basic tool is needed to remove/replace lug nuts, a lug wrench

Lug wrench

Lug wrench is the U.S. name for a type of socket wrench used to turn lug nuts on automobile wheels. In the UK it is commonly known as a wheel brace or wheel wrench....
. If you want to remove the wheel as well an automotive jack

Jack

Jack may refer to:* Jack , an archetypal English hero.* Jack Swagger, A Professional wrestler* Maritime flag#Jacks, a maritime flag flown from the bow of a ship...
and some wheel chocks would be needed as well. If your wheels have hub caps or hub covers a screwdriver

Screwdriver

The screwdriver is a device specifically designed to insert and tighten, or to loosen and remove, screws. The screwdriver is made up of a head or tip, which engages with a screw, a mechanism to apply torque by rotating the tip, and some way to position and support the screwdriver....
. would be useful.

History

Some cars made up to about 1960 used left-hand and right-hand thread

Screw thread

A screw thread is a helix structure used to convert between rotational and linear movement or force.A screw thread may be thought of as an inclined plane wrapped around a cylinder or cone ....
ed lug nuts for different sides of the vehicle to prevent loosening, until it was realised that the taper seat performed the same function. In order to allow the easy detection of loose lug nuts, some large vehicles are fitted with loose wheel nut indicator

Loose wheel nut indicator

Loose wheel nut indicators are small pointed tags, usually made of fluorescent yellow plastic, which are fixed to the lug nuts of the wheels of large vehicles....
s, which spin with the nut and highlight misaligned nuts.