I was thinking my trailer wheels would look a little nicer if I replaced them with chrome closed acorn wheel nuts. I found a set of 20 on Amazon for $20. Is there any reasons why I shouldn't do this? Could I switch the nuts straight across and be done? I don't have a torque wrench. My trailer is an 18ft Terry, dual axle, dry weight 3000lbs.Thanks.

Are the threads per inch (TPI) the same ? How about the internal threading depth -vs- the amount of threads sticking through the wheel. Those are 2 major considerations. Also you need to consider where they are coming from. Our Crossroads Cruiser has junk wheel studs. The threads have simply pulled off on a lot of them. I have been slowly replacing them as they fail. (I put my good tires in the barn in the winter). There are lots of inferior quality fasteners that come from overseas. In my opinion, lug nuts are not one place where going cheaper is better.

Sometimes air impact tools do bad things and they have ruined many lug bolts. Well actually the guy with the trigger did it.

How in Hades did an air wrench enter this discussion ? Insinuating that the **** studs on our trailer were ruined with an air wrench ? If so, this would be the first time I ever saw a Craftsman breaker bar and 1/2 " ratchet with an air fitting. The OEM wheel studs were roll threaded instead of cut. You can tell a roll thread -vs- a cut thread, at least I can, I spent the first 7 yrs of my working life as a tool and die maker before I started writing commercial software for a living. The first four or five threads are simply lifting off the stud. If fact, one of the ones that went bad froze the nut and I was able to break it with the Craftsman 1/2" standard sized breaker bar. That is junk steel if I can break it without having to put a pipe on the bar for leverage.The first couple threads are where a bolt has its most holding power, they actually are holding on all the threads. Think of how many times you get the tires on your car/truck rotated and balanced. I would surmise that there are a very small percentage that have the threads strip off the first time the lug nuts are removed.Cheap bolts/nuts on a working component are a hazard to your safety and are no place to cut corners. They have their place, I use them, just not on something that can kill me or someone else.The cheap lug nuts/studs go hand in hand with the rest of the fasteners on our unit. They rusted out in 2 years, had the heads popping of the screws, all systems of fasteners bought from the lowest bidder. I have replaced the rest of the screws/bolts in the unit with stainless. Find a small mom and pop shop that sells trailer parts, you might be surprised at the price that you will get the lug nuts for and you can be a bit less concerned about what you are buying as they have a vested interest in keeping you coming back.

mtnbbud wrote:I was thinking my trailer wheels would look a little nicer if I replaced them with chrome closed acorn wheel nuts. I found a set of 20 on Amazon for $20. Is there any reasons why I shouldn't do this? Could I switch the nuts straight across and be done? I don't have a torque wrench. My trailer is an 18ft Terry, dual axle, dry weight 3000lbs.Thanks.Here's the link to the nuts: I don't see much info to know if they are low quality or not. You may be right that buying direct might be a better idea. I was figuring I'd have a shop repack my trailer bearings rather than trying to do it myself. That'd be a good time to look into replacing the lug nuts.

Your link shows 12mm Metric lugnuts. When I replaced the lugnuts on our previous trailer they were 1/2"X 20.

replacing nuts with chrome closed lug nuts? | Good Sam Community

15 Replies

mtnbbud
Explorer II
Oct 13, 2015
Lynnmor wrote:
mtnbbud wrote:

Anyone know where I can find the snap on covers?

I told you where to find lug nuts, they also have covers. Took me about 15 seconds to find them.

Thanks, I seem to have 13/16ths nuts on my trailer. (At least that's the size wrench that fits tightly on the nuts.) I was trying Amazon and couldn't find them in that size there. I see nut covers in a 7/8ths size at etrailer. I didn't find 13/16ths. Is 7/8ths covers close enough?
Lynnmor
Explorer
Oct 13, 2015
mtnbbud wrote:

Anyone know where I can find the snap on covers?

I told you where to find lug nuts, they also have covers. Took me about 15 seconds to find them.
mtnbbud
Explorer II
Oct 13, 2015
wa8yxm wrote:
You should be able to get "Snap on" Lug nut covers (i have two of those on this RV) which you remove before you hammer away with the air wrench and thus do not damage.

Anyone know where I can find the snap on covers?
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Oct 12, 2015
^^^^^^^^^^^^^That sounds like the best idea IMO.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Oct 12, 2015
You should be able to get "Snap on" Lug nut covers (i have two of those on this RV) which you remove before you hammer away with the air wrench and thus do not damage.
bobsallyh
Explorer II
Oct 12, 2015
Take one of your originals down to a tire shop. They will match the threads, cone, etc. They usually stock them. That is what I did.
Charlie_D_
Explorer
Oct 12, 2015
Be very careful that the area just behind the cone does not contact the rim. I had a set of tires with the acorn nut. The shoulder on them contacted the edge of the the taper on the rim. Result was nut did not contact the taper of the hole. @ broken studs and tire almost ready to come off.
Lynnmor
Explorer
Oct 12, 2015
The nuts won't fit, the correct nuts are $.99 each at etrailer.

Yes, the air wrench jockeys will destroy the pretty new nuts.

Get a torque wrench and a 6 point socket.

Good luck getting someone to do the wheel bearings correctly.
time2roll
Nomad
Oct 12, 2015
Just verify your new lugs do not bottom out before you have proper torque.
Otherwise you will be hammering in new studs also. PITN.
Flapper
Explorer
Oct 12, 2015
I'd be hesitant. On my 2012 F150, the dealer tried to convince me I had to replace all 28 of mine, because they were "swollen". Apparently most of the fancy lug nuts are two piece - interior steel, with a dress "cap" of some other metal to give it the fancy look. Salt, sand, road grime can get between the nut and the cap, causing them to "swell", to the point where a lug wrench won't fit anymore. True solid steel are much pricier than the set you posted. $5 to $10 per nut.
I talked to the tech doing my tires and she said "I had no problem, one is just a bit sticky in the socket." I declined the dealer's offer to "fix" the problem, especially because they could not get solid steel ones!