At Enthuze, we like our customers to be informed about truck parts and accessories like lug nuts. Lug nuts are crucial parts that keep your wheels attached to your vehicle. To help you understand how to deal with lug nuts on a DIY basis, we’ve compiled a list of FAQs.

This is part two of our list of FAQs about lug nuts to help you get up to speed.

Q: What lug nuts fit my car or truck?

A: There are seven different lug nut types, including the following:

• Conical or tapered seat lugs
• Spherical or ball seat lugs
• Flat seat lugs
• Mag seat lugs
• Tuner style lugs
• Small diameter spline drive
• Extended thread lugs

If you’re buying OE lug nuts, your owner’s manual should provide you with the type. Aftermarket lug nuts are different though, and you may need to buy a wheel installation kit to get the right type of lugs. There are also lug bolts, which are often seen on European vehicles. These are nuts with a stud attached.

Q: How much are lug nuts?

A: Prices for a set of lug nuts vary by the number of lugs and various other factors. At Enthuze, you’ll find lug nut sets between $38 and $81.

Q: What size lug nuts do I need?

A: Lug nuts are sold in sizes that indicate thread size and pitch. To find out what yours are, you can use a thread pitch gauge. You can also take one of your lug nuts to a parts store and match it with the bolts they carry.

Q: Which way do lug nuts go on?

A: The tapered end of the lug goes toward the tapered end of the wheel. You then turn the lug in a clockwise direction to begin tightening it. This is true for most vehicles, but some vehicles have reverse-threading lug nuts.

If you look at the nut, you’ll see that the threads are slanted in one direction or the other. If they appear to slant up to the right, then it’s a standard-threaded lug. If it goes to the left, then it’s a reverse thread.

Q: How to tighten lug nuts?

A: It’s very important to tighten lug nuts the right way. If you under-torque them, you might lose a wheel. If you over torque them, you can stretch the wheel stud, which can potentially break the stud or distort the brake rotor or wheel hub.

Over-torquing is very common in tire shops due to the powerful torque wrenches they use. Uneven torque is when each lug has a different torque.

This can cause vibration in your wheels. Tighten your lugs correctly by setting the torque wrench to the correct torque as specified in your owner’s manual. Follow these steps:

1. Clean the wheel stud and lug nut threads to remove corrosion and grease.
2. Clean the wheel, the hub, and the center hole.
3. Apply a bit of anti-seize lubricant in the center hole
4. Run the lugs in with your torque wrench until snug
5. Tighten each lug nut in a star pattern twice. Apply force until the wrench clicks and then stop.

Q: How to get lug nuts off that are stuck?

A: Stuck lug nuts can be difficult. The first thing to do is get a breaker bar to increase your leverage. If you can’t loosen it with your arm strength, you can try bouncing your foot on it until it loosens.

If you don’t have a breaker bar, a hollow pipe placed over the end of a socket wrench can give you more leverage and usually is enough to get the toughest nut unstuck.

You can also try using a mallet or hammer to deliver blows to the bar. Once it’s loose, you can remove it normally.

If you can get your hands on a pneumatic impact wrench, those work great at getting stuck lug nuts off. That’s what your local tire shop uses.

Q: How to get stripped lug nuts off?

A: If the lug nut is stripped it will spin freely but won’t come off the stud. To get a stripped lug off, you’ll need to drill through the lug and/or the stud. If you have to drill through the stud, you’ll need to replace it as well as the lug nut.

Q: How to remove rusted lug nuts?

A: If the lug nuts are rusted down to the stud, you may need to use penetrating oil to loosen them. Spray a small amount directly on the stud threads. Try to avoid over-spraying as much as possible.

Let the oil sit for about ten minutes and then try removing the lugs again. It’s very important to keep this oil off your brake drums or rotors as it could interfere with braking ability.

Q: How to remove lock lug nuts without key

A: If you’ve lost the key to your locking lug nuts, you can still remove them with a special socket head. These socket heads for locked lug nuts have reverse threads that bite into the lock and loosen it.

Q: How to get rounded lug nuts off?

A: You can use the same special socket head mentioned above to remove rounded-off lug nuts.

Q: Why do my lug nuts keep coming loose?

A: Most modern wheels are made of aluminum alloy and attached to the wheel hub with steel lug nuts. These are two different types of metals that expand and contract at different temperatures.

This means that the lug nuts might loosen as they heat up and cool down. It’s most common when wheels are removed and then reinstalled. Under torquing is another explanation for loose lug nuts.

To replace or upgrade your lug nuts, check out the selection from Enthuze. We have a wide variety of spline lug nuts, extended lug nuts, chrome lug nuts, and black lug nuts to fit your vehicle. Filter by size and double-check fitment on the product page by entering your vehicle information.

All Enthuze products are tested for top quality before using the Enthuze name.