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I had my first experience with spinning a lug nut cap off. In retrospect , i'm thankful that it actually spun off!
i then rounded off the remainder of the overly tight lugnut , and had to drill off the remainder of the stud and nut.
What a fun night!
wheel removal was a precursor for replacement of the left rear suspension bits, so no loss for killing a stud.
Last edited by mhminnich; Jun 3, 2026 at 09:38 PM.
Fun times. If the cap comes off you can sometimes split the nut with a sharp chisel, it will pop open before you get down to the threads if you do it right.
Fun times. If the cap comes off you can sometimes split the nut with a sharp chisel, it will pop open before you get down to the threads if you do it right.
When the nut is fully exposed. Not likely with a sunken into the wheel nut, extreme risk of damaging the wheel. @mhminnich , hat’s off to your drilling ability!
Thanks! I won't say i hit it dead on, but i was close enough.
I will mention that a chisel would never have worked here. it would have been impossible to split the entire depth of the lugnut..
Last edited by mhminnich; Jun 4, 2026 at 09:06 AM.
We all have our preferences. If I notice a cap is swelled, I replace the nut with the factory version.
i insist that manual breaker bars are used and nuts are torqued appropriately, manually.
When I first received my xk150 four of the lug nuts would not release on one wheel. I broke 4 studs! Sort of took up swearing at the idiot that torques it to whatever ft lbs!
I do have oem nuts all around but my question is, why did Jaguar adopt this type of affair?
wj
Dodge uses them too, as do many other manufacturers. Not just luxury cars.
Ford and GM too, but one of the uninformed allegations about stainless-capped lugs is that they are used because they are "cheap," and mentioning that Chrysler, Ford and GM use them doesn't help to refute that allegation.
But pointing out that Mercedes-Benz and Aston Martin use them proves that their use is not based on cost savings alone. The luxury-performance automakers apparently agree with MacLean-Fogg's claims that the stainless-capped lugs are superior.
It's as said above, they want a nice shiny finish that holds up, but need the strength of actual steel lugs. Some german brands just use removable plastic caps over the plain lugs, for appearances. Or wheels designed with centercaps to cover the lugs, as some higher end cars have.
Hmm,
I checked an old parts drawer in my shop and I see steel cadmium plated M B lug bolts, titanium Porsche lug nuts and Maserati steel painted lug nuts. They are circa 1980, I guess times have changed. Back then I only saw the ss capped nuts on Jag/Damlier/etc and not all British vehicles.
wj
Hmm,
I checked an old parts drawer in my shop and I see steel cadmium plated M B lug bolts, titanium Porsche lug nuts and Maserati steel painted lug nuts. They are circa 1980, I guess times have changed. Back then I only saw the ss capped nuts on Jag/Damlier/etc and not all British vehicles.
wj
I'm sure if I went digging through my used lug nut/bolt bin I could come up with stainless-covered examples for M-B, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Volvo and maybe from a Porsche SUV. I would guess that most of them date to the '90s and later.
In the post I linked to, I showed a set of stainless-capped lug bolts for a Mercedes-Benz. In my research, I found examples for all the automakers I mentioned and several more. MacLean-Fogg claims it sells 220 million lug nuts/bolts per year. The Big Three probably account for a high percentage of that number globally. My son's Ford Fusion and a friend's daughter's Chevy Cruze both have stainless-covered lug nuts. They're everywhere these days.
By the way, MacLean-Fogg now uses the brand Decorex for their stainless-covered lugs.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the OEM Jaguar lug nuts. They will last forever without any problems IF you always use the correct size (19mm) deep socket and hand tools only, and use a torque wrench to tighten them to 92 ft.lbs. Ask me how I know.
Problems happen when tire jockeys who don't have metric sockets repeatedly use the closest size SAE socket that fits (usually 3/4") together with an air gun with excessive torque to remove and reinstall those lug nuts. That will eventually cause the outer shell of the OEM lug nut to deform and spin on the inner nut, thereby making it difficult to remove.
Don't blame the OEM lug nuts. Blame the ignorant employee who used the wrong size socket and an over-torqued air gun.
Lug nut adventure
