When I ordered a new set of super awesome wheels I went all the way and got a set of Blox aluminum lug nuts too. I haven't used them yet because they kind of freak me out. My head thinks that I really need extended lugs to get more thread engagement.
Am I going to die?
mazdeuce wrote: Am I going to die?
Of this I can assure you. Yes, you will die. Not sure when or if it will be the direct consequence of driving with aluminum lugs however. 
Aluminum lug nuts would freak me out too!
Are you sure there aren't helicoils inside?
Just for reference, Porsche used AL lug nuts for many early 911s. You shouldn't die.. at least not much.
tpwalsh wrote: Just for reference, Porsche used AL lug nuts for many early 911s. You shouldn't die.. at least not much.
Not just 911s. ALL Porsche cars used aluminum lug nuts from the introduction of aluminum wheels until they moved to wheel bolts in the late 1990s.
My 944 has aluminum lug nuts, and they work just fine. As a matter of fact, I swapped 949 racing aluminum lug nuts onto my Mazda 3 (I bought them for another project that never came to fruition, so I just threw them on the 3 for a little personalization...) 2 of my cars have aluminum lug nuts, and I'm not dead.......... yet...
Well, aside from the fact that I won't be able to sleep at night due to my impending mystery death, it sounds like I might be OK. I'll give them a try for auto crossing for a season and report back.
I would argue the possibility that OEM Porsche aluminum lugnuts could be of higher quality than Blox aluminum lugnuts.
And be sure to use anti-seize when you put them on. I've had alum nuts that required breaking the stud off to remove.
Now why did that sound NSFW?
I'm using hte 949 Racing aluminum ones on my ARP studs on the Miata. Used for track work on R-comps. With copper anti-seize.
So, no, I wouldn't have a problem with them. But if only if all threads were engaged.
Porsche et al were late to the AL lug nut party. Jensen Healys came with aluminum lug nuts way back in 19 hunnert and sebenty 2. Many J-H owners have died since then, dunno if that was due to the AL lug nuts or not.
Curmudgeon wrote: Porsche et al were late to the AL lug nut party. Jensen Healys came with aluminum lug nuts way back in 19 hunnert and sebenty 2. Many J-H owners have died since then, dunno if that was due to the AL lug nuts or not.
Believe it or not, Porsche used them WELL before that. 1966, my good sir.
I wouldn't let anybody come near the with impact tools, thats for sure. Dont get any antiseize on the seats, friction on the seat is what keeps them tight.
I use them on my race car - same ones for 2 seasons and they have not caused my untimely death yet.
A 964 I'm storing for someone also has them.
Any of the companies who spec or supply them have recommendations about torquing them, either different torque values or more frequent re-checking?
Considering the 3 ounces of unsprung weight they save and that sometimes there's a frantic wheel swap happening right at last grid call, while I'm getting strapped in, I use good quality steel nuts and replace them every year or 2.
A set of the deep AL "tuner" nuts came on my Miata, and I'll ditch them when I get new wheels.
motomoron wrote: Considering the 3 ounces of unsprung weight they save and that sometimes there's a frantic wheel swap happening right at last grid call, while I'm getting strapped in, I use good quality steel nuts and replace them every year or 2. A set of the deep AL "tuner" nuts came on my Miata, and I'll ditch them when I get new wheels.
Hold 20 steel lugs in your hand, then hold 20 AL lugs. It's more like 2lbs of unsprung weight, and part of the mass of a rotating assembly. Every little bit helps.
How do aluminum lugs take to frequent loosenings and tightenings?
Eh, I compensated for the added weight of my steel lug nuts on my 944 with a healthy dosing of LS1 power.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: A 964 I'm storing for someone also has them.
Poor bastard probably can't sleep at night waiting to pick up a car like that......
Ok, so maybe they'll work. Maybe. I propose a test, and since I'm going to be the one doing it, I accept the proposal. In the first year of owning my car I attended 15 autocrosses, two autocross practice days, and 5 rallycrosses. If I repeated that number this year that would be two tire changes per day for 22 events or 44 tire changes. To further complicate things, I have three sets of wheels. My daily wheels are stock Mazda alloys. My rallycross wheels are stock Mazda steelies. My new autocross wheels are 6ULs. The only other variable is the studs. Since I know the part number for longer ARP studs for the front of the car and I'm pretty sure I can figure out how to wield a hammer to replace them, I'm going to replace just the front studs. Then I'll go through the year, torquing things properly with a wrench and not using an impact gun and see how it goes. I'll even take pictures, because everyone loves pictures of studs and nuts.
When this is all done, if I don't die, I will have some sort of answer.
tpwalsh wrote: Just for reference, Porsche used AL lug nuts for many early 911s. You shouldn't die.. at least not much.
say wut?
carguy123 wrote: And be sure to use anti-seize when you put them on. I've had alum nuts that required breaking the stud off to remove. Now why did that sound NSFW?
Insanity; IMO. To the OP dont you switch wheels pretty often? I wouldn't use anti-seize since its nearly impossible to keep off the seats and it wrecks your torque values. But hey, we are discussing aftermarket aluminum lug nuts...
chandlerGTi wrote:carguy123 wrote: And be sure to use anti-seize when you put them on. I've had alum nuts that required breaking the stud off to remove. Now why did that sound NSFW?Insanity; IMO. To the OP dont you switch wheels pretty often? I wouldn't use anti-seize since its nearly impossible to keep off the seats and it wrecks your torque values. But hey, we are discussing aftermarket aluminum lug nuts...
I do find rags particularly cumbersome and confusing to use.
Will wrote: How do aluminum lugs take to frequent loosenings and tightenings?
Mine is a road race car, I have 12 wheels and 3 sets of nuts in a bucket. I change or rotate atleast once for qualifying then race then repeat for the next day, plus heat cycling new rubber and/or if it rains... let's say they have been on and off the car 5 times a weekend for 10 weekends a year for 2 years and they are still fine.
My fair weather daily driver was a Porsche 964 that has had the same lugs for the 5 years I've owned it and they look like they came with the car from new... so 20yrs?
I run them on/off with a cordless drill instead of an impact wrench and I hand torque them to 75 ft/lbs. No issues.
Sounds like GPS has done all of the testing required and approves. Good enough for me. I'll still do my little experiment, mostly because I'll be doing it anyway, and report back. At this point I'm mostly curious about shorter stock studs vs longer replacements and how the aluminum nuts work with each one.
I'm pretty confidant that Porsche used magnesium lugs, not aluminum. I had great experience with my magnesium lugs, including road racing.
A friend used aluminum lugs on his Spec Miata and they were a real pain. Lots of aluminum came off on the stud threads and boogered them up. I don't remember if he was using anti-seize. They were all hand-started then torqued properly; not impact gun.
David
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