Stock steelie lug nut shape: Pictures?

Hello All,

I recently purchased a set of 17" steel wheels from a '13 Explorer to replace the stock 20" wheels on my Edge this winter. Unfortunately, after getting the vehicle back from the tire place, it became obvious that the Edge's lug nuts won't hold the Explorer wheelcovers in place.



(Just set in place)


This thread was very helpful in picturing the head of the lugs and what they're supposed to look like. I was able to locate an aftermarket nut with a similar setup; the Dorman 611-156 nut has an enlarged head and washer designed to hold a wheelcover in place (with a small additional washer).

However, the shape of the lug nut tip has me worried - the stock Edge nuts have a nice taper, and it looks like the Explorer wheels expect a taper as well, but the aftermarket nut I found has a blunt end. The picture on the Ford Parts site isn't terribly detailed and the part number "1012" isn't super helpful.

Would someone with stock steel wheels be able to pop off a lug nut quick and snap a pic or two of the whole nut including the taper at the wheel end? If I can avoid paying Ford $12 each that'd be preferable, but I'm not going to risk safety by using improper aftermarket lugs.

Thanks a bunch!

call tire rack or discount tire they should be able to offer you the proper nut.

And welcome to the forum!

I posted about this issue a couple of years ago when I put the steel 17" wheels on my Limited that came with 20".
Unfortunately I don't have the lugnuts or the vehicle any more. The lugnuts that are required to hold the covers in place have a flange or built in washer that will hold the wheel cover in place. They cost me a total of $251.40 + tax through the dealer.

Peter

FWIW...You can go to the mart or any auto parts store and get a set of spring lock wheel covers for around $20 or so...

peterk9 said:

I posted about this issue a couple of years ago when I put the steel 17" wheels on my Limited that came with 20".

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Peter-

In my first post, I actually linked another thread where you posted those pictures, they were very helpful in figuring out what the outside of the lugs look like, thanks!

DeepBlueSC said:

FWIW...You can go to the mart or any auto parts store and get a set of spring lock wheel covers for around $20 or so...

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DeepBlueSC-

I very much prefer the look of the OEM wheel covers to any aftermarket cover I've ever seen, and most places only have a couple (awful) options in 17". If I have to spend a little to get the OEMs to fit I will. But if I have to buy 20 nuts from Ford for $250 as others here have done, I'll hock the wheels and pick up a set of alloys.

Thanks everyone for your help so far! I hope someone will be able to grab a pic for me, my wife already had someone ask what happened to her hubcaps

Laminar said:

DeepBlueSC-

I very much prefer the look of the OEM wheel covers to any aftermarket cover I've ever seen, and most places only have a couple (awful) options in 17". If I have to spend a little to get the OEMs to fit I will. But if I have to buy 20 nuts from Ford for $250 as others here have done, I'll hock the wheels and pick up a set of alloys.

Thanks everyone for your help so far! I hope someone will be able to grab a pic for me, my wife already had someone ask what happened to her hubcaps

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I use the OEM Ford Interceptor steel wheels for my winter tires and I got cheap lugnuts at Costco when they installed the Blizzaks.

Sgt1411 said:

I use the OEM Ford Interceptor steel wheels for my winter tires and I got cheap lugnuts at Costco when they installed the Blizzaks.

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Sgt1411-

Man, I bet that Sport is a monster in the snow with Blizzaks! Do the Interceptor wheels use a tapered lugnut?

Someone had joked with me about adding the Interceptor center caps to my wheels. I figured I'd black out the grill and add a couple antennas to the roof - no one would dare pass me!

This is what I have now. Blizzak DM-V1 on 18" steel wheels. Had to get the different lugnuts for the centre caps.

Peter

peterk9 said:

This is what I have now. Blizzak DM-V1 on 18" steel wheels. Had to get the different lugnuts for the centre caps.

Peter

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Peter-

I had considered the DM-V1 but ended up going with the WS-70 for two reasons:
1. The DM-V1 is supposed to wear better, and conversely gives up a little bit of grip
2. The WS-70 is last year's model, so I was able to get them for $120 each

I'm looking forward to our first good snow so I can really try these things out. The stock Pirelli Scorpions were okay the past couple winters and were adequate even with just FWD, but with all of the travel plans we have this winter I want to be certain we can make it where we want to go.

I have the exact set up Peter has in the pictures.

I only had one snow to test the Sport in the snow with the Blizzaks so I hope its a beast, I probably with take out the 94 Octane tune if it snows because the power is too much for ice/snow.

Yes the Costco lugnuts are tapered and the Interceptor wheel accepts the tapered nuts.

The Ford parts guy told me the OEM Ford lugnuts have a small indent to except the metal tabs on the Police center caps. I will admit the Costco lugnuts don't have the indent to hold the center cap as well as the OEM ones do.

You folks have your winter tires on awfully early. I won't do mine before the week prior to Thanksgiving.

Halwg said:

You folks have your winter tires on awfully early. I won't do mine before the week prior to Thanksgiving.

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Hi Halwg-

For me, it was out of necessity. The Edge is my wife's main ride, I drive a Focus. I left home on October 27th for work and won't return until December 5th, so getting her set up with her winter tires was just one item on a big long list of things I needed to take care of to get her ready for me being gone that long. It felt awfully strange getting winter tires installed when the forecast for the next few weeks was 65+ every day!

Another advantage of getting it done that early is that I was able to grab some leftover WS-70s before they ran out, as the WS-80s were going to run me an extra $40/tire. We usually put 20,000+ miles per year on the Edge so I'm hoping we can stretch these guys out to three seasons.

I haven't yet seen someone with a base model Explorer chime in yet, did everyone upgrade to the Sport (I know I would)??

I always install them at the end of October and run them until the end of March. As well, my insurance company gives me a 5% discount on my premium for using 4 Winter tires from November to the end of March. Night temps are now around the freezing mark with day temps around 37 or so. Winter tires are recommended once temps get below 44 F.

BTW, Thanksgiving here was almost 3 weeks ago.

Peter

i went and got my winter tires tonight, they get installed this week,,

we have had snow 3 times already,, so it's time,,

That's a pic from last year, I don't have mine on now, I have them ready to go for the first forecast of snow which may never happen.

corkey said:

i went and got my winter tires tonight, they get installed this week,,

we have had snow 3 times already,, so it's time,,

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snow :thumbdwn:

Snow with winter tires.

peterk9 said:

BTW, Thanksgiving here was almost 3 weeks ago.

Peter

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Something is terribly wrong with that scenario!

Hey everyone!

Just thought I'd follow up on this thread. After spending 6 weeks out of the country, I came home and got super lucky - the guy I bought the wheels from had thrown the Explorer lug nuts into a bucket full of spare lug nuts and let me dig them out. All 20 were still there! He charged $0.50 each, which I gladly forked over vs. paying $12 each at the dealer!

Here is the Explorer lug nut for a steel wheel with wheel cover (bottom), compared to a lug nut for an Edge with alloy wheels (top):





From the tip of the taper to the inside face of the wheel cover retaining ring, it's about 17mm.

Here's a single Explorer nut holding the wheel cover in place (bottom left) with the remaining 4 Edge nuts doing nothing to hold the cover on:



And all 20 nuts swapped out!



Now my wife won't get any more questions about why her hubcaps fell off!