Working on an old ‘99 Dodge Ram 1500. The wheels have absurdly old, impractical, massive mudtires, so I’m ferrying the wheels over to a shop for mounting road-safe, practical all-terrain tires.

One weird thing I noticed: the lug nuts looked really rusty and swollen. Sure enough, these lugs were originally 3/4" socket size, but no longer fit 3/4" socket at all. They now require a 13/16" socket.

I got lucky—none were far enough gone to round off during removal.

This happens because the original lugs were a two-piece design: the actual lug, plus a thin pretty-looking cap. Moisture gets between the two, rusts forms underneath, and the caps swell outward. The lug nut literally grows

Compare with the replacements that I’ll be installing: single-piece, solid steel lug nuts. No cap so nothing to swell. They’ll survive winters just about anywhere.

Capped lug nuts are bad news unless you enjoy extracting rounded hardware.

Imagine needing to change a tire on the side of the road, only to discover the factory lug wrench no longer fits your own lug nuts. At that point you’re probably calling for a flatbed ($$$$).

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