Stormin Norman

iTrader: (2)

IDK how light they are, nor do I care, honestly. I've shaved weight off all other places, that a few extra ounces in lugnuts won't eff me up too bad.
Try taking a dump before your next track event and maybe limit your water intake by a pint or so.... will lead to the same results of running the 90 million dollar titanium nuts..... and is a FREE mod.

Chromoly should theoretically be lighter than steel, heavier than alum and titanium, but when you're working with a material that takes up a few cc's of space, it really, truly does not matter one bit. No one on here is a good enough driver that 1-2 extra ounces will kill them in an event.... no one.

TommiM

iTrader: (19)

I went with the Blox Chromoly ones because of the strength of the material. I would have used a steel set had any fit my wheels and been open ended. To ME, lugnuts being lightweight is secondary to strength, and reliability . I want them to withstand the heat and abuse of track duty and of being removed and torqued back on as often as I need to. I dont want the threads giving out on me just to shave a few grams-- not worth it. I would splurge on the titanium lugnuts if I knew they would outlast steel ones. And its nice to be able to zap them off with a gun without worry.

Q15H

iTrader: (5)

I agree that aluminum is a good choice, but 7075-T6 is a poor choice for a lugnut for racing applications. Not due to it's strength or weight, but because the heat treatment will be damaged when the material gets above 250F - which happens on front wheel lugs quite easily during track days. Note that Porsche has used aluminum lugs on all their 911/930 series cars for 30+ years.

Should? You mean if it's made smaller? 4130 and 4340 only have a few percent of alloying elements in them so there is no difference between 4130/4340 and mild steel as far as weight (less than 1% - don't forget that chrome and molybdenum also weight about the same as iron). Now if we're talking thin-wall tubing compared to thick-wall, then yes - but the metal volume is different. But not for a lugnut that has the same dimensions.

Aluminum is more than strong enough for track duty for holding your wheels on (see note above about Porsche race cars using alum lugnuts for 30+ years). You're talking like you need 8340 screws to mount the door panels - something that won't break when you slam the door!!

Dallas J

iTrader: (1)

The problem with aluminum lug nuts isnt its strength, it's its fatigue life for a car that may be taking lugs on and off hundreds of times. The biggest issue Ive seen is from galling on both steel and aluminum lugs when trying to remove them still hot.

Ive personally had the best luck with crome plated lugs, the surface seems to be the hardest and most slippery for preventing the threads fusing.

Q15H

iTrader: (5)

Using appropriate lube completely eliminates this.

Steven

iTrader: (19)

I had the Blox aluminum open ended lug nuts, and they pretty much melted themselves to my extended wheel studs. I had to use a thread chaser and a couple hours to fix the studs.. They were on the car when I bought them so I can't say whether they were tightened by hand or with an impact. Either way, I purchased the Muteki lugnuts and they looked nearly identical. They are only slightly heavier.

Dallas J

iTrader: (1)

Ive always been told never use lube (anti-seize) on lugs. Though if you search on it you get quite a bit of mixed feelings on it. For a race car that gets checked quite often and using aluminum lug nuts Id give it a shot.

rodent

iTrader: (35)

The main point I wanted to get across is how close the open steel lug nuts weigh to the alum. and titanium. .04 lb will not do much even if its rotational weight.

Q15H

iTrader: (5)

Kinda the definition of a "race car" is that it is constantly and vigilantly over-maintained. Like all fluids changed after every event, etc. Some people/teams would also include changing hubs/studs, wheel bearings, struts, calipers, etc. periodically - before they show any signs of failure.

On the stud/nut lube - be user o use something that has a very high drip point and isn't likely to catch fire. And use it sparingly.

True enough - making the lug nuts shorter in length, not having a larger-mass closed end, and using a smaller hex reduces the weight. And for a mild steel [or stronger] material, that's fine.

Remember that weight savings is always a combination of small weight gains (or losses). A jalf- pound here and there several hundred times makes a big difference. It's VERY difficult to loose 200 Lbs in one step.

Some day we may have carbon fiber lug nuts but probably not in my lifetime.

B.J.@ToxicFab

iTrader: (26)

Last November I picked up a set of Fortune Auto Ti Lug Nuts during their Black Friday sale. A set of stock lug nuts weight around 2.5 lbs and a set of their Ti Lug Nuts is around 1 lb. So it dropped around 1.5 lbs. I didn't get them to drop 1.5 lbs but got them because I want to swap in some extended studs later this year. If I didn't pick these up during their Black Friday sale I would still be rocking the stock lug nuts...

Q15H

iTrader: (5)

Which ae VERY heavy by any measure (the stock ones).

Vivid Racing

iTrader: (98)

Anyone that's considering swapping lug nuts as a way to increase performance needs to look at the bigger picture. There's no way that dropping 1.5 lbs from a 3000 lb car is going to net any noticeable gains. 1.5 lbs may be noticeable to a cyclist, but not a car

Buy the strongest lug nuts that you think look cool.

Q15H

iTrader: (5)

^
I seriously doubt that anyone here thinks they're gonna see any performance difference just from one small weight reduction. However 100 small weight reductions will indeed yield significant results.

And getting an EVO down to 3000 would be a massive performance improvement, especially for an X.

TommiM

iTrader: (19)

Just because Porsche decides to do it doesnt mean much. They also seemed to really love the aircooled design for decades-- so are you saying that is also a better way to go for an evo? But, since we are talking about racing, then how about Nascar Cup Series, they use Steel lugnuts, and they have used those for decades as well.

But anyhow, not trying to start an argument here. Honestly I can only speak from experience and having tried a few alum/duralum/ and others in the past, they have all been worthless. I Always removed and torqued by hand but never had good luck with them. The worst ones I have tried ever were the kyukugen (sp?). the lugnuts themselvers werent the issue, but rather the key that was needed always stripped no matter what. I would say at least use lugnuts that dont require a special key. That is my advise to anyone thinking about ANY aftermarket lugnuts. my .02

Autoxevo

iTrader: (6)

What some are forgetting is the relation to rotational weight vs static weight. Somewhere on here there was a thread about the ratio - 1 lb of rotational weight is the same as ? lbs of static weight (think it was around 9 lbs). I forget the actual ratio, but its significant - well, for us racer types.
Any rotational weight loss will improve acceleration period.
Now somebody may spend $500 on a seat (or ?) that's 10lbs lighter, but could have just spent 200 on a set of lugs instead.

Agreed with Tommi - never get lugs with keys - you'll loose the key just when you need it. It's easier to borrow a missing 19mm socket from the neighboring pits than to find a key.