Loose wheel nut cover?

MajorTom

MajorTom

New member
While cleaning my wheels today I noticed that one of the wheel nuts felt a bit loose. Checked a bit more and the nut itself sits nice and tight but the top/cover part of it sits a bit loose.

I've had OEM wheel nuts like this for ages and can't remember noticing this on any of my Jags before. IIRC the covers sit a bit loose when the nuts aren't fitted but once fitted I guess they should sit tight like on all the other bolts on the car.

Is this anything to care about? Anything that might deteriorate further? I guess not...
 
No problem, so long as the wheel nut is tight to the spec, the outer is normally loose fitting.

I had a chance meeting with a chap that was involved in the nut design and production for the F and I asked him that very question, because I too, felt it wasn't right to have a rattling cover. I never got what the reason was though, it was just the design.
 
Great, all in order then!

As far as I know they've used these nuts during at least the past decade, for various Jags. Could even be that it's an old FoMoCo thing. The design is a bit odd and I wonder what the point of the loose cap is. Many seem to have replaced them by solid aftermarket nuts after having problems with the OEM ones, most probably after over tightening them. I never had any issues with mine though.
 
This also happened to a few wheel nuts on my other half’s car (Ford) after having the wheels removed and refitted for tyre replacement. The chrome covers on them were never loose and chewed up a bit before. It was caused by the air impact gun that the tyre fitter used (most use these). He did admit that it caused the damage and refunded me for a new set of wheel nuts for her car. The air impact gun usually over tightens them which is not good.

Since then, when having my car wheels removed and replaced for new tyres etc, I insist that an air impact gun is not used and a wheel brace/socket and torque wrench used instead. When I work on my cars, I only use a socket, extension bar and torque wrench to remove and replace the wheel nuts.

All of the wheel nuts on my F-Type sit tight against the wheels and when doing so, none of them have loose or rattling chrome covers. They are original Jaguar ones.

I take it that you’ve checked your wheel nut tightness with a torque wrench? My owner’s handbook shows it to be 125Nm (92 lb.ft). As long as the nut is tight and you are able to fit a socket over the nut cover then I wouldn’t be too concerned about the cover being a bit loose.

Here’s a link on the ‘Wrongful use of impact wrenches in over-tightening wheel nuts’.... https://www.lockingwheelnutkeys.co.uk/inproper-use-of-impact-wrenches-air
 
I'm not a fan of impact guns either and also only do things by hand plus use a torque wrench when I work on my cars.

The two tyre places I've used over the years use an impact gun to start with and then a torque wrench to get the right torque. And the nuts are indeed tightened to 125Nm, which I checked myself after the tyre guys fitted the wheels.

Could be that my new tyre place messed it up somehow though. As a side note, they seem to be really serious but during the winter storage of my wheels they managed to damage the clear coat on the diamond cut lip on two of my mint condition carbon blade summer wheels. Apparently they put some protective insulation between the wheels during storage but the insulation pads turned out to be a bit moist at the time of storage which somehow ate into the clear coat during the winter. :x Needless to say there will be a season of free storage and a full refurb of all four wheels on them. These are the things that make one consider skipping the convenience and going back to shifting wheels on one's own.

Anyhow, very good point about asking them not to use an impact gun at all. I'll do the same next time.
 
From the research I’ve done on this it appears that there can and I emphasise can be a problem with these nuts. Here’s a summary of what I’ve found.

The issue seems to be that are actually made of 2 parts with possibly some sort of seal Inside the cap. If the nuts are not abused then everything should be ok.

However if the nut gets abused or stressed for example by an impact gun then the seal damages and cap loosens slightly which can lead to water ingress. This can start INTERNAL corrosion which goes unnoticed due to the cap until one of three things happens.

- the cap swells until the nut removal socket is difficult to get on but can usually be removed and you have had a lucky escape

- when tightening or loosening the cap it becomes loose and comes off or so loose you decide to remove it. You may be ok and can fit a socket on what’s left of the remaining internal “nut” and still remove it

- the nut sheers off leaving the remains recessed in the wheel and needing drilling out. This is a big problem.

This video grabbed off YouTube gives some idea what’s under the cap. https://youtu.be/1T8HjSzZHPY

There are literally hundreds of forum threads on various Jaguar forums describing the issue but the difficulty is judging timescales and how much is affected by vehicles kept outdoors how often washed etc and I’ve seen comments relating to acidic wheel cleaners accelerating the issue.

That said there are not a lot of comments on the ftype forums regarding nut problems - maybe we take more care of our cars or still a little too new for the problem to show as the corrosion takes time.

It could also be argued that this design has been in place and used for years and surely if there was an issue Jaguar would have changed the design by now.

My recommendation is to do some further reading, consider how your nuts have been treated multiply it by your aversion to risk, check your nuts regularly and if you have any concerns decide whether to replace with a new Jaguar nut or with a solid nut.

On a personal note I found 1 of my caps a bit loose and 2 very slightly loose so have bought 20 solid nuts as replacements


Kev
 
Time to revive this old thread. Got my summer wheels fitted today and one of the nuts was hard to get off due to its loose cap. Looks like it's time to get some new, preferably solid, nuts but I'm not sure what to get. A lot of the ones I find online and are supposed to be compatible have a cone shaped base which doesn't seem right.

These look like the originals, but I can't tell if they are solid or not:

https://www.amazon.de/maXpeedingrods-Alu-Radmuttern-Radmuttern-Sicherungsring-3-80-PS/dp/B0C58PSB4H

Any comments on those or tips on what to get?
 
Yeah I had issues with my XF; swollen caps due to water ingress, it was a nightmare to get them off.
Any easy to way test is to simply put the correct socket on the nut. If its an over tight fit it will indicate corrosion.
I was led too believe that F Type nuts were different but if that's not the case I'll definitely be changing them.
 
The odd thing is that I've used JLR original nuts like this for 12 years now and never had any issues until now, although my previous Jags with the same kind of nuts were subjected to much more rain and bad weather.

Just need to figure out now what kind of nuts to get so any advice would be appreciated.
 
I’m also looking to change mine but like others any good advice on any aftermarket ones we can purchase rather then stick to the original F Type ones?
 
Gorilla lug nuts part number 73138J fit the F-Type. They are solid nuts without covers. I am not sure about availability in the UK though.
 
Yep the Gorillas seem to be a US thing. Ok, I'm taking the plunge and ordering the ones I linked to before then.
 
I recently bought new nuts as several of the original ones had swollen and a 19mm hex socket no longer fitted. This is what I bought & they seem fine https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232368331579?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=NECOf4aZQTi&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
 
So just to report back, got the nuts and they seem fine. The only surprise was that they need a 21 mm socket and I don't have a good one that fits my torque wrench so I haven't fitted them properly yet. Overall they seem sturdier than the originals. Obviously a bit wider, slighly lower, slightly brighter and shinier, and 6 g heavier.

416.jpg

854.jpg
 
Strangely enough, Major Tom, the nuts I originally ordered in error were exactly like yours, ie. 21mm A/F. Although the thread was ok, my 21mm impact socket fouled on the rims, so I reordered nuts with 19mm A/F, see link on my previous post. They look identical to your new ones, except smaller on the external A/F dimension.
 
So just to report back, the 21 mm nuts are fitted and all is good. One of the old nuts was a bit swollen and rather hard to get the socket on. Feels good to have reliable nuts now because it would be really annoying to find yourself in a situation when you really need to get a wheel off but can't due to broken nuts.
 
Anyone reading this thread, I suggest you check your nuts. I know I will be.

A swollen nut is just the worst thing.

I had swollen nuts on my XF. Watching a guy with a 6ft bar jump up and down in my nuts was painful. And expensive.
Bottom line.
Check your nuts.
Jon
:)
 
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