Gundown64

So I took my car to the stealership about two weeks ago to get an oil change and tire rotation/balance. They told me I had the wrong lug nuts on the car. I bought the car used so that was definitely possible. They were very lightweight aluminum ones made for racing apparently. I said ok and told them I would take care of it myself after they wanted ~$115 to replace them all. So I went and purchased these replacement lug nuts. I am hoping these are the correct replacements? From the research I did I assumed that they were. Anyway, after the shop replaced the lug nuts, I drove the car home and heard a very noticeable grinding noise coming from the front driver side tire area. I took a look around and found that the steering knuckle (?)(circled in this picture) was touching the lip of the rim. I took it straight back to the shop and had them look at it. They honestly had no clue why it would be doing that. They literally only replaced the lug nuts. They did not even take the wheel off. Since they weren't sure what was going on I told them to try and put the old lug nuts back on. They said that fixed it and since it was closing time, they sent me on my way. Well, it didn't fix it and I still have the same issue. How in the world could simply replacing lug nuts cause this issue? I have a few pictures and GIFs below that I would appreciate you all looking at.

Here are some images of the driver side. The GIF shows it really well.






Now the passenger side for reference. It seems to have plenty of clearance.





Here is the new vs old lug nuts for comparison. New on the left. It has a washer too.



So what is wrong and how do I get the shop to correctly fix it? Is this some sort of alignment issue? A spacer needed/missing?

Thanks in advance!

QS350

Did you by any chance have spacers on?

Gundown64

I'm not sure, honestly. My first thought was that the spacer was missing, but since I had no issues before the lug nut change and the fact that they did not remove the wheel, I assumed not. Maybe the passenger side has a spacer and the driver side is missing it?

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Ok, to start...do you have aftermarket wheels? If so, those aluminum aftermarket lug nuts would actually be correct. When it comes to wheels, you use the type of lug nuts for the wheels...not what came from the factory.

Confirm what wheels you have, perhaps a picture? Reinstall the aluminum lugs once you confirm you indeed have aftermarket wheels. Then again confirm what you wheel-to-knuckle clearance is.

Also check the other side for a spacer of some sort.

Gundown64

They are factory wheels. Can I check for a spacer without having to remove the wheel?

Sceanzo

Should be able to look through the spokes and see a metal piece between the wheel and the rotor/hub

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Can you take a picture of said factory wheels?

Gundown64

Both sides look the same. Here is the image of what the driver side looks like.



Factory 18" staggered 5 spoke chrome rims (in terrible condition).



From what I can tell, both the driver and passenger side wheel seem to be in the same position in relation to the fender/body panel around the wheel and tire. One doesn't seem to be sticking in or out further than the other. This seems silly, but it is somehow possible that the a rear wheel got put on the front? Since these are staggered, that could mess things up right? I would doubt this though as the rear wheels have different tires than the front and there isn't a mismatch. Surely the Lexus dealership wouldn't swap tires and rims when doing a rotation/balance right? Plus, I would hope they are smart enough the know the difference between the two rims.

xanderES

iTrader: (8)

Wow. How long were you running the car with aftermarket lug nuts on the stock wheels? To say it was extremely dangerous is almost an understatement. I can literally see the contact patch of the of the oem wheels to the aftermarket lugs nuts.

If you are unsure of whether or not the F&R are mismatched take a tape measure out and look at the width of the wheel itself through the spokes

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Well, those are definitely stock wheels. These are the lug nuts you should be running for those wheels actually :

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-and-Lexus-Chrome-Factory-Wheel-Lug-nuts-OEM-Stock-Mag-Style-Set-of-20-/300956129319?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4612621827&vxp=mtr
Regarding the wheels themselves, have you removed both front wheels and have determined there are NO spacers present? Also, you need to determine what size of wheel you have up front there; it could very well be a wider, rear wheel being placed on the front end there. That could be you problem.

What are the tire sizes on all four corners? You should have the 18x8 wheels with roughly 225/40/18 tires up front and 18x8.5 wheels with roughly 255/40/18 tires in the rear.

Let us know what you find out.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

i really dont see how lug nuts are causing this issue, there must be something else amiss

check with gville said with making sure the correct wheel widths are on the front and rear. I can see in the picture of the wheel and tire you posted that a 225 tire is on the front which is correct.

Gundown64

Unfortunately I do not know exactly how long other than at least a year and a half. I bought the car used at just under 100k miles last summer. The car has been through 4-5 owners if I remember correctly so there is no telling what stupid things these people have done. I tried to measure the rim width, but without the rim off the tire, it is difficult to tell the difference between 8 and 8.5 inches.

Thanks for the info on the lug nuts. I will buy those right away. I have not confirmed anything about spacers yet. I can do that when I take it back to the shop, but I am trying to limit the number of times I have to go there and pay $20 for them to put the car on the rack and take the tire off. Tire sizes are correct as well.

I think I agree with you. My suspicion right now is that something has been wrong since I owned the vehicle, however the issue simply didn't show itself until these new lug nuts were put on.

Nelexus88

Swap the two front wheels side to side and see if the clearance problem moves with the wheel or stays with the drivers side. If the problem moves to the other side then you know its a wheel problem (odd ball wheel replacement or ?).

pmanliu

iTrader: (4)

The width should be stamped on the back of the spokes. Take the wheel off and you should see either a 8 or 8.5 stamped on it.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Weird! My first though was that they removed spacers but spacers aren't necessary with stock wheels. The alloy lugnuts you had are lug-centric nuts while the chrome ones you bought are hub-centric nuts. I thought that all Toyotas use hub-centric wheels. Are you sure the didn't put the rear wheels on the front?