I have been seeing a lot of aluminum lug nuts available for sale recently.

Even Gorilla brand has them available. They claim they are made from hardened aluminum, and have the strength of steel at 1/3 the weight.

First is the weight of the lug nuts that much of an issue in racing?

Second, I'm old school and having a hard time believing that the aluminum lug nuts would be a safe choice. Am I wrong?

If they are safe, do you use anti seize when installing them, and how about torquing them? I would worry about stripping the threads, or electrolysis corrosion.

The nuts are close to the center of the wheel and not too heavy... I would not think they add much to rotational inertia. Little benefit. In theory can they hold? I assume Gorilla did their homework and the answer is yes. In practice do the hold torque? I would not want to be a tester and find out.

I assume Gorilla did their homework and the answer is yes.

Thats a good one, look at all the tsb-s from the past. The current air bag recalls, blood clot filter recalls..... Nuts are probably made in china.

Steel for my nuts I say.

Even here mag chlor will eat a new cars al. up in 5-6 years, id hate to have al nuts in the rust belt states.

If you want to save weight, and have something strong...they do make titanium lug nuts as well..

NHRA outlaw aluminum lug nuts 40+ years ago on all drag cars at thier races
Not sure about Titainum wheel studs and nuts, call your local NHRA division or NHRA natioanl tech. department to find out

I can't ever imagine running them myself. I just see them all over when looking for new lug nuts.

This was more a curiosity question.

I don't think I would trust aluminum lug nuts, but they were what came on my Jensen Interceptor from the factory?

speedway motors has em (titanium) for $6.99 ea! (5/8). Yes NHRA legal. 0.005 lb ea

"They claim are made of hardened aluminum" ! Is that like " military intelligence" ? How ridiculous...I would like a word with those clowns, just to see their argument. Reminds me of the "clear aluminum" from a Star Trek movie of the past.

My thinking, if anybody ever felt the need that they had to use Alum lug nuts, and it would have to be an air tight case, and never on a street driven car, I would only consider it prudent, as long as they were never reused, ie, tightened once, and thrown away upon removal.

Well...


http://www.cliftonsteel.com/aluminum-armor-plate.html



Aluminum:

There was a war going on between two guys making billet aluminum lug nuts on Yellowbullet last year. This is an item for the guy looking for every last ounce to make a class weight or every last .0001 of ET and money is no object.

http://www.championbillet.com/drag-race/

I don't

There are many different alloys of aluminum as well as different heat treats done with them for aerospace and aircraft use I'm sure someone will alert NHRA tech on this link, maybe they will change there rules

Quote:


ALUMINUM ARMOR PLATE

Clifton Steel carries a complete stocking program of aluminum armor plate in the latest revisions of MIL-DTL-46027, MIL-DTL-46063 and 5083-H32. Our vast inventory includes a variety of sizes and widths of military aluminum armor plate all available for rapid delivery. Clifton Steel’s armor plate is fully DOD approved.

MIL-DTL-46027 REV J OR LATEST

MIL-DTL-46027 is supplied as a 5083-H131 product. Ballistic reports are supplied for thicknesses over 0.499" per specification. Our stock range is 0.250" thru 3". Typical stock size is 72" wide x 144" long.

MIL-DTL-46063 REV H OR LATEST

The increased strength of this 7039 grade provides for improved ballistics resistance over the MIL-DTL-46027. Ballistic reports are supplied for thicknesses over 0.499" per specification. Our stock range is 0.250" thru 3". Typical stock size is 72" wide x 144"

5083-H32

5083-H32 is a commercial grade of aluminum certified to ASTM B-209 and is often used as a component in composite armoring applications. Our stock range is 0.250" thru 4". Typical stock size is 48" wide x 144" long.

Request a quote for a military aluminum armor plate that meets your application requirements. Un quote

There are probably thousand's of grades/alloys of alum. That is likely because alum alloys have an often narrow range of ideal properties for a solution. If I was needing an alloy that was part of ballistic protection for a mobile vehicle that weight was a consideration when in use or being transported, some of the above alloys would interest me. If I was racing and expected someone to shoot at me, and again weight was important the above alloys would interest me. But if repetitive fatigue strength on a critical life threatening item was important, and was high on my list of priorities, I don't know why based on the above, these alloys would get my attention.

I used them for a while on the dirt car. They're plenty strong enough and nothing wrong with them.
Mine were a 5/8" coarse thread 1" nut...1" long with tapers on both ends...
No one here would begin to load them laterally any harder than we did.
They work better with an aluminum wheel than a steel wheel.

What BC?