I am hoping the ones on D2s are the same. I'm going to do a check when I get home.


When thinking logically about the purpose of having two different types of lug nuts, I was simply thinking that the ones with dimples are ever-so slightly smaller (looser tolerance) so as not to require one to pound the tire iron onto the rear of the car (say, with a rubber mallet). This would make sense since the spare shouldn't require the same amount of torque and therefore wouldn't strip the head of the lug nut. However, you would want extremely tight tolerances on the lug nuts for the wheels because you need to apply 103 ft. lbs. of torque to them. Just my thought anyway. For the life of me I can't figure out what the benefit of two different pitches would be.

 

You shouldn't need a hammer to put the lug wrench on. With new lugnuts that problem will go away. If a shop is using a socket it should be 27mm or 1-1/16 inch. Perhaps they used a socket too big. Once they get a little damaged you can probably only get an 1-1/8 socket to fit.

 

The dimpled lugs are used for the spare because the threads extend all the way to the bottom of the lug. I'm not quite sure if the stud ever makes it to the nipple point, but it's there to indicate it's a spare lug. Exact same thread pitch as the wheel studs, just deeper threads. The user manual says not to use the dimple lugs on your wheels, only for spare.

 

The user manual says not to use the dimple lugs on your wheels, only for spare.


there you go bring it back with your manual and tell them to make it correct

 

Alright I got the rig back to the shop on Saturday and had a good conversation with the owner. I showed him the damaged caps on all of the lugs and demonstrated how the tire iron does not fit on them as easily as it should. He agreed that they shouldn't be like that and offered to replace them all. So I am happy about that.


Also, I had him remove the spare lug nut from the wheel in front of me and we did not see any stripping that would have been caused if the lug was a different pitch. He also conceded that it was probably swapped out because the original wheel lug nut was warped so bad he couldn't see how they could get enough torque on it, so they used it as a spare not knowing the difference.


Thank you to everybody for all the information. Who knew you could learn so much from such a routine task as changing tires?

 

Glad they are "manning up" and taking responsibility. I usually bring my 27mm impact socket with me to the shop. I give it to them and tell them to use it if they don't have one. Should I have to give them the right tool? No, but I figure its easier than going through what you just did.