Searching the forums and YouTube, this appears to be a common problem where the ornamental cap on the lug nut is no longer snug and just spins when you turn it with a 21mm socket (for my 19" wheels). This is a bad situation if you need to change a flat tire on the roadside because a routine wheel change will become a "project" to get that lug nut off.

I'll be tackling this over the weekend and will post back. It's always something, but at least it's not the transmission

 

I bought a bag of new ones, and replace them as needed when I rotate tires.

It's hard to get tire shops to treat them gently. Bad design.

 

Glad to hear I'm not the only one with this issue. And I feel lucky that after all this time only one of these nuts failed.

I have four new/spare lug nuts that I saved after I bought the car when I replaced them with McGard wheel locks. So now, 13 years later, I'm glad to have saved them.

I thought it would be a struggle to pull the cap off, especially after watching a Youtube video where they had to punch a hole in the center and peel it off. So I taped around the lug to avoid scratching the wheel during the anticipated combat. I got some pliers on it. After a little wiggling and cursing, it came right off. Much easier than I expected!

The head size of the wheel nut (with cap) is 21mm. The naked nut under the cap will come off with either a 21mm or 20mm socket.

I replaced the nut with a new one and torqued to 98 ft-lbs. For good measure, I torqued all the nuts on all the wheels to ensure none of them also had a loose cap. All good.

I hope the next repair is so simple and easy.

 

Rotated my tires yesterday, a bunch of them were too warped for the 21mm socket to fit right. I tried SAE sockets, they didn't seem to fit any better

Fortunately the lug wrench that comes with the car fit better.

I used the lug wrench to loosen and tighten them, and a 22mm socket to spin them on and off with an electric drive.

I'm going to try to find a solid lug nut that will look OK and not change it's socket size when Discount Tire uses an impact wrench.

 

You convinced me to buy a 22mm socket to have on-hand "just in case".

 

Here are the specs if you need a new lug bolt or several

M14 x 1.5

60 Degree Captive washer

25 mm depth (minimum 23 mm threaded)

21 mm drive socket compatible


Freel2 thread about this issue https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic36763-15.html

Thanks

Paul

 

Thanks, I'll report back what I find.

 

Don't buy multiple socket for onesy-twosy applications. Buy a universal socket.

 

yes, these issues arise where the wrong sized socket is used and an over zealous mechanic uses an over powered impact wrench.
I haven’t been so particular with the LR but with the Jag I insist on hand tools and right sized sockets only.