Loose Lug Nut

[29er]

Originally Posted by BarracudaBoy

I did some thing similar. I thought my lug nuts might be loose when I heard a noise on the back. Checked the nuts and they were tight. I thought the hub was loose. After a bit of driving I wallered out the wheel holes and figured out that the prior owner had installed the wrong lug nuts. They would bottom out on the drums, not on the wheels. Bought 20 lug nuts and a set of wheel washers. I moved the wheel to the spare position and put the wheel washers with my tire changing tools.

Maybe this is grist for a different thread, but I wonder about the use of wheel washers. I had them on my '29er to protect the paint. Seemed like a good idea. But after counting the number of times the lug nuts twisted on the bolts with and without washers, and determined the lug nuts grabbed more of the bolt thread without washers, I took them off. I now am of the opinion the wheels are more secure without washers than with.