I have two extra sets of new chrome plated lug nuts that same with my news wheels. I was thinking of having a set of them blasted and powdercoated gloss black. The shop that did my gas cap cover (see my gallery) did an outstanding job and said they would be willing to give it a shot. They have never done lug nuts before and are unsure how they would hold up. Any ideas- has anyone ever seen this done? Do you think it would hold up? For $10-15 for a set of 16 it is almost worth the money to try it. Any ideas?

 

Tape the threads AND the conical seat. In short; just do the hex. From there....who knows how it holds up.

 

Not much money for powder coating. could look really good. But the powder coat may get scratched when you torque them on. You can try taping the lugs (drafting tape that does not have much stick-em as opposed to masking tape that does) to protect the finish from direct contact with the wrench. Not sure if that will work though. Interesting notion.

 

As mentioned above, you'll need to mask off the threads and the taper on the lug bolts. The powdercoat will not hold up on the corners of the bolts where it'll get crushed by the wrench. It'll crush and peel there.

If it was me and I was looking for color on my nuts, I'd go buy some toughened aluminum nuts that are anodized in the color that I wanted. In fact it once was me and now I've got bright red Gorilla Nuts.

 

How'd you do that?

 

Yeah, I want a set of bright red gorilla nuts too
How did you do that Spunkthetuna
Enquiring minds want to know

 

Powder coating is just painting without the solvent--not nearly as hard as chrome. There is an industrial plating process called "Black Chrome" that is used on tools (not the same as "black oxide") so will be far more wear resistant than powdercoating. Chrome is literally as hard as glass.

 

Yeah but I still want to know about the red gorilla nuts

 

I think some sort of medicated ointment should do the trick. But I would be VERY careful applying it.
Jim

 

These guys make them: http://tinyurl.com/cohsh
but I'm sure I bought them from one of our supporting vendors. I just can't for the life of me remember who it was.

If you want, you can have blue gorilla nuts if you want.

I've had the wheels off probably half a dozen times since installing the nuts and so far the very edges of the facets on the nuts are rubbed through by the wrench, but they're aluminum so they won't rust and the color is anodized into the surface so it won't peel.

IMO a far better solution for colored nuts than powdercoating. The only real drawback, if it is a drawback, is that you have to install studs rather than using the factory lug bolts. But I did that anyway and would again. Lug bolts suck if you're squatting in the rain at three in the morning next to a jacked up car and it's thirty seven degrees and you're trying to get that wheel in just the right spot so you can find one of the blasted holes to put that lug bolt in.

 

I'd also go with the anodized nuts.. I once had a powdercoated valve cover and the area around the bolt would crack due to the torque it was required..
I had anodized volk racing lug nuts before and they held up well until some dumb mechanic used air impact wrench on them..

 

But when I used glass lug bolts why wheel fell off!

 

If you look around you can also find sockets that have a softer aluminum, or sometimes plastic, inner liner that's intended to protect chrome or other special finish lug nuts/bolts.

My experience with powder coated parts is that they won't hold up to the kind of forces invoved in tightening a bolt head, likely not even for one use. Powder coating is nice for appearance or corrosion protection but has little mechanical strength.

Neil
05 MCS
Other cars

 

Well I guess I really don't want blue nuts. I've seen thin anodized aluminum sleeves crimped over the steel nuts that get loose after repeated use and eventually fall off. Plating is really the best way to go.

Solid chrome isn't any stronger than glass, that's why it flakes off. Hardness here only refers to difficulty of scratching, unlike the definition of hardness more typically associated with blue nuts.