Ford messed up my lug nuts and the tire won't come off, need info on how to argue for them to fix it.

[HamToast]

I took my car in last week to have the axle seal leak fixed for the second time in 3 months and was pleased with the solution the tech came up with, using oil sealant on the seal-to-housing surface that the leak seemed to be coming from. This was an improvement over a standard replacement seal which doesn't call for any sealant. Was happy about it until this weekend to do the brakes. The driver's side lug nuts were SUPER tight, like, so tight they almost sheared my 3/8 to 1/2 adapter and they got stuck in the socket. Two of the nuts were too damaged/deformed to be reused. "Whatever, I'll buy a new set," I thought to myself.

Fast forward 20 minutes to the passenger side brake install and the nuts won't come off. They aren't stuck and not moving, no, that would be too simple, they rotate as though they're stripped. The nut turns smooth for a second, then hits a tough spot, then spins smooth again and repeat. They don't come off though no matter how many times they're rotated. I checked the lug from behind the wheel and they don't appear to be rotating which further suggests they're stripped. I put the old brakes back on the driver's side and am now preparing to go to war with the dealership, though I hope it doesn't happen and that they fix their fuck-up.

Basically, I just want some information about what I should say because I want this fixed correctly. Anything they damage in the attempt to remove the lug nuts needs replaced. Any time it takes to fix the problem I should be provided with a vehicle. I should also be provided a vehicle while I wait for them to order parts, in my opinion, because I am currently the owner of an unsafe automobile as I have no way of determining the condition of the nuts and no way of knowing if they're going to just come off and let the wheel loose in a turn or not.

Needless to say I am VERY upset with the service tech at this particular dealership and I hope they remedy the situation without me having to drop the patient and understanding client role and go into the client from hell role. I'm baffled that the service tech had the experience to recognize a poor seal on a metal-to-metal surface and remedy the situation with sealant but couldn't put tires back on without causing an issue.

 

[marc89gti]

I've had issues with my lug nuts too, Ford used a crappy two piece design on on all their lug nuts, the inner steel core and a chromed cap on the exterior. Water gets in between the lug nuts and causes rusting and swelling making it difficult to engage the socket properly. Perhaps on yours the outer piece is somehow spinning and or the lug nuts have been damaged by the tech due being hard to get off. If this is the case he shouldn't have put them back on. I had my entire set replaced under warranty. Even had the same issue on our 2015 F150


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[HamToast]

I guess that's a possibility, makes sense. But how am I supposed to take them off? Or would it be best for Ford to fix it? My car is out of the bumper-to-bumper warranty period so I won't be able to have it covered under warranty. I can also see visible damage to the nut from where it's been majorly over torqued.

 

[Nexus]

I think you should still be covered under the 5 year powertrain warranty

 

[HamToast]

I don't see any mention of wheel hubs/lugs/lug nuts being covered on the extended drivetrain warranty per this excerpt:

"Front-Wheel Drive: axle shafts, bearings (front and rear), center support bearing, drive shafts, final drive housing (including all internal parts), hubs-automatic front locking (four-wheel drive), locking rings (four-wheel drive), seals and gaskets, universal and constant velocity joints"

On the bright side, in light of this information regarding the two-piece lug nuts, I no longer think the vehicle in unsafe. I believe the outer casing is distorded from over-torqueing and is able to rotate around the actual lug nut. This would also explain why I had trouble using the correct size socket on the nuts when I was trying to remove them. They simply wouldn't fit. I'm wondering if I force the proper socket size on if the outer cap would be held in place and the nuts allowed to rotate. I cut the outer case off of one of the damaged parts from the driver's side and the inner nut is completely fine, no distortion at all.

For anyone interested in seeing what this two-piece garbage looks like:

 

[Bretley]

I would buy a better set of lugnuts, take your car to who messed them up, and tell them to take those off and install the new ones to the proper torque spec. They more than likely impacted them on because they're simply too lazy to get another tool.

 

[Bretley]

Either way it's just a matter of time before the oem lugnuts go to crap. Don't replace them with oems.

 

[HamToast]

Hell no, the thought of replacing them with a new set of stockers didn't even cross my mind after this headache.

 

[DvC]

Just got my car back from ford for the axle seals and they torqued the shit out of my lugs too. Could hardly get them off with a breaker bar. Idiot techs with impact wrenches

 

[HamToast]

Couldn't wait for closure, went out and bought some replacement lug nuts (wish I bought red instead of black, oh well) and got the big boy hammer and drove the socket onto the nut. Once it was on there it came off just fine! Then of course I needed a punch to get the nut OUT of the socket, but that's nothing new to me. Problem solved, crisis averted, fresh brakes go on tomorrow!

 

[milkman42]

Glad you got it figured out. I had the same issue but couldn't get them off myself so I had pep boys get them off one Saturday morning. Gave them new aftermarket lugs to use and told them to burn the stock ones. They showed me the stock ones when they finally got them off and they were very mangled.

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[CarefreeAZ]

I posted this elsewhere on the forum earlier today but it probably bears repeating:
I had this problem on two of my Fiestas. While I replaced the set on my ST with a new set I received gratis from an acquaintance, I also ordered several 25/32 sockets (perfect fit for my swollen nuts) online to go along with the Gorilla tools I keep in each car.

 

[HamToast]

I replaced them with some generic lug nuts. Not super happy with them but they'll do for the foreseeable future. Thanks.