As some you know, I'm a Ford guy. I've owned many Fords and they've all been very reliable cars. However, a recent issue with my wife's Lincoln LS has me scratching my head.

She had a flat the other day and called me to come help her change it. I started loosening the lug nuts and found out that the lug wrench only fit 2 of the 5 on the wheel in question. I went around to the other wheels and sure enough, only 2-3 of the lugs on each wheel fit the wrench. The rest were oversized. We ended up calling her brother-in-law to bring over his sockets (they live near where she had the flat) and we hammered a socket onto the offending lugs to get them off.

I thought maybe some cheap aftermarket lugs had been put on the car (we bought it used) but when I took the LS to Discount Tire to get the tire fixed and made mention of lug problem, the counter guy said "Oh yeah, Lincolns are bad about that". WTF? At any rate, I ended up ordering a full set of Dorman lugs to replace the OEM lugs so I wouldn't have to carry a socket and hammer around in the trunk of her car.

And yes, the new lugs all fit the wrench!

 

I'd say your counter guy is full of it.

 

That's wierd Ours are all the same factory lugs.

 

Nope. I just talked to my nephew who worked for Discount Tire for several years and he verified what the other counter guy said. He said they had hell getting the lug nuts off Lincolns.

 

In the 60's Mopar used right hand thread lug nuts on the right side of the car and left hand thread lug nuts on the left side of the car.

It caused a a lot of lug nut and stud replacements on the left sides of the cars when people tried to turn the lug nuts the normal direction (right)...

 

Interesting but I'm not sure what that has to do with my problem...

 

It was the only other wierd lug nut story I could think of

But seriously, here is a thread on another forum about LS lug nuts..

 

Thanks! Did you notice all the references to having to hammer a socket on to the get them off? Also lots of questions about what size to socket to use. I guess the Discount Tire guy isn't full of it after all.

 

The problem with the original LS lug nuts is that the stainless steel jacket is too loose on the nut inside. If 12 point sockets, or the wrong size sockets are on them, the jacket is easily rounded over.

The LS lug nuts were changed late in the 03 Model Year. Either the new LS lug nuts or the Sebring lug nuts (as mentioned in the link above) will solve the problem.

The correct wrench size is 20 mm.
The specified torque is 100 lb ft

 

That's not the problem I'm having. Like I said before, the lug wrench doesn't even fit around lug nut. They're oversized. A 20MM wrench won't fit on them and a 21MM socket is too big. None of the offending nuts are rounded off.

At any rate, I bought the Dorman lug nuts and they're exactly 20MM in size.

 

wow... weird

 

That's some really wierd crap.

I'd be mad as Hell if I had a flat and couldn't get them off because Lincoln doesn't care enough to put a matched set of nuts on a car.

 

Trust me. I was very, very, very, very, very, very p*ssed!

 

I have seen this issue with the stainless steel caps where by after they are put on and off several times with air impact wrenches it crushes the corners of the caps and this causes them to swell slightly on the flats . That is why they are hard to get a socket on them. I have proved this myself by only using hand tools on the replacement lug nuts and never had a issue since. Incidentally if you are stuck for socket fit you can always remove the stainless cap with a screwdriver and hammer and you will have a virgin nut exposed the next size down.

 

That's the best explanation I've heard. After I replace them, I'll check out the old ones to see if you're right.

 

"rounded off" was not the best words. "Distorted" is more like it. If you look closely your old lug nuts are most likely no longer clean hex shapes. Impact wrench sockets are often larger in size than a hand tool socket or wrench of the same size. They cause the lug nut jacket to turn around over the inner nut resulting in a distorted shape and larger size.

When new a 20 mm socket would have fit them.

I have made messed up LS lug nuts useable again by hammering a 6 point socket over them to restore their shape.

In any case sound's like you have the problem solved.

 

That must be why I havn't noticed this before, I've always used hand tools on ours.

 

I do the same. Unless you are being serviced by a pit crew at Talladega an impact wrench should never touch your lugnuts for several reasons.