Despite lawsuit dismissal, disputed Ford lug nuts continue to complicate dealership service

Lug nuts used by Ford Motor Co. remain a source of controversy — and concern for some Ford dealership service departments — even after a federal court this year dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging that the two-piece design was defective and dangerous.

Critics asserted that the caps of the lug nuts were prone to swell and change shape, making them hard to remove for regular maintenance or wheel and tire replacement. Plaintiffs in the suit against Ford, filed in 2017, alleged that vehicles with "swollen and delaminated" lug nuts "cannot be safely driven."

A U.S. district court judge in Detroit dismissed the complaint in January, ruling that the plaintiffs had not presented sufficient facts or "legally viable claims" for relief. The decision is not being appealed. But some Ford dealership service managers say the lug nuts are still a nuisance.

"It's a bad design," Jeremy Collins, parts and service director at Kelly Ford in Melbourne, Fla., told Fixed Ops Journal. "It surprises me they don't do a recall."

Ford used the steel lug nuts from roughly the 2000 through 2015 model years, on car and truck models including the Focus, Fusion, Escape, F-150, Flex, C-Max, Expedition and F-350. Detractors contend that dirt, road salt and moisture can work their way under the cap, creating corrosion and even the possibility that the wheel the lug nut is holding on its hub could fall off if the nut is not properly tightened. Under less dire circumstances, they say, removing the nuts is difficult and time-consuming, and over-tightening can damage a bolt by stretching its threads.

Some owners of affected vehicles complained to dealers that the wrenches in the tool kits that came with their vehicles would not fit a lug nut cap that had expanded, making repairs impossible. Plaintiffs in the court complaint accused Ford of continuing to use an inferior design to save on manufacturing costs.

Ford defends the design of the lug nuts. The automaker blames problems on improper use of tools, especially wrong-sized socket wrenches, by those working on the nuts. Other Ford dealers say they have not experienced trouble servicing vehicles with the lug nuts.

Collins, who oversees the wrenches used in his dealership's service department, concedes that he sees only a handful of lug nut problems each year. But he notes that some of his customers were faced with having to replace the lug nuts on one or all of their wheels. The number of nuts per wheel varies from four to six or more on some trucks.

A lug nut replacement kit from Ford typically costs about $220, Collins notes, compared with $69 to $79 for an aftermarket kit. He says "nine out of 10" customers opt for the cheaper kit.

Trysha Maness, service adviser at Brad Manning Ford in DeKalb, Ill., says the lug nuts generally have not been a problem at her dealership. When nuts are damaged, she says, she advises customers to replace them.

Working on damaged nuts may require larger wrenches than factory-specified tools, Maness adds. She notes that other automakers use lug nuts of a similar design.

"It's not just a Ford issue," she says.

Rick Wegley, a dealership consultant with NCM Associates Inc. in Kansas City, Mo., says caps like those molded to the Ford lug nuts "tend to mushroom if excessive torque is applied" when they are installed or removed. If this happens, he says, a technician "may have to use an oversize socket wrench to remove the affected lug nuts."

Applying excessive force to the lug nut exacerbates problems, Wegley adds, and may cause the cap to detach.

Justin Morningstar, a professor of automotive service at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Mich., identifies another potential complication: the use of power-operated torque wrenches to install lug nuts. Such tools, he says, are not as dependable as properly calibrated handheld wrenches — a lesson Morningstar says he emphasizes to his students.

Even though Ford is not treating the lug nuts as a problem, dealerships may want to give affected owners particular attention, says Sriram Narayanan, an associate professor at Michigan State University's business college who specializes in supply chain management. That could include priority for service, he says.

Distorted caps on lug nuts are "absolutely" a potential hazard, says W.C. Benton, a professor of operations and supply chain management at Ohio State University's business school who has consulted and published extensively on quality concerns in the auto industry.

"Ford should be careful about this," Benton says. "Anything with lug nuts raises serious safety issues."