Who makes the best aftermarket lug nuts?

I've managed to end up with a third vehicle (two Tacomas and a Jeep) with incredibly E36 M3ty factory lug nuts. They have thin chrome caps over the base steel. Eventually they get loose and distorted and you can no longer get a socket on or off of them.

So who makes the best six point chromed aftermarket lug nuts? McGard? Gorilla? Somebody else?

These are E36 M3:

I've been happy with Gorilla ones.

Maybe contact tire rack and see what they include with their wheels? Mine have been doing great in place of the E36 M3ty OE ford lug nuts for going on seven years and 100k miles now.

I'm a big fan of McGard 2-piece spline drive lugs, they're low profile and won't mess up the lug seats on your wheels. I think they also make a standard hex variant.

That being said I've also had good experiences with Gorilla lugs in the past and would buy them again, I just prefer the 2-piece McGard design.

Probably doesn't need to be said but stay away from the no-name Chinesium Amazon stuff.

The Chevrolet dealer 45 minutes outside Detroit charged me almost $8 for one lug nut for my '16 Silverado.   Just felt wrong to me.   

GPz11 (Forum Supporter) said:

I've been happy with Gorilla ones.

+1

I have been using Gorilla nuts on everything for years and have never been disappointed.

I believe TireRack sends Gorilla lugs with your purchase of a set of wheels. Haven't ever had any issues with those. 

For the Gorilla nuts, where are you guys buying them? I have the part number for the bulk box (M12 x 1.5 open end acorn nuts - item 40038) but cannot find anyone that stocks them.

obsolete said:

GPz11 (Forum Supporter) said:

I've been happy with Gorilla ones.

+1

I have been using Gorilla nuts on everything for years and have never been disappointed.

I'm on record about my feelings regarding Ford's 2-piece lugs. I've replaced them with Gorilla on all our cars, and I'm very happy with them.

glyn ellis said:

For the Gorilla nuts, where are you guys buying them? I have the part number for the bulk box (M12 x 1.5 open end acorn nuts - item 40038) but cannot find anyone that stocks them.

I ordered a set of Gorilla locking splined nuts from the big A a while ago, but you can probably find them in your FLAPS, that's where I have bought most of mine.

My Toyobaru came with a set of White Knight non-locking splined lugs and they've been fine so far, although one of them was chewed up before I took ownership.

My plan was to go with the McGard, and they were even on sale at Quadratec, but I decided I liked the Gorillas a lot better. 
 

Sale price on McGard vs. free shipping (just over $50) for the Gorillas was an even trade. 
 

And I went with traditional hex heads. I have spline drive lug nuts on one of the other cars, but I don't like using the adapter tool with the gun on every one.  

Yeah, either is a fine choice at the end of the day. I just like that the cone seat on the McGards is a separate piece so torquing them is a lot more consistent and they don't scratch the finish off my wheels.

In reply to pointofdeparture :

I hadn't considered that, but in this case, it's a Jeep, so I'm not really sure that I care. 
 

I'll remember that next time though. 

Question for you folks, do you think about weight when getting lugnuts?

I know some companies offer lighter weight items, but I wasnt sure how much benefit they really created

Also, I, too hate the Ford lugnuts and will look to replace mine soon

hybridmomentspass said:

Question for you folks, do you think about weight when getting lugnuts?

I know some companies offer lighter weight items, but I wasnt sure how much benefit they really created

 

Also, I, too hate the Ford lugnuts and will look to replace mine soon

I do, even though it seems silly.  On the one hand- for my ND Miata, a set of lightweight aluminum ones was less than a pound lighter than the factory nuts.  On the other hand- I already had them sitting in my garage, they look awesome, and that one pound is unsprung rotating mass on a lightweight car.  I fully endorse Mazda's gram strategy.

In reply to hybridmomentspass :

No, weight doesn't really matter. All the steel ones are going to be pretty close to each other, and they're all near the wheel center so the effect on rotational inertia is minimal. I'd only go after titanium wheel bolts (I'd check to see if bolts or nuts and studs are lighter) after I've minimized wheel, tire, brake and axle weight. If you're in a position where you're experimenting or spending infinite money, sure, but otherwise it's low on the list of gains. Even then you might consider a center lock conversion.

My race car runs on steelies, so wheel fasteners are not my first go to for weight savings.

glyn ellis said:

For the Gorilla nuts, where are you guys buying them? I have the part number for the bulk box (M12 x 1.5 open end acorn nuts - item 40038) but cannot find anyone that stocks them.

This place is my go-to, they seem to stock everything Gorilla makes: https://www.brandsport.com/

In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :

I've got a few slingshot rounds on the Focus about to get the heave ho once I swaitch out the snows. For those exact reasons.

glyn ellis said:

For the Gorilla nuts, where are you guys buying them? I have the part number for the bulk box (M12 x 1.5 open end acorn nuts - item 40038) but cannot find anyone that stocks them.

In the past I've always just bought them from Amazon.

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

You gotta be careful with Amazon these days. Even the "sold and shipped by Amazon" listings have been found to be counterfeit products in some cases, most notably "Sabelt" harnesses after a guy got hurt pretty bad in a track accident.

pointofdeparture said:

You gotta be careful with Amazon these days. Even the "sold and shipped by Amazon" listings have been found to be counterfeit products in some cases, most notably "Sabelt" harnesses after a guy got hurt pretty bad in a track accident.

You've got to be careful with any retailer these days.  Amazon's big, which is why you hear about it there a lot.

I'd also be very surprised if anyone was bothering to make counterfeit Gorilla-brand lug nuts.

Gorilla, Muteki and McGuard. All 3 have gone through racing, autocross, winters and jamming them on with an impact gun for years without a single failure or problem.

Factory lug nuts are beyond E36 M3ty these days.