wide frame rear wheel rim / lug nut question

[rsshallop]

Hello,

I haven't posted anything on the forum for a long while, but now I need help. So, here I am. Anyway, I have just converted the rear wheel hub from the normal IH lug bolts to lug nuts as the fasteners. At the end of this process, I thought it may be a good idea to see how the nuts would face up against the end of the opening in the rim, once they have been tightened and now I am not sure if they would sit quite right? I would have thought that the taper at the end of the lug nut would sink deeper into the opening instead of just sitting on top. I have supplied images of the situation any insight would be appreciated. Thanks

[Ambush]

If the new lug nuts have the same taper as the old lug bolts, the. It should be good. Did you compare the two?

[rsshallop]

Thanks for the reply ambush. No, I don't think they are the the same animal taper or otherwise. I'm thinking about opening up the stud holes in the rims from 15/32" to 31/64" and if that doesn't do it, all the way to 1/2". Do you see any problems (other than making the holes too big) with that approach?

[Ambush]

I would definitely not enlarge the holes and render the rims unusable for stock tractors. I can't remember if the bolts are 7/16" or 1/2" fine thread, but they should be the same as many older north American cars and those should fit properly.

I wouldn't use the nuts you have.

My tires are fluid filled and heavy so I prefer the bolts for ease of installation.

[rsshallop]

OK, I haven't done anything further. So, I can look around to see if there is another lug nut that will seat better in the rim. But, I'm not going back to the lug bolt. The lug nuts I have are suppose to be for a 1970ish dodge (7/16-20). Thanks for the prudent input.

[Radioguy41]

The nuts are not supposed to "sink" into the wheel, only part of the taper. That taper is only there to help center the stud in the hole as the nut is tightened. However, it looks to me like your studs are too short. With the wheel mounted and the nuts tightened is there a small amount of thread showing beyond the surface of the nuts? And lastly, are you trying to mount the wheels backwards? From the photos it appears you're showing the nut on the backside of the wheel?

[rsshallop]

Last question first, yes those first pictures are of the backside of the rim and I do know that the rim has to be mounted with it's face out. Next, yes I think the studs (bolts) are cut too short too. But, that's the only way I could fit them between the wheel hub and the brake disk to thread the bolts into the back of the hub. If I was to do it again, I would take some material off the head of the bolts first before trying to fit them into the back of hub.

Thank you Radioguy41 for this info.

"The nuts are not supposed to "sink" into the wheel, only part of the taper. That taper is only there to help center the stud in the hole as the nut is tightened."

[rsshallop]

OK, I went to town to get some different lug nuts only to find what the parts store had was exactly the same as what I had (7/16"-20 Nova/Camaro/Chevelle 1960's/1970's models). So, I guess I have the right lug nuts after all. Thankfully Ambush raised a big red flag to idea of drilling out the bolt holes on my rims. That would have rendered the rims completely useless. So, what I have done is to just mount the wheels back on with the hardware I have. The rims centered up just like Radioguy41 said they would and the bolts are about two threads short from the top of the lug nuts. For now I'm going to leave everything in place as is. I believe the machine is most likely usable in the short term until I gather up new bolts to start again from scratch.

[DSarow]

This is just another example of bringing your questions here,describing it ,and doing an excellent job of posting pictures.Then sitting back and letting our knowledgeable members helping you,great post!Great job to those that responded,that drilling out the rim would of been a bummer