Wheel nut broke off - what to do? (help!)

[Nyfniken]

ABS wheels

Too bad for you, good for the rest of us to know where not to buy tires and rims.

 

[Stefan1972]

What you should probably do is go to ABS again with the facts. In the initial stage, there might not have been much of that. However, it should be noted that no car has screws or nuts for wheels in any particularly hard material. The usual is probably 8.8 stuff. Some stud bolts might be 10.9, but never higher. 12.9 becomes as hard as glass and is completely unsuitable as a screw in such areas. It's likely several factors that have caused the issue, possibly short original screw projection, and that in combination with other rims and nuts created this. ABS should reasonably address this regardless. It's not something that even an experienced installer might have noticed or thought about. Personally, I thought more about whether there was unusually little thread projection, so one should reasonably have thought about it, but that wasn't the case here. It was mostly the combination that went wrong......And as I have already pointed out, there is no one in the industry who conducts detailed checks and tests on all combinations. That would be completely impossible. The small fraction of cases that do go wrong should reasonably be absorbed. But then one must present the facts in a factual manner.

 

[Dan_Johansson]

The workshop ended up drilling out the stud. It couldn't be done any other way. It took a few hours and quite a few drills because of the hard steel in the screw. Unfortunately, it turned out that Tesla doesn't sell these studs as spare parts, but only sells the entire hub. The cost so far to get rid of the nut: about 2500kr. Depending on whether I find the right stud bolt or have to use a second-hand wheel hub, it will end up between about 3500kr-5500kr.

Therefore, I'm currently on the hunt for a suitable stud from another make with the measurements below.

[image]
1. Length under head: 46mm
2. Knurl length: 16mm
3. Knurl OD: 15.7mm

Regarding the original problem with the wrong rim/nut:
Measured and the protrusion is just as long (11mm) from the flat surface of the rim in the screw hole. However, there is still a difference:

• The specially recessed hole in the rim is not as deep as in the original rim, which makes the nut end up a few mm further out.
• The aftermarket nut's conical section is a few mm taller than the original nut.
• The aftermarket nut has a few mm of weld at the bottom of the nut part, which means the socket doesn't reach as deep.

Then on top of this, we have additional issues:

• The aftermarket nut has a 17mm head whereas the original nut has a 21mm head. There is a BIG difference in shear area and especially shear stress in the fracture cross-section just from this.
  
• The aftermarket nut most likely has too low strength. The original bolt is very likely 10.9 (or 12.9) and therefore the original nut also has 10 or 12 in strength. I can say that this aftermarket nut DOES NOT have that based on how soft it is!

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How in the hell should the responsibility not lie on ABS wheels, which ships a complete wheel package with custom rims and nuts?? It's completely IMPOSSIBLE to place this responsibility on a car mechanic who has 5 minutes to put the wheels on during a change!

If you check on eBay, there must be someone who sells the stud bolts separately... Tesla is quite big in the USA...

I would guess the bolts are 10.9, but the nuts are most often softer, i.e., 8.8... You'd rather clean the threads on the nut, which is easier to replace... I think your analysis is correct, reduced key size combined with a thicker rim was not good...

If ABS doesn't take responsibility, I would spend a few minutes every day letting people know in every post they make on social media.

 

[Doldaskruvar]

The workshop ended up drilling out the stud bolt. It couldn't be done any other way. It took a few hours and some drill bits due to the hard steel in the screw. Unfortunately, it turned out that Tesla does not have these stud bolts as spare parts, but only sells the entire hub.
Cost so far to remove the nut: about 2500kr.
Depending on whether I can get the right stud bolt or use a used wheel hub, it will end up between approximately 3500kr-5500kr.

I am therefore on the hunt for a suitable stud bolt from another brand right now with the dimensions below.

[image]
1. Length under head: 46mm
2. Knurl length: 16mm
3. Knurl OD: 15.7mm

Regarding the original problem with the incorrect rim/nut:
Measured and the protrusion is the same length (11mm) from the flat surface of the rim in the screw hole. However, there is still a difference:

• The specially fitted hole in the rim is not as deep as in the original rim, which means the nut ends up a few mm further out.
• The aftermarket nut's cone is a few mm higher than the original nut
• The aftermarket nut has a few mm of weld in the bottom of the nut part, which means the socket doesn't go as deep.

Then we have on top of this that:

• The aftermarket nut has a 17mm fitting while the original nut has a 21mm fitting. There is a BIG difference in shear area and especially shear stress in the cross-section just on this.
• The aftermarket nut most likely has too low strength. The original bolt is most likely 10.9 (or 12.9) and thus the original nut also has 10 or 12 in strength. This aftermarket nut does NOT have that, I can tell based on how soft it is!

[image]

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How the hell is this responsibility not supposed to lie with ABS wheels, who ship complete wheel packages with custom rims and nuts?? It's absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to place this responsibility on a car mechanic who has 5 minutes to put the wheels on during a change!

Many thanks for a very informative and good thread. 👌👍 I also bought rims for my Model Y from ABS Wheels and can only agree. ABS Wheels absolutely do not have custom rims and nuts that fit Tesla. I would even go so far as to say they don't have rims that fit any car brand well! They have found a way to make the rims asymmetrical so that they fit equally poorly on all cars. "One rim covers up to 9 different bolt patterns." https://www.abswheels.se/abs360/

The result of their "invention" is that you have to use very thin nuts, which you can barely fit a socket on because they sit completely off-center in the rim hole. Larger nuts simply do not fit. Additionally, they send their nuts which are way too long for many cars, and as clearly shown here, far too weak. You can't even tighten them with the torque they themselves recommend without them breaking.

I would say this is outright fraud. What they should write on their website is that they sell rims that "can" be used for several different car brands; if you are willing to accept all the weaknesses and problems that their "invention" causes.

I definitely wouldn't have bought any rims from them if I had known this. And after reading this thread and other threads on the same subject, I've realized I've been lucky that no bolt has broken yet. So my winter wheels that I was just about to switch to with ABS rims I won't put on. Instead, I have just bought a pair of rims that are truly custom for Tesla, and they were good-looking too!
https://www.oclbrorssons.se/alufalg/mak-falgar/solar-black/

Now it's time to book an appointment at a tire workshop to move the tires from ABS rims to the new rims next week, have a nice weekend 😃

 

[Hammarskallen]

A big thanks for a very informative and good thread. 👌👍 I also bought wheels for my Model Y from ABS Wheels and can only agree. ABS Wheels certainly do not have custom-designed wheels and nuts that fit Tesla. I would even go so far as to say that they do not have wheels that fit any car brand well! They have invented a way to make the wheels asymmetrical so that they fit equally poorly on all cars. "One wheel covers up to 9 different bolt patterns." [link]

The result of their "invention" is that you have to use very thin nuts, which are barely possible to fit a socket on because they are completely uncentered in the hole of the wheel. Larger nuts simply won't fit. Moreover, they send their nuts which are far too long for many cars, and as clearly shown here, are far too flimsy. You can't even tighten them with the torque they recommend without them breaking.

Buy proper sockets and it's no problem.

 

[Doldaskruvar]

Buy proper sockets and there will be no problems.

Where can you get proper sockets?

 

[Kane]

Buy proper sockets and there will be no problems.

Do you interpret the text below as saying the sockets break? I interpret it as the nuts breaking.

The result of their "invention" is that you have to use very thin nuts, which you can barely fit a socket on because they sit completely off-center in the hole in the wheel. Larger nuts simply do not fit. Furthermore, they send their nuts that are far too long for many cars, and also, as clearly shown here, are far too weak. You can't even tighten them with the torque they themselves recommend without them breaking.

 

[Doldaskruvar]

Do you interpret the text below as the casings breaking? I interpret it as the nuts breaking.

Exactly, it's the nuts that are breaking.

 

[Doldaskruvar]

Exactly those little nuts that break

So good nuts would be needed,

 

[Kane]

Exactly, it is the nuts that are breaking

Have you claimed them to ABS? What torque was recommended? Is it M12, M14 or another size?

 

[Doldaskruvar]

Have you made a claim to ABS? What torque was recommended? Is it M12, M14, or some other size?

In my case, no nut has broken off yet. But those who have had that problem unfortunately haven't received any help from ABS. ABS is also on the blacklist because they don't follow ARN's advice, so with that background, there's not much to do.

 

[Doldaskruvar]

Have you reported them to ABS? What torque was recommended? Is it M12, M14 or some other size?

They recommended 110Nm for my nuts.
Don't know the size offhand. But I can check it.

 

[Slarvpellen]

Stylish but in my opinion too thin-walled for the abuse that such wheel nuts usually have to endure over time.

 

[hapazard]

Stylish but in my opinion too thin material for the abuse that such wheel nuts usually have to endure over time.

Hm, should work better with bolts than nuts one would think...

 

[Hammarskallen]

Do you interpret the text below as the sleeves breaking? I interpret it as the nuts breaking.

No, it was a response to the person who had problems with the ABS wheels' adjustable bolt pattern. These fit if you remove the white plastic sleeve.