The mystery of the black lug nuts that keep breaking...

[SoCal LR3]

a couple of months ago i had the truck into the shop to get the control arm bushings changed out. when i picked it up the owner of the shop mentioned that they had broken a lug nut off the left front wheel, but they had replaced it. i just figured that one of the mechanics had used an impact gun to put the lugs on and snapped off the head.

yesterday i pulled the same wheel off to do some touch up on a spot where i slid into a rock and chipped off a piece of powder coating. everything went fine until i was using my torque wrench to snug the lug nuts. as i tightened one i snapped it right off, in the exact same spot as the mechanic had! no power tools were used to remove the lugs or put them on.

so, what is up with my lug nuts?

the mystery deepened when i went to the dealer to get a replacement. my lug nuts are black, but the dealer only had silver. the only black lug nuts they have are for the range rover and they are a slightly different design. the parts guy said he's never seen black LR3 lug nuts and he's never seen a lug nut failure.

when i get home and compare the new lug to one of my old ones, i notice that the new one is the same shape but it is taller than the old one...

i'm wondering if i have some cheap aftermarket lug nuts?

here's a picture of the two broken lug nuts (the one with the rust is the one my mechanic broke, the other one is the one i broke yesterday):

here's a picture of the new lug nut compared to the old one (the new one is bigger; i painted it black tonight):

just curious if anyone can shed some light on this issue...

thanks.

 

[jjvd21]

Early build 2005 LR3's had black lug nuts. Mine had them.

 

[dantheman1]

my early build 2005 has them too, but they've never snapped.

 

[SoCal LR3]

i wonder why the dealer can't figure that out...
thanks.

 

[morrisdl]

FYI - OEM Black ones come up for sale on ebay from time to time.

 

[SoCal LR3]

FYI - OEM Black ones come up for sale on ebay from time to time.

thanks. i did a quick "completed listing" search and came up with a set of range rover lugs. $60 for all 20 but not quite the right application. i'll keep my eyes peeled.

 

[nwoods]

The lugnut on the left does not look like any LR3 lugnut I've seen.

 

[jjvd21]

2nd Nwoods, my black lugs don't match the picture.

 

[roverman]

The left is the one that I have. I think the one on the right is the same as the one on the left, but with an 'overcap' that not only looks better but I think helps prevent the rounding of the corners that I'm seeing on mine.

 

[cbboard]

i have an '05 and one of my black lugs snapped as well. i found a set of four 18" wheels, tires, and lugs on craigslist for $150 and replaced my black lugs with the newer silver ones.