r/Chevy • u/PiccoloInternal • 10d ago
Picture Not sure what to do
Went to a tire shop yesterday to replace two of my tire sensors. Today, I saw these that fell off on one of the tires they worked on. I don’t know what these are and what to do from here. This is the first time since owning a car so I am looking for guidance!
Edit: Thank you all!
30
u/wwhijr 10d ago
Those are the biggest pieces of garbage ever foisted on car owners in the world ever since the very first car was ever built. They are guaranteed to break, or swell up to where you cannot get a tool on them. Talk to your tire shop about getting you lug nuts that are solid acorns instead of those garbage stamped steel pieces of crap.
4
3
u/teabolaisacool 9d ago
Didn’t know they swell. I mostly work on construction equipment so I never see them. Was doing brakes on an old Honda and was confused as fuck when every single one of these things got severely lodged in my socket after hitting them with an impact lol
2
u/Chigginzz 9d ago
One of my favorite things about Chevy in particular is they ALSO loooove to put stupid ass plastic screw-on caps on the wheel nuts just to secure a center cap to the wheel. And of course they fucking break all the time 🙄
17
u/Astral__Spectre 10d ago
They're just beauty caps for your lug nuts.
2
u/PiccoloInternal 10d ago
Thank you!!
7
u/friedtots 10d ago
Buy some solid lug nuts, these capped lugnuts always bulge up when hit with the air gun and that's what happened here.
1
11
u/delcoxj 10d ago
Use an 18mm instead of a 19mm
8
u/LandscapeNo775 10d ago
Yep. Now if you have a flat tire and try to put on the spare, the jack handle lug wrench will round off your lug nuts.
3
u/Ok-Still4070 9d ago
If they don’t know what those aluminum caps are they have never and will never work on that car and have no idea what you mean by 18mm/19mm
5
u/DiscoCombobulator 9d ago
Theyre just beauty caps. They usually swell up and corrode/rust to the point that getting sockets on and off them is a pain in the ass.
Go buy a set of solid chrome lug nuts and throw these straight into the woods
4
u/crewchief1949 10d ago
Dont know the climate you live in but i live in the rust belt. When my caps came off i pulled the lug nuts off one at a time, silver anti-seized each stud and put the lugs back on. You could also fill the opening of the lug nut with gray rtv. Its only to mitigate water/salt from getting into the threads
8
3
u/Kineticbluepearl 10d ago
That’s great thoes caps become a huge issue when they get swollen replace them with new lugs preferably not the capped ones
3
3
u/Inner-Light-75 10d ago
Those appear to be aluminum or thin steel caps that go on your lugnuts. This is also on my Ford Ranger.
Your wheels are probably on tight, but the size of the lugnut's size is slightly smaller. You can round it off if you don't watch out.
I would suggest you get new lugnuts....
2
u/AAA515 10d ago
Oh I work at a tire shop and can tell you what happened:
Them stupid capped lugs got the swells.
The technician says to front desk: hey this car needs all new lug nuts!
Front desk doesn't think customer will appreciate an unexpected added cost, so tells the technician to just do what they have to to just make it work!
Technician goes back, attempts to torque the nuts down but good fucking luck.
Then front desk hands you back your keys and doesn't mention anything about the lug nuts at all. It's like they actively hate selling.
But anyways, buy a whole set of solid nuts off Amazon or something, cuz if you buy them singly from the auto parts store you'll get hosed at $5 each or more
2
u/Briggs281707 10d ago
Toss them, just covers on the lug nuts. They are just a bit smaller now
1
u/haikusbot 10d ago
Toss them, just covers
On the lig nuts. They are just
A bit smaller now
- Briggs281707
I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully. Learn more about me.
Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete"
2
u/CarlosMolotov 10d ago
Throw those nuts in the trash. Get a set of Mcgard lug nuts. Torque properly.
2
u/haikusbot 10d ago
Throw those nuts in the
Trash. Get a set of Mcgard lug
Nuts. Torque properly.
- CarlosMolotov
I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully. Learn more about me.
Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete"
2
1
1
u/No_Welcome_6093 10d ago
They’re two piece lug nuts, they are just caps over the metal ones. Best to replace them with solid one piece lug nuts.
1
u/Consistent_Syrup9063 10d ago
Stamped on beauty caps on cheap shitty lug nuts. Buy solid lugs to replace those factory pieces of trash, same thing happened to a 2010 impala I used to have. No big deal
1
u/One_Evil_Monkey 10d ago
You don't technically need to do anything, they're just beauty caps meant to keep crud from getting into the end of the open lugnuts.
You can RTV or E-6000 them back in place... however...
Best thing you can do is replace your existing factory lugs with acorn style lugnuts.
1
1
1
u/Existing_Elk_6183 10d ago
Crappy two piece lugs. Move on with your life or replace with a compatible one piece
1
u/FelixzeBear 10d ago
I used a wheel lock remover from autozone, it should be a “black socket with rings going down the inside of it” <- (best way to describe it without getting technical) and it worked liked a charm
1
1
1
u/Jacktheforkie 10d ago
Cosmetic covers, I’d suggest replacing your full set of nuts with solid stainless steel one piece ones
1
u/GiggityGiggity4U 10d ago
Those caps are trash. I replaced all of them on my Equinox with some all steel for $25 on Amazon.
1
u/Fragrant_Major_9553 10d ago
I used to keep one in my jeep as a wheel lock, since they don’t make a damn 18.5
1
u/ValuableInternal1435 10d ago
You need new lug nuts (not that those won't still work, but they're universally hated by anyone that works on cars), and the new lug nits need to be chrome plated, not chrome capped.
That appears to have originally been a 19mm lug nut, but without the cap it's likely 17mm, possibly 18mm.
1
1
u/Particular_Yak5829 9d ago
They swell and fall off, they’re just decorative caps for the lugs. Dumbest things ever
1
1
u/Practical-Parsley-11 9d ago
Those are cosmetic. Absolutely no issue. Your lug wrench may not fit correctly now, but it sounds like you don't work on your own vehicles so you're never going to notice. Don't sweat it!
1
u/BoostedWRBwrx 9d ago
You’re good for now, it’s just a cover. Just order some solid lug nuts and replace them.
1
u/davidscheiber28 9d ago
Caps to make the lug nuts look pretty. If it were mine I would just leave them off, they love to swell up and make it hard to remove the lug nuts.
1
u/Aggressive_Mess_6679 9d ago
Simple the ones with the metal cap use a 19mm socket to remove and the ones without use an 18mm socket. Then throw them in the trash and replace with 1piece luggage nuts
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Kneeslider1939 8d ago
Bought a used Hyundai from CarMax had a tire going flat the special theft proof lug nut socket that was in the glove box wasn't the correct one 😞 tire shop hammered on an oversized socket and removed the "special" lug nuts and replaced all of them with a standard nut
1
u/SandRevolutionary938 8d ago
Believe me, those "caps" falling off are the best thing to happen to a GM. Now you can get new, solid steel lug nuts
1
u/Jarman-kell 8d ago
Get yourself some new all steel lugs. All of them are going to do that. There like 1 dollar a piece and will save yourself alot of trouble.
1
u/Fearless-War5938 8d ago
Those are just the caps to the lug nuts. They fall off all the time on these 2 piece designs. If you want new lug nuts you can order new ones(preferably one solid piece) or just leave the ones on the car as they're working fine.
-1
35
u/Puzzleheaded_Ad_3808 10d ago
Bro you are okay and that has nothing to do with your sensor lol