American Racing Torq Thrust II's Arrive! What a Chrissy prezzie!

 Lucky bastard that I am, I am blessed to have these under the Christmas tree!

Even our resident panda was overjoyed.

I am glad my wife talked me into coughing up the extra for the chrome finish. Read a bit about the pros and cons of chrome compared to brushed aluminium finish and decided the chrome was the winner; easier to clean and, well, just more BLING! 

The tyres are still coming in. Once again, my wife convinced me to steer away from my budget choice. (I am trying to save money here, but my better half is talking me into buying the good stuff...so, why not?) 

I got a good deal on a set of Nankang tyres from some place in Sydney. These SP9 tyres seem to have a reasonable rating, although it appears their biggest complaint is that they are not durable and give up the ghost after around 20k. (And 20k of driving in this truck would probably take me five years to achieve) So, durability wasn't the main issue.

I guess a lot of it came down to brand snobbery. But I have to also confess I love the aggressive tread pattern on the B.F. Goodrich Radial TA's. And, of course, I love the white raised lettering. Just so old school muscle car style!

The other factor is getting them shipped to my address. Add an extra hundred bucks to the Nankangs and then pay for someone to fit and balance them and the advantages of saving money start to even up. Bob Jane T-Marts were my choice of supplier again when it came to tyres. So, I shook all the last coins from my green St George Dragon piggy bank and bought four new B.F. Goodrich tyres. Oh well, it's only money, and we can eat baked beans for a month. Once I decided on the tyres, the next natural progression is to what wheel lug nut do I use? I have the old Cragars sold off to a guy who is picking them up next week with luck, and I am giving him the wheel nuts with the sale. In any case, they didn't seem like a suitable choice for the new wheels as they were pretty scabby. Why buy new wheels and use old wheel nuts? Exactly. I have gone this fricken far. Might as well bite the bullet and buy new. 

So a quick look online convinced me nobody knows what they are talking about! Most shops are recommending the acorn style lug nut with the tapered thread. Here is a picture of the mag wheel.

Now, correct me if I am wrong, but how could a tapered thread work in a hole that is not tapered? 

Do a Booger search and you will see what I mean. 

Here is a picture of the front Cragars. Notice they appear to have the same style as the Torq Thrusts?

And yet, when I took a wheel nut off there it was the acorn style? so what gives?

These studs are what came off the Cragars. Now, the rear one's are a weird unilug thing, so I have no idea about them. I can tell you they were absolute BASTARDS to get off and they did not feel good on the stud. I can't wait to get rid of these wheels. 

Top one from the rear unilugs that has a special washer that accompanies it.  The bottom one came from the wheel above. it has a slight taper on the end, but has that big tapered section that mates with the wheel. How can that create a good fit?

From the instruction sheet that came with the wheels, I found this information.

Which seems to tell me that the acorn style is NOT the right lug nut. I would assume my wheels are the shank style? No? If I put acorn nuts on this wheel wouldn't it compromise the tightness of the stud against the wheel? 

I am thinking this is the set I need? 

4/1/24

Well I spoke with a representative from American Racing wheels and was told to use the conical wheel nuts. In fact, they use them in all instances. I asked about the extended nuts and was told they were not necessary. So, there you have it.