Leaf lug nuts loose 2020 leaf

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Cimogo

New member
Joined
Apr 5, 2022
Messages
2
I took my 2020 leaf into the shop because it was making a scraping sound on the front tires. Turns out the Lugnuts were loose on both front tires. The dealer suggested this might be a wider spread problem but was not clear. I don’t see any other forum posts about this. Have you had this experience?
 
I've not had that problem. I would recommend that you ensure that the nuts are tightened with a torque wrench, to the exact torque specified in the owners manual, and before doing so make sure the threads are not contaminated with any kind of lubricant or other material. Wheel lugs are meant to be torqued "dry". If there is oil, you will need to clean the threads on the nuts and studs.

I would then recheck the torque after driving and again periodically until you're satisfied the problem is not recurring.

Press the dealer for more information on why they think this is a wider problem, and make sure there are no TSBs on the matter. You may also wish to report the matter to the NHTSA, and I would absolutely do so if the problem returns after having carefully torqued the nuts.
 
I didn't have that problem on my 2018 and never heard about it from other EV owners.

However, when I went to pick up my car new from the dealer, and he was showing me the ins and outs of it, we noticed one of the windshield wipers pop off the arm when the wipers were turned ON. Luckily the windshield didn't get scratched while the wipers moved. He easily fixed the problem. I've never heard anyone else have this type of problem, so I guessed it was a fluke.
 
henrydehoja said:
I didn't have that problem on my 2018 and never heard about it from other EV owners.

However, when I went to pick up my car new from the dealer, and he was showing me the ins and outs of it, we noticed one of the windshield wipers pop off the arm when the wipers were turned ON. Luckily the windshield didn't get scratched while the wipers moved. He easily fixed the problem. I've never heard anyone else have this type of problem, so I guessed it was a fluke.
Well, glad he didn't leave you floundering.
 
Six weeks after the last service, The problem returned. Initially service center said it was a torque issue. When I started getting frustrated because I was just there six weeks ago, I ended up speaking to the service manager. After looking at it with the technician he told me it was actually a brake issue and they lubricated both brakes. Then he re-tighten the Lugnuts to 105 torque. As best I can tell the manual recommends 83.

Is my car a lemon? Are 2020 Leafs lemons? Is my service center incompetent?
 
If you're curious as to why your lug nuts might loosen, it seems like the two biggies would be:

1) A force applied opposite to the direction of tightening. When you want to take off a lug nut you turn it in the opposite direction (counter-clockwise) from the direction used to tighten it (clockwise). Is there a way that force could happen to a moving car? Maybe with supercar-level braking performance you might imagine a scenario where the lug nuts could loosen slightly, but even if that were possible it wouldn't affect both front tires (i.e., the front right lug nuts would be tightened).

2) Vibration - why is there a specified torque rating for lug nuts? If you want to find out, put your lug nuts on hand tight, drive it around for a few days, and see what happens. Note: if it's not obvious, please don't do that.

All the vibration associated with driving (road imperfections, slightly out of balance wheels, suspension slightly out of alignment, etc) can act to loosen up the lug nuts over time. Presumably the manufacturers have tested this sort of thing out over the past 120 years and that's how we ended up with some general specifications for wheel lug nut torque (e.g., most small cars are approx 85 ft-lbs) that should be tight enough to resist loosening from common vibration over the time span that the wheels are on the car (because you're regularly rotating your tires, right?).

So, did your car have some sort of weird vibration? You said they lubricated the front brakes, so maybe a front caliper issue was causing abnormal vibration. I would ask them why they think the front brakes were related to the lug nut issue.

The roads where I live are horrible. Often the best you can do is pick which small pothole you're willing to hit to avoid the really big ones. When I swap back and forth between my all season and winter tires and wheels I torque the lug nuts. Then a week later I recheck, and usually do it again a few weeks later. That's just common sense in my mind. Even a low maintenance car like a Leaf requires regular basic safety-based inspection and maintenance of items like the tires/wheels, windshield wipers/washer fluid, etc. That's part of the process of owning and operating a car. My wife drives the Leaf and I won't send her out in a car that I'm not 100% confident about.

If you're concerned about recurring lug nut issues it's not much effort to check them. If you don't want to do that and you're worried about it then sell it off. You'll never get a better price than right now.
 
Maybe, the lug nut seat in not appropriate to the wheel. A conical nut on a ball seat or vice versa would be a problem.

https://www.drivingline.com/articles/lug-nuts-which-one-is-right-for-you/
 
If you're buying new wheels they should indicate what type of lug nut they require. Not all nuts are the same so be sure to get something compatible. But as mentioned.....try the original lug nuts first since they may work finem but it depends on whether the seating surfaces of the new wheels is the same style and depth as the old wheels.
 
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