[KEVINS]

My street wheels use short tapered lug nuts while my drag wheels are Drag Stars that use long shank lug nuts.
I will be installing longer studs to accommodate the longer shank nuts so I'm thinking of machining my own longer nuts with a tapered seat for the street wheels to hide the long threads. Since I don't want them to rust can I use 304 or 316 SST for the nuts?
I'm not sure if regular nuts are any hardened steel but I want the stainless nuts to be as durable/strong.

Thoughts?
KS

 

[eschaider]

304 stainless tensile strength is between 75,000 psi and 90,000 psi, Kevin. The ARP 8740 steel used in their 12-point fasteners is 170,000 psi. 304 stainless tends to be ductile, whereas 8740 tends to be tough. I would not use 304/316 or other typical stainless alloys for critical fasteners like wheel lug nuts.

If I wanted a stainless that was the strength equivalent of 8740 I would use 17-4 PH stainless. 17-4 PH does not rust, has a high tensile strength that compares very favorably with 8740 and it is possible to polish it to a brilliant shine. It is one tough stainless steel! A common use for it is in highly stressed components for nuclear reactors. It is also used by Kirkham Brothers in the production of their high-end 427 Cobra Replicas.

This is a pic of an IRS rear stub axle Kirkaham makes for those high-end Cobra Replicas;

This stub axle is made from 17-4 PH. The golden coloring is because it has been heat treated to the H900 condition. H900 is the highest strength condition 17-4 PH can achieve. It produces an ultimate tensile strength of 200,000 psi with a yield strength of 180,000 psi. For comparison, ARP 8740 is rated at an ultimate tensile strength of 190,000 psi with a yield strength of 170,000 psi. If you are doing lug nuts for your wheels and want stainless, I would absolutely use 17-4 PH heat treated to the H900 condition.

 

[KEVINS]

I was afraid you were going to say 17-4.. I was hoping I could get it from Mcmaster but they don't stock it in hex form which would have made it a bit easier.. This will give me something to do this spring...

Looking at lug nuts on the internet and, oh my, there is a lot of garbage out there...

ks

 

[eschaider]

The ones that I could not possibly consider are the aluminum variety. It is tantamount to asking for a whoops.

There are a number of Stainless suppliers, Kevin. These guys have 17-4 available in a wide range of hex sizes, click here => Stainless Steel 17-4PH Bar Stock (AMS 5643 / AMS 5622) - Aircraft Materials

 

[KEVINS]

The ones that I could not possibly consider are the aluminum variety. It is tantamount to asking for a whoops.

There are a number of Stainless suppliers, Kevin. These guys have 17-4 available in a wide range of hex sizes, click here => Stainless Steel 17-4PH Bar Stock (AMS 5643 / AMS 5622) - Aircraft Materials

Yea, those aluminum ones are an accident waiting to happen.

Excellent, Link!! Hopefully over my New Years vacation I can take some measurements and model things up to see what I need to do in order to get it all to fit and look decent..
Crap, I think they are in the UK...


ks

 

[eschaider]

Try these guys, Kevin. It looks like they are domestic and might actually make the custom nuts for you based on their web page commentary. Click here => https://prashaantsteel.com/stainless-steel-17-4ph-fasteners-manufacturers/#product-specification

 

[KEVINS]

Try these guys, Kevin. It looks like they are domestic and might actually make the custom nuts for you based on their web page commentary. Click here => https://prashaantsteel.com/stainless-steel-17-4ph-fasteners-manufacturers/#product-specification

haa... Bud, what else do you have in that paper bag of yours?

ks

 

[eschaider]

 

[eschaider]

Kevin,

It turns out I missed the fact that Prashant steel is outside the US. Turns out they are in Mumbai, India. That said, they still offer a manufacturing capability that even outside India could be attractive. I've made several parts out of 17-4 PH, and it is at best difficult to machine so putting the machining onto someone who is set up for it will make the fabrication part of the process much more attractive for you.

If you want to keep the sourcing domestic, there is another source of 17-4 PH hex rods in Texas. The name of the firm is Best Stainless and Alloys. They do sell hex 17-4 PH, but it does not appear that they do any fabrication with it, so that falls back on you. The link to their site is => https://www.beststainless.com/17-4-ph-stainless-steel.html