Rockwell axle wheel studs and lugnuts?

[40grit]

Is there a valid reason why the duece axles have right hand thread nuts and studs on one side and left hand thread nuts and studs on the other? I tried searching but haven't found anything...I'm looking at switching to all right hand studs and nuts for common sense....and ease of use..

 

[Gatnom]

It was common practice by some passenger vehicle manufacturer's as well up until the 70's, (chrysler in particular). I always thought it had to do with the direction of forward rotation and the fact that the lug nuts on both sides would tend to work tighter rather than work loose during driving. If that was the reason, they must have decided it was a non-issue. I can see no reason not to make the switch, but I've been dealing with them since i could first turn a lug wrench so am not so bothered by it. Now what really ticks you off is when you first get your duece and have to figure out that some idiot at motor T swapped two hubs side for side diagonally! What were they thinking!!!!!! Dave

 

[cranetruck]

I agree with Dave.
Just think of it as the right side is "right".
Swapping the studs could be a disaster if some one else worked on them with a heavy duty impact, like in a tire shop and tried to start the nuts the wrong way. Also, if you just routinley check for tightness with your lug wrench (which I do every so often during a trip) and forget, the lugnuts may actually be loosened by mistake.

I wouldn't change anything.

 

[Stretch44875]

Got to love left hand threads. Looked at my truck and saw them, but did I think of that when I tried to change a tire? No..... I had some REALLY tight lugnuts when I realized I was going the wrong direction. Managed to break a 3/4 breaker bar getting them back loose. I have swapped hubs on my 46 willys, since I am the dummy that put the hub on the wrong side, I tend to remember where the left hand threads are.

Dennis

 

[Recovry4x4]

I would love to switch all mine to leftys. Not for any other reason but to irritate the next guy that gets the trucks.

 

[ken]

My dad has been a truck driver for as long as i can rember. Helping him as a kid i rember the lefties. And i know most big trucks still have them to this day. Why? Who knows . Mabye because that's the way they have always done it.

 

[spicergear]

Yeah...I had to change out a couple of tires from one side to the other and bring a new one into the group. My impact wrench is garbage I tried with what usually works (a 3/4" breaker with a 6' long pipe) and nothing. Went to a buddy's place tried his gun. Then he knew some people at a local truck shop so we drove it down there and hooked up some mega impact that if it were any bigger would be stand mounted. Now, my pipe moved the nut just a blonde hair, his big impact moved it a little more, the mega gun moved it like a 1/4" rotation. Now, a deuce in a truck shop of old mechanics tends to bring a crowd. They're all telling me to use heat and all this other advice when some young kid walks by and says, "some of them older rigs were left and thread." The shop fell to silence as the click of the 'reverse' on the impact gun seemed to echo. My buddy, also a state trooper, pulls the trigger. ZING! the nut danced around on the floor and finally took off out past the front of the truck. He and I just put our heads down in shame as the whole shop erupted in laughter. Lesson learned.

 

[rdixiemiller]

The old sports cars with knock off hubs used left and right hand threads. We were towing in an MG Midget one time, 10 miles and we lost a front wheel (we were towing it backwards).

 

[Desert Rat]

Y'all got it right. Back when I was a wee youngin' my granpa told me of the days before the manufacturers figured out right and left hand threads on wheels and tires. He remembers when he used oil based house paint as a thread locker on the woods trucks in northern Maine to help keep the nuts on the studs and the wheels on the trucks. Even at 25 mph there was enough torque to force loose the nuts on those rutty roads. He had continual employment because he could keep the nuts on the trucks the longest of anyone. Thus fewer stops and down-time, thus more profitable trucks, thus more trucks to work on, thus the nice house in Chuliotta, FL as payment due to lack of cash. The right and left threads prevent the nuts from unbolting from the studs especially at high speeds due to the high torque levels generated with today's vehicles.

 

[Djfreema]

This is a little off topic but I could'nt find an answer using the search. I need to replace a broken wheel stud on the pass side front wheel. Anybody have any tips or tricks? I've replaced wheel studs before but on cars and light trucks. I'm sure its the same basic process but if you've got any pointers I'd appreciate them.

 

[40grit]

big manual press is what I used, they pressed out easy...did that the flip the hubs from in to out...

 

[Polverone]

Djfreema mentioned this to me whilst looking over Kevins truck last week.
Did a search and came up with this thread.

So to my understanding, since I have to do the axle seal fix, the lug nuts are as follows:
Right side of the truck is "right" or normal like our cars ie; clockwise - tighten, counterclockwise - loosen.
Left side is, well "wrong" for lack of a better word; clockwise - loosen, counterclockwise - tighten.

Especially since the seal I need to replace is on the - "left, wrong, backwards" side?

 

[Dieselsmoke]

I'd leave them left handed, most tire shops if you take the truck to them will expect them to be. Pretty much standard on anything bigger than a 1 ton even today. Our F650's all the way up to our Kenworths have them.
Besides, for studs, inner and outer lug nuts your probably looking at $100 plus all the labor. If you can't remember have a stencil made up and mark it by the tire pressure stencil

 

[jatonka]

BUDD wheels

Since approximately 1930, Budd wheels have been left thread on the left and right thread on the right. I don't profess to understand it, it is the way it id. Deuce wheels are Budd wheels,left is left and right is right. Why change what works? JT

 

[Trango]

Linseed oil for thread locker

Linseed is an old wrench trick in many circles for a thread "gummer"... doesn't REALLY lock the threads like Locktite, but when it dries, it does a pretty good job of keeping the threads locked.

 

[bigford]

Don't know about all of them but my 5 tons have an L and R stamped on the end of the stud.