# what are the lugs & nuts made of on a Model 3 ?



## WhenCanNAgetCCSAdaptor? (Oct 4, 2020)

Hi there, 

I just put winter tires on my model 3. I have separate winter rims, so just a matter of swapping them. With other cars, they tend to rust a bit and be partially seized after a season, so I put some silicon grease on the lugs themselve, and on the contact patch where the rim presses against the hub (carefully avoiding overspray onto the brakes.) It's an anti-corrosion thing. When I took off the Tesla's summer wheels... it was very surprising how pristine they were. Not a trace of rust at all. The lugs looked like either they were galvanized (but even galvanized usually has rust spot/specks or something. It was way too ... perfect. Perhaps an aluminum with a thick oxidation layer. I put the grease on the first wheel, and then thought... figured it isn't necessary, since they are all pristine. I guess the other reason is I'm not drivin much with covid. but anyways.... is it possible the lug nuts are Aluminum?


----------



## TomT (Apr 1, 2019)

No, a magnet test shows they are steel.



WhenCanNAgetCCSAdaptor? said:


> is it possible the lug nuts are Aluminum?


----------



## WhenCanNAgetCCSAdaptor? (Oct 4, 2020)

OK it must be really good galvanization then... I've never had a car where that stuff was galvanized. Over 30 years of putting winter tires on my cars: vw, volvo, Honda, Acura, subaru... none of them had galvanized lugs, and they all had rust issues every season. I remember, after trying to shock it free with a rubber mallet, having to use a prybar one spring to get winter rim of one of my wheels on the Volvo once, I think I ended up warping the rim (very slightly.) very disconcerting. This is quite the step up in quality.


----------

