Lug nut issue with 19" wheels. GT2 trim AWD equipped with mag seat with washer lug nuts

[DeckardB26354]

I'm pretty knowledgeable about cars but very new to the stinger. The car came with Kia OEM wheel locks (UM080-WPL01) for 18 inch wheels. The wheel locks installed are taper seat style. My 19" wheels are equipped with mag seat with washer style lug nuts. I pull wheel locks and reinstall lug nuts. I check the internet and OEM part #J5F44 AU000 shows to be correct for my car, they are taper seat as well. The wheels appear to be hub-centric. End up taking wheel locks back to Kia dealer to sort out. They basically offer to install OEM part #J5F44 AU000 for 19" inch wheels on my car. inform them they are the wrong style for my wheel set. Told "we can only install what Kia tells us to". Started talking safety and liability they quickly found the service manager. After a long discussion I think he understood you should not remove a mag seat lug nut and install a taper seat in its place. I had brought pictures to them to show them what I was working with. They made copies of the pics and told me they were starting an inquiry and I should have an answer in about a week. So happy with that. If need be I can sort out a wheel lock that will fit if Kia is unable to resolve. I am however worried that all over the internet it only shows taper seat wheel locks for the stingers 18" and 19" wheel sets when there are lug nuts installed on some wheel sets that are mag style and not compatiable.

So I say all that to ask this question. Is the Kia 19" wheel coming with either the taper lug nuts or the mag seat lugnuts? I looked all over the internet and could only find 19" wheels like mine that were set up for taper seat lug nuts. Is the AWD set up different from the RWD setup?

Factory lugnut and installed wheel lock. You can see the ring left on the wheel lock where it was contacting the edge of the bore. Wheels do not appear to have been damaged. All wheel locks were well below their torque value.


Wheel lugnut pocket.


Wheels appear to be hub centric.

Factory wheel set for reference.

 

[ThunderBoy724]

I purchased a set of used 19" Stinger wheels to use for winter tires. They came from a 2018 Stinger and they look exactly the same as my wheels from my 2020 model. They came with lug nuts but I figured I'd save myself some time when changing the winter set and just use the nuts that were on my car. I put the wheels on and when I went to put the centre cap back on it didn't fit. I discovered that the older wheels had the acorn style nuts and the wheels were made with holes to fit them and my new wheels have the washer style nut and are about twice as long. So when I put the older wheel on with the newer nuts they stick out about a half inch and the cap can't fit because it mounts to the centre hole in the wheel.

It seems that Kia made a change to the wheels at some point from the acorn style to the washer style nut. Maybe this is why there are two different types of lock nut sets available from the dealer?

Anyways it was lucky for me that I had the older nuts but I didn't discover the problem until I put all four wheels on and I had to change all the bolts to the older ones.

 

[DeckardB26354]

I purchased a set of used 19" Stinger wheels to use for winter tires. They came from a 2018 Stinger and they look exactly the same as my wheels from my 2020 model. They came with lug nuts but I figured I'd save myself some time when changing the winter set and just use the nuts that were on my car. I put the wheels on and when I went to put the centre cap back on it didn't fit. I discovered that the older wheels had the acorn style nuts and the wheels were made with holes to fit them and my new wheels have the washer style nut and are about twice as long. So when I put the older wheel on with the newer nuts they stick out about a half inch and the cap can't fit because it mounts to the centre hole in the wheel.

It seems that Kia made a change to the wheels at some point from the acorn style to the washer style nut. Maybe this is why there are two different types of lock nut sets available from the dealer?

Anyways it was lucky for me that I had the older nuts but I didn't discover the problem until I put all four wheels on and I had to change all the bolts to the older ones.

Thanks for the detailed response it helps me a lot. From what I can find on line it looks like 2018 was acorns and 2019-2020 were mag shank, same as you noted.
When I looked on line one lock set is for 18" wheels and one is for 19" wheels and both appear to be acorn style. Both show to fit 2018 thru 2020. I went to the Kia dealer where I purchased the car. Showed them pictures, they agree these do not fit. They open up a ticket to I guess Kia corporate. Check back later and am told that Kia says it is correct part for my car. Service department person knows that it is not correct. At this point I'm going to contact Kia corporate myself. Wondering how many Stingers have the incorrect OEM wheel locks mounted on their cars?

• Manufacturer Part Numbers: UM080-WPL01 (18" Factory Wheels) | J5F44-AU000 (19" Factory Wheels)

 

[MerlintheMad]

So, help me understand. I have the wheel lock set and have never used it. Don't know anything more than that it is a wheel lock set. I've assumed that the locks work this way: you remove one of the lug nuts and replace it with the wheel lock nut; thus making it impossible (or at least very difficult) to steal your wheel. Are you saying that there are two types of wheel lock nuts? And two sets of lug nuts now? If so, how can a set be wrong for a later model year and still work at all? Wouldn't the wheel work loose and fail?

(when I got my TSW wheels, the shop said they found out that the OEM lug nuts would not match with the TSW and had to get lug nuts that would match the TSW; I never did pursue this esoteric lore further; but this thread could be a start)

 

[DeckardB26354]

So, help me understand. I have the wheel lock set and have never used it. Don't know anything more than that it is a wheel lock set. I've assumed that the locks work this way: you remove one of the lug nuts and replace it with the wheel lock nut; thus making it impossible (or at least very difficult) to steal your wheel. Are you saying that there are two types of wheel lock nuts? And two sets of lug nuts now? If so, how can a set be wrong for a later model year and still work at all? Wouldn't the wheel work loose and fail?

(when I got my TSW wheels, the shop said they found out that the OEM lug nuts would not match with the TSW and had to get lug nuts that would match the TSW; I never did pursue this esoteric lore further; but this thread could be a start)

It appears that 2018 19" wheels were set up to run acorn/taper lug nuts. 2019 or 2020 they went to mag shank with washer style lug nuts. You are correct you remove one lug nut from each wheel and install a wheel lock. Depending on the lugnut style you have your wheel lock should match it. In my case the tapered wheel lock screwed in until it made contact with the edge of the bore of the wheel. If you look at the tapered wheel lock above (the one on the right), look closely at the shiny band on the taper. That was all that was contacting the wheel itself. If you have TSW's you are probably using acorn/taper style. Will the wheel work loose if you loose one lugnut/wheel lock? Probably not but the improper wheel lock will most likely loosen up rendering that that stud/nut useless. This will cause you to loose 20% of your clamping force between the wheel and the hub.
Hope this helps explain it.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Hope this helps explain it.

Thanks. Why, do you suppose, did Kia change the lug nut style at all? Isn't that just asking for added complexity and possible failure through mistaking the lug nuts and causing a wheel attachment failure? Kia is asking for a lawsuit!

 

[DeckardB26354]

Thanks. Why, do you suppose, did Kia change the lug nut style at all? Isn't that just asking for added complexity and possible failure through mistaking the lug nuts and causing a wheel attachment failure? Kia is asking for a lawsuit!

At this point I do not know exactly what was done across model years and different models. Small changes like this are not uncommon from year to year. From what ThunderBoy724 posted above the 19" wheel set from the 2018 was acorn style and his 2020 wheel set is mag shank like my 2020. I pulled and checked my spare tire and it is mag shank as well.
I am not putting the L-word out in any of this. I did open a case with Kia detailing what I am seeing from a customer prespective and that I feel it is a potential safety issue that could be wide spread. I do not work in automotive, I work on large turbo-machinery and have a pretty deep background in bolting, tensile strengh, torque values, bolt stretch and flange clamping forces. So I have a pretty good understanding of this type of stuff.
Funny thing here is that I absolutely love the car. It's my wifes and I've threatened to trade my mustang GT in for a black one to go in the garage next to hers. Just a little frustrated at spending several hours reasearching all this and a couple of trips to the dealer. Then having to open a ticket with corporate and I still do not have resolution.

 

[Luc]

I've threatened to trade my mustang GT in for a black one to go in the garage

 

[DeckardB26354]

View attachment 51683

I couldn't stand to part with my mustang we've cleared out so many sidewalks together.

 

[ThunderBoy724]

Deckard, have you gotten the correct style of lock nut for your car? Or are you still waiting for the dealer/Kia to figure this out?

 

[SoCalSHO]

Oh, the locking lugs only stop your neighbor from stealing your wheels., and you from unlocking them. You have to store the key in your car, in case you get a flat. They are just a minor annoyance to real thieves. They are like luggage locks, keeps honest people honest.

 

[DeckardB26354]

Deckard, have you gotten the correct style of lock nut for your car? Or are you still waiting for the dealer/Kia to figure this out?

So dead end at the dealer at this point. They sent an inquiry up the ladder and were told it is the correct part for my 2020 Stinger. They were helpful in giving me further direction on this. I have filed an inquiry with Kia at a higher level Friday. So I have that process started. As far as the correct style no but have fround some Gorilla and McGard locks that should work, just need to pull a lugnut and measure it up.
Thing is I do not care about the wheel locks. Wheel theft for me is a very remote possibility, car is garage kept and rarely parked anywhere outside at night. Do not really care if they refund me the money for the locks (they were dealer installed). It is just about bringing to light what I see as a potential problem on a number of Stingers out there.

 

[DeckardB26354]

Oh, the locking lugs only stop your neighbor from stealing your wheels., and you from unlocking them. You have to store the key in your car, in case you get a flat. They are just a minor annoyance to real thieves. They are like luggage locks, keeps honest people honest.

Not really sure what this has to do with an incorrect part installed on my car. My neighbors are actually all retired cops so I'm pretty safe there I think. Yes I hear about people losing the key from time to time. I recommend that folks puchase a second key for this reason. "Minor annoyance to real thieves", I do not agree with that, a proper set of locks in a recessed pocket can be very difficult to deal with. A lot of this crap on Youtube is just that. Beating a socket on over a wheel lock that looks to be torqued to 30 foot pounds, yes it will come off every time. Nothing is impossible to defeat but with the proper set up it becomes diffucult enough that they will most likely look for an easier target.

 

[celwin]

Hmmn. for what it's worth, my 2019 GT came with acorn stype lug nuts on 19" wheels.

 

[Morridin19]

I recently did a swap for winter tires / rims and when the tire shop removed my summer rims they were very adamant that the dealer supplied locking lug nuts were the wrong type and could either damage the wheels or come off as there isnt enough contact between the wheels and the nuts to properly stay torqued.

Locking Nut vs Other nuts:

And the wheel for reference

Edit: Sent an e-mail to the dealership and they are investigating.

Also my stinger is a 2020 with 19" wheels.

 

[celwin]

So it appears the 2020 model year is when they changed to mag type nuts.

 

[DeckardB26354]

So it appears the 2020 model year is when they changed to mag type nuts.

Thanks, that's another piece of the puzzle.

 

[DeckardB26354]

I recently did a swap for winter tires / rims and when the tire shop removed my summer rims they were very adamant that the dealer supplied locking lug nuts were the wrong type and could either damage the wheels or come off as there isnt enough contact between the wheels and the nuts to properly stay torqued.

Locking Nut vs Other nuts:
View attachment 51764
And the wheel for referenceView attachment 51765

Edit: Sent an e-mail to the dealership and they are investigating.

Also my stinger is a 2020 with 19" wheels.

Thanks, good info. Curious to see what they have to say.

 

[NIU_Huskies]

What aftermarket locking lug nuts have people bought for their 2019 GT2?

 

[98mystique2]

My 2020 GT1 RWD 19" staggered with an 09/19 build date has mag as well