Most people upgrade and modify their wheels and lug nuts purely for aesthetics. Simply put, color matching will essentially improve your design’s visual appeal. Properly matching the lug nuts’ colors would make your wheels look fashionable and beautiful. They are also a great way to get a little more performance improvement in your car. Stronger lug nuts can withstand more stress, meaning better durability and higher safety. Lighter lug nuts often mean better fuel economy and acceleration.
In short, aftermarket wheel lug nuts can be used for both better appearance and performance. It’s just a matter of knowing what you want out of your build when you go to buy new lug nuts. When it comes to choosing the right lug nuts for your wheels, the options may be overwhelming. At this point, let’s focus on the material first.
Steel Lug Nuts
By far, steel lug nuts are one of the most common-used components in the automotive world. They are oftentimes stronger and more durable. The heat treatment maximizes the strength which makes them highly resistant to wear and damage. Although steel lug nuts are a bit heavy, they can offer more resistance to impact cracks. Therefore, they can withstand worse weather and driving styles. Steel lug nuts are just designed for usefulness rather than fashion.
The Dacromet-coating lug nuts are considered to be one of the best corrosion-resistance bolts. This type of coating gives salt spray resistances exceeding 500 hours, which makes it ideal for fasteners in the automobile industry. Most importantly, Dacromet coating does not induce Hydrogen Embrittlement, which means that high tensile components like lug nuts can be safely coated. For most people, steel lug nuts are more suitable for daily commuting.
Titanium Lug Nuts
Titanium lug nuts are valued because of their high tensile strength to weight ratio. In simple words, for the same sizes, Titanium lug nuts are much lighter than steel ones. Many racing enthusiasts will use Titanium lug nuts for reducing the vehicle weight. Less unsprung weight makes your car faster, decreases fuel consumption, and improves engine efficiency. Besides, Titanium maintains its strength at elevated temperatures. Even at extreme temperatures up to 400 to 500°C, they maintain great performance. That’s primarily why it is used in the aerospace field.
What’s more, they feature extraordinary corrosion resistance. A thin oxide (TiO2, titania) layer spontaneously forms cover on the surface to protect them against rust or corrosion. They are considered to be one of the easiest and quickest items that bring your car to higher performance. If you’re looking for some expert advice, we’re always here to help.
