Kelly Looper Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 I found only one older post on this forum with the topic of left hand threads on some rear HD truck axle lug nuts. However, my inquiry is this, along with the 1 post here on B N E I have also seen several post on different Facebook Bullnose groups that have brought up this subject, and every post that I've seen refers to the left handed lugs being on the left side or drivers side, well mine are not, they are on the right rear or passenger side. I first became aware of this issue when I first bought my truck about four or five years ago while I was at Discount Tire having new tires installed, as the young man started to remove my right/passenger side rear tire I was standing right there watching him & the lug nut was not loosening with the impact, thank goodness he did not twist it off & within a couple of seconds and older man came running over to him yelling "STOP YOUR GOING TO BREAK THEM OFF", he told the young man to put his impact in forward because a lot of the older Ford and Dodge's used left-handed threads on the RIGHT rear axle, so the young man proceeded to do as he was instructed and the lug nuts came right off. So If My truck has them on the right or passenger side why do all the posts I see referring to this subject say that they are finding them on the left or driver side? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 I'll copy/paste my reply from your previous post: I think someone swapped axles left/right at some point in time. But I'm not sure that the axles are the same length, so that may not be possible and I may be all wet. From everything I've read the left-handed lug nuts were always used on the left side of the vehicle, and the theory was that hard braking would tend to tighten the nut. Chrysler used left-handed lugs on many, if not all, of their vehicles at least as late as '69, and Ford did on some of the trucks into the early 80's. You can buy replacement lugs, and I think there's enough room behind the axle to drive the lugs out and replace them. However, that may be very difficult on your truck as I think it is a lot of work to get the brake drum off on your truck. So I'd just wait to do that until brake job time when you are going to be in there anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 I'll copy/paste my reply from your previous post: I think someone swapped axles left/right at some point in time. But I'm not sure that the axles are the same length, so that may not be possible and I may be all wet. From everything I've read the left-handed lug nuts were always used on the left side of the vehicle, and the theory was that hard braking would tend to tighten the nut. Chrysler used left-handed lugs on many, if not all, of their vehicles at least as late as '69, and Ford did on some of the trucks into the early 80's. You can buy replacement lugs, and I think there's enough room behind the axle to drive the lugs out and replace them. However, that may be very difficult on your truck as I think it is a lot of work to get the brake drum off on your truck. So I'd just wait to do that until brake job time when you are going to be in there anyway. Gary, probably not the axles, but the hub and drum assemblies. Not an impossible scenario if they were off for previous work that involved possibly turning the drums. If someone wasn't aware of the difference, they could easily have been installed on the wrong side. I well remember the Chrysler products with wheel bolts that were right and left hand thread (also our Packard). Both of these had the optional Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Gary, probably not the axles, but the hub and drum assemblies. Not an impossible scenario if they were off for previous work that involved possibly turning the drums. If someone wasn't aware of the difference, they could easily have been installed on the wrong side. I well remember the Chrysler products with wheel bolts that were right and left hand thread (also our Packard). Both of these had the optional Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels. So the brake drums have the lugs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 So the brake drums have the lugs? Assuming this is a full-floating axle it's probably the hubs. The axle shafts will just have a relatively small dia flange on the end to bolt to the hub (the eight bolts on about a 4" circle that you don't need to remove to change a tire). I think on a Sterling axle the brake drum is just sandwiched between the wheel and the hub with the lug studs pressed into the hub flange. On a Dana axle (likely what he has) I think you have to take the hub off (by removing the wheel bearings like you do on a front axle) to get the brake drum off. So I'm not sure where the studs are mounted. I'd guess they're still pressed into the hub flange, but maybe they're also a press fit into the drum? Regardless, like Bill said, the hub / drum will be interchangeable between the left and right, so would be easy to get reversed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Assuming this is a full-floating axle it's probably the hubs. The axle shafts will just have a relatively small dia flange on the end to bolt to the hub (the eight bolts on about a 4" circle that you don't need to remove to change a tire). I think on a Sterling axle the brake drum is just sandwiched between the wheel and the hub with the lug studs pressed into the hub flange. On a Dana axle (likely what he has) I think you have to take the hub off (by removing the wheel bearings like you do on a front axle) to get the brake drum off. So I'm not sure where the studs are mounted. I'd guess they're still pressed into the hub flange, but maybe they're also a press fit into the drum? Regardless, like Bill said, the hub / drum will be interchangeable between the left and right, so would be easy to get reversed. Good to know. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Looper Posted February 17, 2023 Author Share Posted February 17, 2023 I'll copy/paste my reply from your previous post: I think someone swapped axles left/right at some point in time. But I'm not sure that the axles are the same length, so that may not be possible and I may be all wet. From everything I've read the left-handed lug nuts were always used on the left side of the vehicle, and the theory was that hard braking would tend to tighten the nut. Chrysler used left-handed lugs on many, if not all, of their vehicles at least as late as '69, and Ford did on some of the trucks into the early 80's. You can buy replacement lugs, and I think there's enough room behind the axle to drive the lugs out and replace them. However, that may be very difficult on your truck as I think it is a lot of work to get the brake drum off on your truck. So I'd just wait to do that until brake job time when you are going to be in there anyway. And the story that I heard for the reason for doing it was because they thought that the torque & pressure put on the right side of the wheel along with the forward rotation of the wheel could actually loosen the lug nuts so by reversing the threads the forward rotation would actually tighten the lugs instead of loosening them, I've heard that by several ole timers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Looper Posted February 17, 2023 Author Share Posted February 17, 2023 I'll copy/paste my reply from your previous post: I think someone swapped axles left/right at some point in time. But I'm not sure that the axles are the same length, so that may not be possible and I may be all wet. From everything I've read the left-handed lug nuts were always used on the left side of the vehicle, and the theory was that hard braking would tend to tighten the nut. Chrysler used left-handed lugs on many, if not all, of their vehicles at least as late as '69, and Ford did on some of the trucks into the early 80's. You can buy replacement lugs, and I think there's enough room behind the axle to drive the lugs out and replace them. However, that may be very difficult on your truck as I think it is a lot of work to get the brake drum off on your truck. So I'd just wait to do that until brake job time when you are going to be in there anyway. Yes it is a Dana 61 0r 62, cant remember exactly which at the moment. I actually have a Sterling 10.25 w/ 3L73 that I'm planning on swapping in at some point so I'm just letting it ride for now. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 Left lugs left side. There's another member (Alex) that has a D61 here in Connecticut that is that way. This is also true of Jeeps and other military vehicles right up into the 1980's, and older cars with knockoff hubs (like my uncle's 1966 Ferrari) for obvious reasons. I've never seen or heard of LH studs on the right side before. It makes no sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 .... I've never seen or heard of LH studs on the right side before. It makes no sense. Maybe on a dragster that accelerates harder than it brakes??? But seriously, yes, left hand threads would've only been on the left side from any factory, so if they are on the right side now they were incorrectly switched at some point. But when you look at how often wheels come off on the left side now that they all have right hand threads I don't think having left hand threads on the right side is much of a risk either (other than breaking a stud when trying to remove them...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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