KNOCK IT OFF – WHEEL GOING NUTS

Alright, all puns aside, the number of different variations of wheel nuts at RPM is astounding. Here are some examples and some more interesting facts about them. Firstly, Ferrari wheels employ singular nuts to fasten each wheel to each axle or hub. So, in your road car, you have generally 4 or 5 lug bolts or lug nuts that hold each wheel on – trucks have more. Ferraris more than any other make, use large racing style wheel nuts, quite similar to those in use on racetracks all over the world, even here in the US in Nascar. Many other Italian cars and some English cars used this method of fastening as well.

The big difference between the wheel nuts on current race cars and on vintage Ferraris? The method of removal. The current race cars use a large diameter socket, while the vintage cars have 2 or 3 ears extending off the nut. The method of removal is repeated smashing of these tabs by the standard equipment lead hammer found in every Ferrari – it isn’t just for fending off would-be attackers. The lead hammer packs a punch, and the softness of the lead won’t mar the finish of the nuts, just watch out for your fenders on the back swing. At RPM wheels are removed frequenly enough to destroy these hammers, so we have a mold to recast the hammer head.

On to the nuts themselves. The word “smontare” seems to be on nearly every nut. It’s meaning? In Italian, smontare means to dismantle, or slang to “knock-off” which makes great sense, that is how the nuts became known as “knock-offs.

One pictured knock-off has the word “destro” cast into it. The meaning is “right” – it holds a wheel on the right-hand side of the car on. The opposite is “sinistro” of which we have none pictured. The reason for having right and left nuts is because they are self-tightening. You can literally spin a knock-off on gently, go for a drive, and it will be tight enough to require the lead hammer for removal when you return. Not bad.

Check out the gallery below, click to enlarge images.