NHS Lug Bolts

I stumbled onto some free tires and wheels for one of my lawn tractors. They have agricultural lug tread which is not good for mowing lawns, but good for a keeping walking paths in my woods clear. It will be nice to be able to quickly swap between turf tires and lugged tires. I got these because they were damaged. (That is how I get most of my stuff) Rather that try to repair the wheels, I made new lug bolts to secure these wheels.

Attachment 45430
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Yard tractor lug bolts are typically 7/16-20 with small 5/8 hex heads.(or some metric size) The holes in the wheels are damaged. They may have been for 1/2” lugs to begin, but they are larger now and not round. It appears they have been run loose which has enlarged the holes so much the tapered bolts contact the hub before tightening against the wheel

These custom lug bolt adapters are Not for Highway Service (NHS). Cone or tapered seat lug nuts are most commonly at a 30˚, 60˚ included. Some applications use a 45˚, 90˚included angle. *

I choose 45˚ for these adapters since the original holes are not tapered properly anymore and the 45˚ angle presents a wider surface to hold the damaged holes in place.

I had some 7/8” hex bar stock remaining from a previous project.

Attachment 45431
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Procedure I used;

Chuck full length stock, extend as required.
1) Drill 25/64, 5/8 deep
2) Cut Taper 45˚
3) Tap 7/16-20 to depth
4) Cut off 1/2+ length (complete to this step for number required) I just use my portable-bandsaw.
Chuck tool to hold small threaded parts.
5) Face and chamfer front side of all
6) Trim tapered side to final length.
7) Clean cutting oil residue from adapters and bolts with Acetone
8) Assemble bolts and adapters with Red Loc-Tite