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I'm looking for some help identifying the Lug Nuts that came with the wheels I recently ordered and had installed on my car. The purpose of identifying them is to be able to go get the proper tool(s) to be able to remove them in the event of a flat.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to go pick up said tool(s) at a local Auto shop or if I'll have to order them specifically from somewhere. Hopefully the picture below will be sufficient to identify them. The wheels are Motegi MR119 ordered from TireRack.

Motegi MR119 Lugs

Edit: As per a comment below, I counted 8 "valleys" which I believe would make 9 "teeth" on them.

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  • Those are "spline" style lugs. There are a few different kinds, and counting the number of "teeth" will help to narrow it down for you.
    – JPhi1618
    May 26 '16 at 12:43
  • @JPhi1618 I count 8 "valleys" which would make 9 "teeth" I believe. Is this some kind of standard that I could find the proper tools for?
    – Jfabs
    May 26 '16 at 14:02
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These would appear to be "McGard 8-spline" lugs. I don't have direct experience with them, but they appear to come in two sizes:

enter image description here

Image from BrandSport Auto Accessories. Never used them, but they had a good diagram.

These lugs are commonly called "spline" or "tuner" lugs. They are sold to look sporty (because they are different and cool), provide better torque without damage, and for additional security.

If you have a specialty car shop that sells custom wheels and accessories they might stock something like this, but I'm not sure you would find it at a national parts store. Of course now that you know what it's called you can figure it out.

I also think that Tire Rack sells these... I was going to get them on some wheels I bought and I really thought I saw an option to buy the tool, but that was years ago.

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  • None of my local part stores (AutoZone, O'Reily, CarQuest, NAPA) sell special lug nut patterns. Most tire shops will have the right tools, but may risk scraping against the wheel if they can't get the proper clearance. I ended up having to go to the dealer as mine were OEM Nissan lugs, who removed them free of charge.
    – MooseLucifer
    May 29 '16 at 21:50
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Perhaps I'm not understanding, but if you had the wheels "installed" then the person/shop that did that must have used some sort of tool, and if you paid for the lugnuts they should have given you this tool as it usually comes with a kit.

Are you sure it's not in the glovebox? That's where I always threw the special socket when I did these kinds of installs. But sometimes you forget to tell the customer.

They do very little for security, as you can easily hammer on a cheap 3/4" socket for thieving purposes. That's how I get them off when the customer has lost the special tool.

So, if you like the way they look with your wheels (nice, BTW) get the tool, but you might consider a hexagonal alternative, perhaps anozized in black, chromed, or whatever you like. These will cause far less maintenance headaches in the future.

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  • I'm fairly certain the tool you're talking about was provided by TireRack but I didn't see it when I picked up my car after having them installed. The shop had put all the lugs from my factory wheels in a bag so I assumed they would have put them in there. I'll have another look in that bag and I'll check out my glovebox but I'm not hopeful. Worse comes to worse I'll just order the tool from TireRack since they already provided it once.
    – Jfabs
    Jun 1 '16 at 15:06

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