A woman is going viral on TikTok after sharing why a Ford mechanic apparently refused to rotate her car’s tires.
Jordan Wohlin (@eraofjordan) said that she recently had an appointment to change the oil in her car. During the same appointment, she said, the mechanics were also supposed to rotate her car’s tires.
Wohlin said that the mechanics could not do it, though, because Wohlin’s “lug nuts are swollen.”
“Is that real? Like, is that a real thing? My lug nuts are swollen, so I need to get new lug nuts, and then they can rotate the tires,” Wohlin said, clearly confused. “Am I being scammed? Why does my car sound like it has a medical condition?”
She posed the question again in the accompanying text overlay. “Is this real??” Wohlin asked viewers. As of Monday, her clip had amassed more than 3,192 views.
What are swollen lug nuts—and can they affect a tire rotation?
Wohlin isn’t the first driver to say that swollen lug nuts affected her ability to get her car serviced. In an online forum for truck owners, another driver claimed they had never heard the term “swollen lug nuts” until they brought their car to a dealership for an oil change and tire rotation.
This is indeed a real issue. Lug nuts are metal fasteners that attach the wheel to your car and keep it in place. If they’re swollen, it can not only prevent you from getting a tire rotation but also make it harder to change a flat fire.
According to Carparts.com, some of the most common reasons for swelling include rust, galvanic corrosion, and applying excessive force with bad impact sockets. Swollen lug nuts, it said, are more prevalent for certain car manufacturers, including Ford.
“Lug nuts are designed to last the life of the vehicle, but they can fail prematurely due to rust and swelling,” carparts.com said. “You’ll want to replace swollen or damaged lug nuts as soon as possible.”
But this is not exactly cheap. In the online forum, the user said the repair would cost them roughly $350. A redditor who said that their Ford suffered the same issue was quoted a similar amount.
According to JohnDow Industries, which offers a full line of automotive repair service products, the biggest tip for lug nut upkeep is keeping your wheels and lug nuts dry and clean (especially if you live in a place where there’s salt on the road during the winter). Should you ever need to replace yours, it said that replacement lug nuts can be purchased from other sources (besides a dealership) for cheaper. Unfortunately, the same issue can reappear even if the lug nuts are replaced.
@eraofjordan What does that even mean #car #oilchange #advice #scam #fyp #cardealership ♬ original sound – Jordan Wohlin
Viewers say that this is a relatively common problem
In the comments section of Wohlin’s video, many viewers reassured her that she wasn’t getting “scammed” by the mechanics who refused to rotate her tires before her buying new lug nuts.
“As a mechanic this does happen and you need new lug nuts, very real thing,” one viewer said.
“Yes it’s real. You’ll need to replace them,” another confirmed. “The lug nut is wrapped in a cheap metal that oxidizes and swells making it difficult to get the lug nuts off.”
“Not a scam,” a third viewer wrote. “Has to be done a lot.”
Others, meanwhile, confirmed the information on carparts.com and said that this issue is especially prevalent with Ford models. But they said that most local tire shops will help drivers put on new lug nuts.
“My kid had a 2015 fusion and had to replace them for [the] exact same reason,” one viewer shared.
“Is it a Ford? Common issue,” another added. “I replaced all of mine last year. Left me in a bad situation. I had a flat tire and the wrench in the car wouldn’t fit on the lug nuts.”
“It’s absolutely a real thing,” a third commenter wrote. “Ford products in particular. Need new luggage nuts.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Wohlin via TikTok comment and to Ford through email.
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