Had a flat and could not get the lug nuts off to change, Was miles away from my brother-in-laws in a different city than my own, passing thru a questionable area, What should have been a 15 minute problem turned into a three and a half hour wait for a tow truck that could not get the lugs off and just the good luck of a passing good Samaritan off duty mechanic that had the tools to get them off. The next day took car the dealership to complain only to find out it is a known problem. They just don't tell anyone. Had to pay to have all the lugs on all the wheels replaced so it doesn't happen again.

I took my 2017 Ford Escape to a Ford dealer for a routine service, The Works. Dealer said you need all new lug nuts. I had never heard of Lug nuts going bad. Turns out Ford has a defective design for lug nuts on many models. Next we picked up a road hazard, a big screw in the tire. Called roadside assistance to have it fixed, the mobile repair person, couldn't get the lug nuts off, and had to go buy a special tool. We got the temporary tire on and took the flat to be repaired. The repair shop offered to put the repaired tire on, couldn't get the lug nuts off at all. Drove on the temporary tire to a Ford Dealer, who took over an hour to get the 5 lug nuts off, and put news one I had to buy, on the vehicle. Looking online, there have been numerous lawsuits, in which Ford prevailed on a technicality, such as, no longer under warranty. Ford should replace each and every one of these defective lug nuts for all Ford owners.

Had an increasingly loud wheel noise and pulled over to check tires. Passenger rear wheel lugs were noticeably loose. Could not get the Ford supplied jack-handle wrench on the the lug nuts. Tried a 4-way wrench and still could not get it on. Gave up and called AAA. The technician also could get get his impact wrench on the nuts to tighten them. Using an oversized socket, he did get some turning but the damaged lug nuts could not be tightened. We found 4 of 5 on that wheel, and at least 2 on every other wheel to be loose and not able to be tightened at the roadside. The vehicle was unsafe to drive, or be towed without a flat-bed recovery vehicle.

The dealer had the gall to charge me $5/each for 20 new lug nuts that are just the same kind and will no doubt also have the same problem in a few years. Of course, I'll be replacing them soon with solid piece after market products.

1. Ford has been using these 2-piece lug nuts, knowing there is a problem for many years.

2. This vehicle was inspected at the dealer less than 3 months prior. They should have known to check this and replaced them at that time. They did not.

3. This wheel should not have been loose in the first place. The dealer was the last one with the wheels off during inspection and rotation. They did not even acknowledge that problem.

EVERY single FORD dealer - but especially those in the Northeastern US where corrosive materials are applied to the road in winter - should be inspecting these defective lug nuts every time they see the vehicle. Simple putting the right sized socket on each nut to see if it fits would have been sufficient. Ford should be replacing defective lug nuts at their expense.

Will this make be avoid Ford in the future? Hard to say. It definitely will go into my buying decision as one point of information. If Ford is willing to continue using crappy parts on something so important and won't even acknowledge the problem by covering the replacement, it makes me wonder what else they've cut corners on and won't admit.

Have the same swollen lug nut problem on every one of my lug nuts that has been reported by others. I had a flat tire on a very cold Saturday night last weekend. A 19mm lug wrench would not fit on the lug nuts - not even close. I had to get a ride to my home a half hour away and collected up some tools for the job. The next morning I went back and used a 20 mm socket that was a little loose to get them off. My 2017 Ford Escape has just slightly over 30k miles on it. This is not a life safety problem, but wow, is it something that should never happen. Being stuck on the side of the road trying to change a tire and finding out your lug wrench doesn't fit is really ridiculous. Ford should be ashamed of themselves and make this right by owners, because it's the little things like this that drive loyal customers away from a brand. C'mon Ford, was this really worth the few cents you saved?