Lug Nuts

[Joe L.]

Earlier this week, there was a discussion regarding lug nuts. The discussion, as some may recall, was prompted by a set of GM lug nuts selling on eBay for over $400.

I checked the known originals from my car. I am 100% sure that these are the lug nuts that were originally on the car. All were the same and one is pictured below.

The "RBW" represents Russell, Birdsall, and Ward, a one-time major supplier of fasteners to GM. The "R" represents right hand thread.

Now, don't get the idea that I'm saying this was the only configuration lug nut used on Corvettes or, even, the only one used for 1969's. By no means. As I've said before, these things were being used by the millions for a whole bunch of model years and virtually all models. I'll bet these were supplied by any number of different manufacturers. In my opinion, the only way to know what particular lug nuts were installed on any particular car is to have the original lug nuts installed on that car,

[Wayne M.]

Here's other variants in my "collection"

Prior to the $400+ eBay sale, they were just a bag of about 50 nuts that I didn't want to throw out

The KO nuts (out of about 25 that I have) show no markings on the face, just these varying lines on the sides of the hex. Some have lines to the left, others to the right, some both. Some have varying mixes on the same nut. Maybe it was just a fabrication tool marking rather than a manufacturer ID.

The regular lug nuts have the variations shown. I suppose they were all off Corvettes at one time or the other since the mid-'70s.

I'm not claiming that they are factory-anything; just to show the different face markings.