Lug nut or Wheel nut indicators
I can’t imagine anything worse than a wheel falling off due to an improperly torqued wheel. I also don’t like the idea of constant checking of the lug nuts to make sure they are tight. What a pain.
Enter “Lug” or “Wheel” nut indicators. These are little plastic arrows that allow you put on each lug nut, arranging them i some sort of basic pattern. Then, at a glance, you will notice if a lug nut has moved because one of the arrows will not be holding up its end of the pattern. You can do this easily and quickly during your pre-trip inspection.
Here is the final setup on my truck and some photos of the Checkpoint indicators:
Because of the low cost and ease of install, these seem like an absolute no-brainer. So they should be easy to find right? Right?…
First I check with a few local big truck supply stores. They all looked at me like I was from a different planet. So, I thought, “forget this, I will just go home and order them online.” After many hours later I started making a list and thinking, “well, at the very least I can maybe help some others not wast this time.”
Now, my lug nuts are 24mm. I would assume a lot of Unimog owners have the same size so this should be applicable. But, since nothing is standard in Unimog world, I included all of the sizes offered in my list below.
Lastly, color is pretty important. I guess if you own a fleet of work trucks then Hi-vis yellow will probably be fine and the easiest to see – which is probably why that is one of the only colors readily available. But, recreational Unimog owners will care more about colors matching or, at the very least, not clashing. So, I was only interested in Orange or grey. Black may have worked as well but my wheels are black so I thought that might be a little too close. The closest I could find in 24mm was Olive grey made by Checkpoint. I found a box of 100 on Ebay for $40 and free shipping. Hopefully they are not too dark… fingers crossed.
List of vendors:
Checkpoint:
Sizes (mm):13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 40 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 48, 50
Colours: Yellow, Orange, Flouro Yellow, Green, Red, Blue, Olive Grey, Black, Silver Grey, White
URL: https://checkpoint-safety.com
Country of Origin: UK
Issue: Cannot buy on their site and site does not list distributors. Cannot find anything other than 24mm Fluoro Yellow in the USA. Ebay is best place.
If you want Amazon and want to support us, these are the only ones I can find.
Torque-tight:
Sizes (mm): 19, 21, 22, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 41, 42, 44
Colours: Orange, Green
URL: https://torque-tight.com
Country of Origin: USA
Issue: Do not make 24mm
Wheel-check:
Sizes (mm): 19, 20.5, 20.8, 23.8, 25, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 38.1, 40.5, 44
Colours: Hi-vis yellow, Black, Orange, White, Blue VT, Blue VCT, Green BCT, Grey, Red
URL: https://www.wheel-check.com
Country of Origin: Canada
Issue: Website will not respond if you have a VPN. No 24mm – will 23.8mm work? Could not find anyone selling anything other than hi-vis yellow in 23.8mm.
HexChex:
Sizes (mm): Adjustable, so fits multiple sizes – 19-23, 23-30, 30-38
Colours: Orange, Yellow, Red, Green & Black
URL: https://hexchex.com/
Country of Origin: Australia
Issue: Website does not list distributors or where to buy
Dorman:
Sizes (mm): 27, 28, 29
Colours: Orange
URL: https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-107545-611-2700.aspx
Country of Origin: USA?
Issue: Do not make 24mm
Amtrak:
Sizes (mm): 17, 19, 21, 22, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 4
Colours: Red, Green, Yellow
URL: https://wheelnutindicators.co.nz
Country of Origin: New Zealand
Issue: Do not make 24mm
If there is anything on this list that is missing or inaccurate, I would be happy to amend. Just contact me.
