Another item that almost bit me hard was sleazy lug nut washers. I’m a fan of Cragar S/S wheels. Even though the modern uni-lug variety is a slight eyesore, I love the classic five spoke look on just about any car. Yep, they’re pretty heavy but the looks have me hooked and always will. One peculiarity of these uni-lug Cragar wheels (and many other mag wheel types) is the need for a thick washer between the wheel and the lug nut. Shop wisely and remember you always get what you pay for.

The original Cragar-supplied washers are chrome plated and tend to peel after a few installation cycles. It isn’t pretty, plus you can get a nasty cut from the razor sharp flakes. So, when I spotted a wheel vendor at the swap meet with buckets full of new wheel washers, I bought a bunch as replacements. Big mistake. Even though the price was low, these generic washers lacked proper heat treating and quickly deformed when I tightened the lug nuts against them. Not only does this look sleazy, but the lug nuts tended to loosen up as the washers compressed further with driving. Not a good thing. And while these cheap washers were not chromed (a good point since they can’t flake), whatever coating they had allowed rust formation almost immediately.

I discovered McGard washers recently and haven’t looked back ever since. Check out the picture. The McGard washer is on the left, the sleazy generic unit is on the right. They’re made of 0.150-inch thick stainless steel (versus 0.100 for the sleazy generics) and are guaranteed never to chip or flake. The price is about double what I paid for the generics but that’s a small price to pay to keep the wheels on your car. Cragar S/S uni-lug wheels require McGard PN MCG-78714 and McGard also makes similar high quality washers for other popular wheel applications. For that matter, McGard also makes some of the best lug nuts available. Again, they are guaranteed never to flake or rust and I’ve updated all of my Cragar S/S-equipped cars with them.

That’s all for this month. I’m off to Lebanon Valley Dragway (New York) this coming weekend to be part of a best two out of three match race between my Wilshire Shaker Nova (hey, at least it has a pushbutton 727, A990 seats and Super Stock leaf springs) and Gary Gerard’s Flashback altered wheelbase ’65 Hemi Plymouth. I think I know how it’s going to end up; Gary’s Hemi is stout! The plan is to shoot a 90 minute DVD featuring the race action. I’ll be back next month with some results!