2023 prius..Hybrid Reborn, interview w/chief engineer Satoki Oya

If they are using a "wheel bolt" look-alike lug nuts as suggested, then by visual inspection alone, you can't tell if it is a bolt or nut. The wheel has to be taken off to be 100% sure.

 

For hypermilers like me, it is. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I am heading to Oceanside with a lug wrench this very moment.

That's why I've got my lug wrench with me.

 

i hope they have a sense of humour

 

Found a site claiming the Crown is using nuts. So looked at some photos.

bZ4X, best I could find for seeing the bolts, might have to zoom in.


The Crown


They both look the same as the 19in Prius wheels. Which really doesn't answer the question definitely. Toyota is likely being quiet on the subject because of the bZ4X issue, but they probably planned on switching everything to bolts in time. Even if they decided to change that after the bZ4X, using bolts was probably in the works for the recent models, and delaying for nuts was nixed.

 

Your photo for the Crown is broken. So far, the best piece of evidence that supports the idea that Crown (SH35) and Lexus IS and NX use wheel bolts not lug nuts is on this page. I don't know for sure, but I get a feeling that Kyoei is the OEM of lug nuts and bolts for many Japanese cars including Toyota, but they may only make aftermarket bolts and nuts. For reference, the table on the linked page does not have Gen5 Prius nor any previous models of Prius.

ホイールナット＆ボルトについて

 

With nuts, the factory has to assemble three parts; stud, hub, and nut. With bolts, there is just the hub and bolt, and entire assembly could use a little less material than the nut system.

There may be a performance or reliability advantage to bolts, but I suspect that was years ago, when manufacturing tolerances were looser, and materials less durable.

I appeared fine when I composed and posted it, but now it isn't.

I regularly come across busted images in posts here. They fix themselves, like mine just did, when the post is quoted. From my end, this seems to be an issue with Prius chat.

 

Going back to the manuals again, the current manuals for the Crown, IS, and NX all clearly say wheel bolts and include instructions on using a guide pin(which is only necessary with wheel bolts).

2023 Toyota Crown Manual (pgs. 482-90)
2023 Lexus IS Manual (pgs. 339-46)
2023 Lexus NX350h Manual (pgs. 594-602)

I'm still going with my suspicion that Toyota was strongly considering wheel bolts with the new Prius and at least some of the pre-production cars used for the press tours were built that way. Probably due to the problems with the wheel bolts on the bZ4X, they reversed course and decided to go back to lug nuts as the safe play until all the bugs were worked out of the new wheel bolts. The Prius manuals were written or updated after the decision was made, so that's why they say and show lug nuts.

 

Here is the bZ4X wheel lug bolt 90942-02090—$6.35 MSRP.




DISC WHEEL & WHEEL CAP. 2023 Toyota BZ4X | Toyota Parts Center Online

 

Which happens to be the exact same part for the Lexus IS 250, IS 300, IS 350, & NX.


9094202090 - Wheel Lug Bolt. DISC, Brakes, Components - Genuine Lexus Part

 

There is almost no advantage to wheel bolts but are many disadvantages. It could make it very difficult to change tires. If you strip the thread, you have to replace the whole hub. The aligning pins and tapping the holes in the hub do not make it any cheaper to manufacture. It is probably no more than Toyota being a German wannabe.

 

What Toyota cares about, cost, it is an advantage. Toyota likely got a good look at the costs of the BMW Supra.

Agree on the tire changing.

Disagree on the stripping issue. Stripped threads in the hole can be repaired, and done so without removing the hub. Considering VW calls for replacing the bolts after so many removes and replaces, they are likely a softer metal than the hub, so a mis alignment means they'll strip first.

A stud on the other hand is exposed to having the its threads damaged whenever removing and replacing the wheel. If they do get damaged, the stud has to be replaced, which requires removal of the hub. A hydraulic press likely costs more than a tapping and repair kit.

Wheels aren't installed on a car at the factory the way you or I would change a flat.

Likewise, the hubs can be tapped, if not tapped by the supplier, while on the car. The studs have to be installed first, and once installed, care needs to be taken to not damage the exposed threads. That care leads to more time needed for the same step. Time equals money.

 

I WILL be buying one. I have a horse farm that is being changed to a solar farm. A Tesla? No, they are ugly. A Tesla? No way, charging time wasted on a road trip. A Tesla? Nope, the pricing??? A Tesla, what? $15,000 for a battery??? A Tesla? Are you crazy? Its run by an internet connection by the manufacturer? Thats nuts! The Prius has it all over the Tesla.

 

The repair manual shows a low-fuss procedure with the hub on the car.

 

Is that just a basic c-clamp?
Wonder if the fuss level removing parts to prep for the repair is the same as with repairing a stripped bolt hole.

 

Clamp would need forked end, so stud would pass through as it’s pressed out?

 

Why, since you ask, it is Special Service Tool 09611-12010, which apparently you can also use for tie rod ends (and money laundering).

 

I used this $19.99 (cheaper back then) Harbor Freight ball-joint separator to remove and replace the wheel studs on my 1985 Corolla LE. It worked like a charm.

3/4" forged ball-joint separator

 

Looking at the BMW-factory video, that's a good reason not to buy a BMW. It is really shoddy workmanship. Installing the wheel bolts with a pneumatic wrench in one pass—really? No wonder BMWs are some of the worst in reliability. I am sure Toyotas are built much more differently in factories in Japan.

 

Starting around 5:30: