Found Replacement Lug Nuts, But...
In my travels I came across
http://www.ezaccessory.com which seems to deal solely with lug nuts and wheel spacing adapters. I gave them a call figuring that if they were that specialized they'd have a solution. They suggested their model ECA1 that weighs in at $1.95 (9/08) each. So I'm giving it a shot.
Well, the calipers say the ezaccessory nuts are identical and they pass the ol' eyeball test. The nut to wrench fit is just as wonky as the originals. So I have to conclude that these are indeed the same as the original lug nuts.
That said, I'd like to have five minutes in a dark alley with the clown who came up with the idea of wrapping a lug nut in soft sheet metal. Considering how many similar acorn nuts are made out of solid metal and how inexpensive chrome plating is, it's hard to imagine what possessed Lincoln to wrap a steel nut in softer metal.
The metal wrap needs to be quite malleable so it can be die formed over the nut. As a consequence of stretching the metal over the nut, corners are rounded and there is a noticeable taper to the flats. A wrench will not seat cleanly on the nuts as a result. Sure, there's no problem cranking the nuts down using an impact tool after a dab of Never-Seize; but, consider what can happen when a slight woman has only the Lincoln supplied "L" handle wrench and a road-side flat.
At 200 pounds and above average upper body strength I tried it with the supplied "L" wrench. No way, the nut simply rounded as the wrap extruded in the ill-fitting wrench. Even accurately broached six point (forget 12 point sockets) on the impact wrench have a good chance of simply rounding the corners. [Yeah, I went through 19mm, 20mm and 21mm Matco sockets to find the best fit first.]
I'd wound the nuts on at 85 foot pounds after a dollop of Never-Seize in the threads & taper. Stiction after less than a hot summer's week on the car required around 600 foot pounds (static torque) to break the nut loose.
Has anybody found a solid metal lug nut that fits the 2000 LS properly?