It's a European thing. My BMW was the same way.

 

These days, it's a European thing. Back in the 1940s, Mopar did the same (among many other cars, my dad has a 1948 Chrysler sitting around).

There's argument that bolts are safer than nuts.

 

These days, it's a European thing. Back in the 1940s, Mopar did the same (among many other cars, my dad has a 1948 Chrysler sitting around).
There's argument that bolts are safer than nuts.

“Just don’t ask for the research”

 

Well I can see how bolts would be more likely to get seized in the disc hub or drum. I prefer studs and lug nuts but please, solid ones not that crap with the tin covers on top that ChryCo used on many Jeeps etc

 

In the 35 years I owned Jeeps (two XJ's) I never had any issues with those lug nuts.

 

Its a couple of dollars saved on each vehicle..
- but yes they are a pain in the but when it comes to wheel work.
And with todays deep holes in the aluminium rims you have a large chance of cross treading the bolts and now you need to change the whole hub and not just a stud.

 

Just wait until your lug nuts warp
Very common problem with renegades

most dealers are about 7 bucks a lug.

 

It saves a penny, saves a gram or so of weight and Euros don't care about the fact that it's a PITA to service

 

My wife's Jeep Cherokee, another Fiat "collaboration" has the silly wheel bolts instead of lug nuts. It's a joy to remount the wheels...not.

 

Tell me about it. I think all their cars have them now except maybe the BOFs. (Buick/Olds/Ford. Oh, wait, I mean body on frame, right?)

 

Don't forget that for a long time, Mopar used left hand threaded lugs and nuts on their products. What was the logic behind that?

 

When rolling forward left hand threads on left hand wheels with tighten rather than loosen. Right hand threads on right hand wheels tighten.

 

Okay, I get that KOG. But IF it was such a great idea, why did they do away with them? Food for thought. I had a cousin break two lugs off my uncles old Dart when we had a flat and I had a hell of a time convincing him to let me change the tire. He finally conceded and was very mad when I showed him righty, loosey, lefty, tighty on that car! My uncle made him help with the lug replacements and he wasn't happy about that either. LMAO

 

Why did they do away with the left handed threads?
Two reasons:
1) the theory that the way the wheel spun would loosen lug nuts was a great theory but didn’t happen in real life.
2) people never got used to it and broke off the lug nut studs in the reverse threaded side.

 

Most of the Fiat-based cars use lug bolts (Dart, 200, Renegade, Compass, Cherokee)
All other products we get here use lugs & nuts, including the Pacifica.
Seems like if it's not a complete overhaul/purely North American project, products get the run-of-the-mill lug bolts. It's the only explanation I have, because the Pacifica is based on a Fiat chassis, but it has studs & lug nuts.

 

The Pro Master is based on a FIAT Ducato design. The Pacifica has nothing to do with a FIAT although it has been sold as an Alfa..

 

My 2015 200S has lug bolts.

My 2022 Pacifica has lug nuts.

 

I can't prove it. I know the CUSW history well, as I worked on the early powertrain integration of the platform and then on the Dart powertrain. (We took the Fiat
Compact platform, split it lengthwise and widthwise and added 1-2" depending on which variant it was to be used on. Our early mules were Alfa Giuliettas that you could see the cut/splice work on.) The Renegade/Compass are very clearly Italian (my wife's actually got the screen language stuck in Italian at one point even though it's not a menu option in the US) and I personally know people that worked on that program, a major step in blending our 2 companies into 1.

I can't recall ever having discussions on the minivan platform being Fiat based. It came so much later than the Dart, I can't see the CUSW being used, because the US teams quickly figured out that platform was great for the new impact rules, but it was not good for fuel economy. The CUSW platform was just not something to continue using. Also, looking at the track and wheelbase, the minivan platform is much larger and wider, it may have take concepts from the Fiat side but does not seem feasible to be a Fiat platform. Fiat just didn't have anything nearly that big, outside of the vans that were a joint venture with Peugeot and RWD.

 

I can't prove it. I know the CUSW history well, as I worked on the early powertrain integration of the platform and then on the Dart powertrain. (We took the Fiat
Compact platform, split it lengthwise and widthwise and added 1-2" depending on which variant it was to be used on. Our early mules were Alfa Giuliettas that you could see the cut/splice work on.) The Renegade/Compass are very clearly Italian (my wife's actually got the screen language stuck in Italian at one point even though it's not a menu option in the US) and I personally know people that worked on that program, a major step in blending our 2 companies into 1.

I can't recall ever having discussions on the minivan platform being Fiat based. It came so much later than the Dart, I can't see the CUSW being used, because the US teams quickly figured out that platform was great for the new impact rules, but it was not good for fuel economy. The CUSW platform was just not something to continue using. Also, looking at the track and wheelbase, the minivan platform is much larger and wider, it may have take concepts from the Fiat side but does not seem feasible to be a Fiat platform. Fiat just didn't have anything nearly that big, outside of the vans that were a joint venture with Peugeot and RWD.

The 200 and Cherokee are sizably bigger than the Dart but are also based on Compact-Wide. It's not a stretch (bad joke, I know), for a van to be built or based on the chassis.

 

About the only thing shared with the Pro Master is the power train.

 

At the time they said the Pacifica was indeed based on the same platform. There's some parts sharing with 200 and Cherokee. Pacifica is definitely bigger and for that reason was not on CUSW but on a unique platform.

ProMaster was indeed based on Ducato but with an almost complete change of the suspension - same architecture, different parts, as I understand it. It's also got more cargo capacity (weight) - mainly meant to deal with heavier American cargos on crappier American roads.

I can't say definitively, I'm just remembering from the press releases. Who knows how accurate they were?