Aftermarket ET Lug Nuts on Factory Spare Wheel

TLDR: Is it safe to use RRW's ET lug nuts on the factory spare wheel? My guess is no...
The lug nuts I'm referring to are RRW's Hex closed end lug nuts (12x1.5 ET):

https://www.relationsracewheels.com/collections/toyota-4runner/products/hex-closed-end-lug-nuts

The reason I ask; Yesterday I was going down a muddy road and picked up a chunk of steel hidden in a puddle. Swapped to the spare in less than 15 minutes in the mud. When I was tightening my lugs I noticed there was very little surface contact between the lug nuts and the wheel itself. I was comfortable enough to limp the car home at low speeds.

My intuition tells me I'll need to carry some factory lug nuts in the future.
Looks like these lug nuts are specific to RRW's ET design. Can anyone confirm this?

Here are some photos for reference.


From 37 to 0 PSI in no time.



3" gash in the tire.



Bottle Jack Buddy allowed me to safely jack up the rig from the rear axle. If you're lifted, buy a bottle jack buddy. You can thank me later.


Pizza cutter 255/80/17 installed with RRW lugs. Worked good enough to get me home.



Felt secure enough. No vibrations. Still, this felt a little sketchy because of the minimal contact between the lugs and the wheel. I will add 6 factory lug nuts to my jack/ tool compartment asap.

Feel free to tell me how stupid it was to drive home with this. Genuinely would like to know.

PS: I did contact RRW to see what they would say about the compatibility here. I imagine it will take a while for them to write back and say "You shouldn't do this"

 

Visually, they don't inspire confidence.

 

Agreed. Glad this happened close to home not in the middle of a proper trail in a different state!

 

Just picked up some Dorman m12-1.5 lug nuts. PN: 611-182.

Swapping these out before I head to NTB.
These will be staying in the rig from now on.

 

An entire brake pad was pulled out of the tire^

Went ahead and replaced both rear tires with new Nitto Ridge Grapplers. Sticking with 285/70/17s for now... Although I was tempted to use the opportunity to upgrade to 34s...

 

RRW got back to me and said "They do not recommend this"

Worked good enough to get me home... but I'll avoid this in the future.
Stock style lugs will be in the glove box from now on.

 

I keep 6 factory lugs (for the spare) with my jack. I went through the same thing your going through before.

 

I almost commented on that. WTF was a brake pad doing sticking up in the bottom of a puddle?

 

Right? I'm just that lucky I guess

 

I mentioned this to Dustin at FN Wheels and he agreed with carrying factory lugs in case the spare was needed

Probably fell off a Jeep...