I have a 1995 Honda Accord.

I was recently looking at the book on my car's parts measurements and it says multiple times that the Spindle Nut is 24mm x 1.5mm.

But when I measured it with a ruler, it was 38mm. Why the discrepancy?

 

You measured the outside of the nut

The numbers in the book are for the thread size -- ie the inside open area of the nut.
12mm is the width, 1.5 is the thread pitch

 

Oh. Why would they give the inner dimensions of the part in a how-to guide to disassemble the wheel assembly?

Interesting.

Thanks for the reply though.

 

Because if you need to purchase a replacement nut you would need to know what size and thread pitch it is.

The outside diameter can vary.

 

No. Actually I was trying to buy the socket so that i could remove the nut. Funny thing. When I went to the store to get the socket I kept asking for 24mm. But it was clearly too small. I sat there and looked hard at the 24mm socket I was holding and I knew that that was to small. but then I began second guessing. But I figured I'd go and stick a ruler against is and measure it.
No big deal. I'll just but the socket tomorrow.

 

on my 97 I needed a 36 mm socket to take that nut off

 

Apparently, when I measured it with this triangle ruler, every side had a different measurement. I was positive that they were mm but apparently were not. I feel kind of stupid. But I found a standard MM ruler and discovered that it was indeed 36mm.