A replaceable wear pad apparatus for a crawler track of a construction machine includes an elongated reinforcing element having first and second sides. The reinforcing element includes first and second holes disposed therethrough and includes first and second polygonal cross section sockets defined therein on the first side of the reinforcing element co-axial with the first and second holes, respectively, each socket including a socket floor and multiple sides. First and second polygonal cross section nuts are received in the first and second sockets, each nut having a threaded bore co-axial with one of the holes. A wear pad is molded from a wear pad material, the reinforcing element and the nuts being embedded in the molded wear pad material so that the wear pad material holds the nuts in place within the sockets.