Lug Nut Torque

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

25 minutes ago, roadapples said:

I've twisted off so many bolts and stripped enough threads that I use a torque wrench to keep from over tightening not under....

 

[WHX?? 48,815]

12 hours ago, Gregor said:

 I used my wifes 1/2" drive

I missed this one ..... your wife has her own torque wrench?!?!? ... She got any sisters?!?! 

 

7 hours ago, squonk said:

 We ain't running these Horses over 40 on the highway or at Daytona!

My favorite is we ain't flying these things at 33,000 feet Squonky. 

 

Once at a show the inner  dual on Cindy's 702 came loose so Dan and I did a roadside repair without having to take the outside tire off. But it did it again later. Got the tractor home torqued the studs and been good ever since. Firm believer in doing it ever since. 

To throw another monkey wrench into this discussion is it better to lube or not. Say the bolt/nut to rim taper or the threads themselves?  Anti sieze or something else? 

[tom2p 2,394]

after our cars are inspected or tires rotated - I loosen the lugs with an impact wrench and then tighten with a 4 way lug wrench 

 

so in the event we get a flat on the road - I can remove the lugs

 

but then again - I would not change a tire on the side of the road / highway ... I would drive on the wheel or spindle if I had to to get to a safer spot 

 

[tom2p 2,394]

44 minutes ago, WHX?? said:

 

 

 

To throw another monkey wrench into this discussion is it better to lube or not. Say the bolt/nut to rim taper or the threads themselves?  Anti sieze or something else? 
 

I apply a small amount of grease to the threads and also to the surface of the nut where it will contact the wheel 

not sure if this is the correct thing to do 

 

Edited August 5, 2021 by tom2p

[tom2p 2,394]

9 hours ago, Jeff-C175 said:

I've read that unequal and/or excessive torque can 'warp' brake rotors.  I don't have any evidence of that ever occurring, only anecdotes.

I've also heard that 

 

also heard rotors should be stored in the proper position or they could warp ... hmmm ... that's a head scratcher - but maybe there is something to it ... ? ... 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

7 minutes ago, tom2p said:

not sure if this is the correct thing to do 

 

Everything I've ever read or learned from the dead men is to NOT grease the lug nutz.

 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

7 minutes ago, tom2p said:

stored in the proper position or they could warp

 

Yeah... well that one to me sounds very dubious.  What, they're gonna warp like vinyl LP records?  Logic tells me no...  but ya know, on second thought, if the Moon can pull the water in the oceans into tides... naaahhhh.

 

Edited August 5, 2021 by Jeff-C175

[tom2p 2,394]

2 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

Everything I've ever read or learned from the dead men is to NOT grease the lug nutz.

 

there is a chance someone told me to skip the grease - but I could not resist   lol

 

[tom2p 2,394]

1 minute ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

Yeah... well that one to me sounds very dubious.  What, they're gonna warp like vinyl LP records?  Logic tells me no...

 

$20 rotors from China ... possibly ... lol

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

3 minutes ago, tom2p said:

$20 rotors from China ... possibly ... lol

 

Those might well have a high Vinyl content!

or cheese... from the Moon!

[WHX?? 48,815]

46 minutes ago, tom2p said:

 tighten with a 4 way 

 

A  4-way is not a substitute for a torque wrench but is handy is some situations. 

 

46 minutes ago, tom2p said:

I would not change a tire on the side of the road / highway ... I would drive on the wheel or spindle 

 

Tried that once when I was young and stupid and did not work out well.  Now that I am old and stupid best thing to do if you can't make it to a safe spot is to call the  and ask them for roadside safety assistance. That's what we pay them for. 

 

I do understand your concern tho. I had three blowouts this year and one on a very busy interstate but fortunately close to a service area where tire changes could be carried out safely. 

Note the torque wrench there... never leave home without it! 

Edited August 5, 2021 by WHX??

[tom2p 2,394]

5 minutes ago, WHX?? said:

A  4-way is not a substitute for a torque wrench but is handy is some situations. 

 

Tried that once when I was young and stupid and did not work out well.  Now that I am old and stupid best thing to do if you can't make it to a safe spot is to call the  and ask them for roadside safety assistance. That's what we pay them for. 

I would not sit on the side of the road and wait for roadside assistance

 

I would still drive to a safer spot -  and destroy the tire / wheel (and whatever) in the process if I had to

 

just too many cases of cars / people getting hit on the side of the road 

 

Edited August 5, 2021 by tom2p

[Pullstart 62,887]

I’m surprised nobody has mentioned... you’re supposed to crank it on until it snaps, then back it off 1/4 turn!

[8ntruck 7,004]

Man, I think that wheel is one that I developed the stamping dies for!  Somebody sure mis-treated it.  My 40 year engineering carrer was in the automotive steel wheel industry.  

 

Lug nut torque - in general 60 to 80 lb ft is proper for 1/2, 9/16 inch or 12 and 14mm studs.  I always used 80 lb ft of lug nut torque.  Yes, I've used torque wrenches on my cars. 

 

I forgot to add that lubrication of the stud is a no no.  Lube in the threads messes up the torque/tension relationship.  Lube will raise the tension in the stud to a point that the nut seats in the wheel will deform or high enough that the stud will yield or break. 

Edited August 5, 2021 by 8ntruck

[tom2p 2,394]

7 minutes ago, tom2p said:

 

just too many cases of cars / people getting hit on the side of the road 

 

approx 20% motor vehicle accidents occur off the road - on the side of the road or median 

 

approx 10% deadly accidents involve a vehicle that was on the side of the road 

I prefer not to be the 1 in 5 and certainly not the 1 in 10

 

one thing I've made perfectly clear to my wife and kids - do not stand outside or sit in a car on the side of the road 

 

[tom2p 2,394]

1 hour ago, WHX?? said:

I missed this one ..... your wife has her own torque wrench?!?!? ... She got any sisters?!?! 

 

and not a 3/8 drive torque wrench - but 1/2 drive !

 

[roadapples 6,983]

While we're on this subject, AAA is a good idea also. Especially for us old farts....

[R Scheer 502]

1 hour ago, tom2p said:

I've also heard that 

 

also heard rotors should be stored in the proper position or they could warp ... hmmm ... that's a head scratcher - but maybe there is something to it ... ? ... 

There is some truth to this, once they're installed they should be stored vertically not horizontally.   

[squonk 41,118]

4 hours ago, R Scheer said:

There is some truth to this, once they're installed they should be stored vertically not horizontally.   

You hear that Kevin? 

[Gregor 4,846]

6 hours ago, tom2p said:

I would not change a tire on the side of the road / highway .

Chances are, with todays alloy/aluminum wheels, even if you could get the lug nuts off, there us a good chance the wheel would be hopelessly stuck to the hub.

[ebinmaine 67,508]

51 minutes ago, Gregor said:

Chances are, with todays alloy/aluminum wheels, even if you could get the lug nuts off, there us a good chance the wheel would be hopelessly stuck to the hub.

That by itself should be a fair reminder that many of us don't get our tires rotated often enough.

If the wheels were being dismounted, cleaned up, and remounted every five or six thousand miles then the dissimilar metals attaching to each other would never be an issue.

 

I made the mistake of buying a set of unidirectional snow tires not realizing that that's what they were. I'm not at all fond of the fact that unless I pay to have them dismounted, mounted and balanced they can't change position on the vehicle from side to side.

 

 

[Gregor 4,846]

57 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

they can't change position on the vehicle from side to side.

 

On radial tires, I don't believe you change position side to side when rotating tires.

[ebinmaine 67,508]

5 minutes ago, Gregor said:

On radial tires, I don't believe you change position side to side when rotating tires.

 

Here in New England we have a wicked crown in the road on everything but the largest of highways. To keep your tires wearing evenly you have to be able to switch them side to side.

 

The shops I've worked with, and for, have always done a cross rotation on one axle and a straight fore and aft rotation on the other axle. 

 

 

[Pullstart 62,887]

48 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

The shops I've worked with, and for, have always done a cross rotation on one axle and a straight fore and aft rotation on the other axle. 

 

 

 

YUUUP!

[Pullstart 62,887]

7 hours ago, R Scheer said:

There is some truth to this, once they're installed they should be stored vertically not horizontally.   

 

3 hours ago, squonk said:

You hear that Kevin? 

loud and clear Mike!