Retorquing lug nuts

[crazy jerry]

Returning to verify wheel nut torque has been an SOP everywhere in North America since a crazy amount of litigation from runaway wheels.

I check my own at home and have yet to find one nut loose, others will often claim they have.

I also use anti-seize on the wheel nut studs and torque to a non-dry torque of 105 ft pounds.

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ive found the same thing when retorqing. none of them have changed from the first torq so i dont even bother with it any more

 

[RamDiver]

ive found the same thing when retorqing. none of them have changed from the first torq so i dont even bother with it any more

I'm confident I have never seen one instance where the wheel nut torque has changed but I've read accounts from people that swear...

My torque wrench has been in the front hall to remind me to check the wheels after the installation... last November. LOL

I believe it's all been dreamt up by the lawyers and doesn't happen in reality.

If you believe in rechecking the torque, have at it. Whatever helps you sleep at night is good!

Didn't the industry start using loctite on rear calliper mounting bolts sometime in the past 10 or 15 years?

Now, it's part of the gospel and they'll definitely fall off if you don't.

.

 

[Dean2]

I'm confident I have never seen one instance where the wheel nut torque has changed but I've read accounts from people that swear...

My torque wrench has been in the front hall to remind me to check the wheels after the installation... last November. LOL

I believe it's all been dreamt up by the lawyers and doesn't happen in reality.

If you believe in rechecking the torque, have at it. Whatever helps you sleep at night is good!

Didn't the industry start using loctite on rear calliper mounting bolts sometime in the past 10 or 15 years?

Now, it's part of the gospel and they'll definitely fall off if you don't.

.

Just because you have never seen it doesn't mean it never happens. When I have installed and torqued the wheels, I have only twice seen a lug that changed when I check them. On tires installed by a shop, I have more often seen lugs that needed more tightening to be at torque while the rest on that wheel and the other wheels were fine. I also found a rim where the lugs were only finger tight.

Like I said before, needing more torque on a couple of lugs has been more common on steel rims than aluminum.

 

[Sherman Bird]

I've been doing it wrong for nearly 50 years...



I torque twice, once at 80 or 100 and again at 125. Never have retorqued after driving.

IF... You have aluminum wheels, retorquing after a short drive is what the manufacturers mandate. Steel wheels need no re-torquring.

 

[Sherman Bird]

I'm confident I have never seen one instance where the wheel nut torque has changed but I've read accounts from people that swear...

My torque wrench has been in the front hall to remind me to check the wheels after the installation... last November. LOL

I believe it's all been dreamt up by the lawyers and doesn't happen in reality.

If you believe in rechecking the torque, have at it. Whatever helps you sleep at night is good!

Didn't the industry start using loctite on rear calliper mounting bolts sometime in the past 10 or 15 years?

Now, it's part of the gospel and they'll definitely fall off if you don't.

.

I once had a mechanic who worked for me.
Those secondary clips on A/C hose connections and fuel line connections... he referred to as
Lawyer clips"!

 

[Dean2]

IF... You have aluminum wheels, retorquing after a short drive is what the manufacturers mandate. Steel wheels need no re-torquring.

Well that is interesting. You did this for a living so I believe you, but in my experience I have seen more lugs take more torque when checked on steel rims than I have on aluminum, and I have owned far more vehicles with aluminum than steel rims.

 

[sdeeter19555]

IF... You have aluminum wheels, retorquing after a short drive is what the manufacturers mandate. Steel wheels need no re-torquring.

Been doing steel and aluminum the same for many years...

 

[bm02tj]

Factory steel wheels are not metal to metal at stud so they hold torque and some after market wheel are flat on back so are metal to metal and need retorqueing

 

[Sherman Bird]

Well that is interesting. You did this for a living so I believe you, but in my experience I have seen more lugs take more torque when checked on steel rims than I have on aluminum, and I have owned far more vehicles with aluminum than steel rims.

Yeah, and you live WAY north of me, where temperatures and humidity are WAY different! Cheers!

 

[RamDiver]

Just because you have never seen it doesn't mean it never happens. When I have installed and torqued the wheels, I have only twice seen a lug that changed when I check them. On tires installed by a shop, I have more often seen lugs that needed more tightening to be at torque while the rest on that wheel and the other wheels were fine. I also found a rim where the lugs were only finger tight.

Like I said before, needing more torque on a couple of lugs has been more common on steel rims than aluminum.

Well, guess what?

I checked my nuts earlier this evening (first check after a wheel change at a stealership about 4 months ago) and now have a new protocol.

All 16 wheel nuts had been torqued to at least my requested 105 ft lbs + 2 of the lock nuts but, the lock nuts on both front wheels were close but moved a few degrees.

These are OE steel rims, if that interests anyone.

I'm not going to waste my brain worrying about a few degrees but going forward, if anyone other than myself installs the wheels, I'll be checking the torque before I drive away.

They got a bit excited after my last visit when I checked the tire pressures in the parking lot after their work.

Wait until I whip out the torque wrench after all my future visits. The Service Manager is going to have a bird. LOL

And, going forward I plan to check torque again after 100 miles or so, out of curiosity more than anything.

.

 

[turkeybird56]

Better to check and verify than not to and it be that 1 time sometime catastrophic happens.

Murphy’s Law: Chit Happens.

 

[Hardracer]

You mean it is/was dangerous to drink from a garden hose?! EGADS!

Oh ya..drink from the spigot(a hose ya right..musta been the rich area..lol)
,ride a bike or skateboard without full combat gear on,run around in just shorts no shirt or shoes all day in the baking sun with no sunscreen,play baseball in the empty lot down the street without a helmet or cleats,find a cinder block and a board and make a ramp for bike jumping usually wrecking afterwards,go outside and play somewhere else all day without a stinkin cellphone when your mom said get out and don't come back til dark(and you better be there when she hollers dinner!!), swim at the local lake all day unattended,run around and find a few empty bottles to buy a piece of gum at the little store.and all this is only in the early 70s for me.i bet you elders here have way more to add....lol
Dam,how are still alive today?...makes you wonder....where the he// did we do wrong?

 

[nascar72]

I took my 2023 1500 in for an oil change and tire rotation last week and after I got my bill, I noticed a comment on the back. They recommend returning after 50 to 100 miles to have the lug nuts re-torque. Has anybody here ever heard of doing such?
Thanks

Do yourself a favor and get yourself a cheap torque wrench and do it yourself everytime you come back from the shop where the wheels were taken off and maybe 100-200 mi later on and you should be good 'til the next tire/wheel rotation service. And still doesn't hurt to check the torque once in a while before going on a trip or towing any sort of rig etc.

 

[Marshall]

The dealership I've been using is a bit off the beaten path but it is easy for me to get there on mostly country roads. It's at the Palladium Auto Park in the West end of Ottawa.

The Chef was trained in Paris, AFAIK, and makes many authentic spicy Asian meals.

Truth be told, I have her cell number and sometimes schedule my service visit based on the menu plan.

.

Well, he’ll, I am feeling lucky if the coffee is still hot, mind you I said one time it was almost empty and she made a fresh pot for me.
I think it only cost 200 that time
But if I spent 60k I could have got a new hat
Lug nut , old days we tighten till you where done, then every few months you looked to see if all the rusty nuts or bolts in some cases where still there.
Son had a loose wheel on the 67 NYorker with mag wheels ,chewed up the holes, he is still running those wheels on the 53 IHC, after replacing that one wheel.
Last few wheel changes they have changed from come back in 100 miles to they cut a couple corners and hit the brakes in the parking lot and tork again.

Has always been fine, till last time, I found one wheel not up to spec, I got one more “ click”

 

[katywoodworker]

Read the manual

 

[LouM]

I use never seize on the mounting face of the wheel and on the lug nuts. I'm well aware of the 130 ft.lbs in the manual but with the lubricated wheel studs I use a 110 ft. lb. torque stick and call it good . I have checked the wheel nuts previously with a torque wrench after using the torque stick and they are within +- 5 ft. lbs.

 

[Sherman Bird]

Oh ya..drink from the spigot(a hose ya right..musta been the rich area..lol)
,ride a bike or skateboard without full combat gear on,run around in just shorts no shirt or shoes all day in the baking sun with no sunscreen,play baseball in the empty lot down the street without a helmet or cleats,find a cinder block and a board and make a ramp for bike jumping usually wrecking afterwards,go outside and play somewhere else all day without a stinkin cellphone when your mom said get out and don't come back til dark(and you better be there when she hollers dinner!!), swim at the local lake all day unattended,run around and find a few empty bottles to buy a piece of gum at the little store.and all this is only in the early 70s for me.i bet you elders here have way more to add....lol
Dam,how are still alive today?...makes you wonder....where the he// did we do wrong?

I did all those things! As did my brother and all of our friends. Additionally, the adults in the neighborhood all got together at potluck dinners, compared notes, and agreed that if any of us kiddos did a bad thing, the the adult was free to spank and tell our parents, where we would receive additional "gestapo" discipline .

Funny how all of us survived, got grown and have now grown children of our own, and are proud grandparents! I was being facetious about drinking from the garden hose! And I never got no stinkin' cancer!

 

[MrFigs]

Around here, Northern Alberta Canukistan shops have always called for a retorque after 100-200km, no matter the wheel. I think it's a liability thing, back in the day Canadian Tire techs would use torque sticks and not actually check they had a number of vehicles lose wheels.

Myself, I start the lugs nuts by hand to make sure I don't cross thread, on my smaller dugga dugga I use setting 1 and it normally seats in the 30-60ft lbs range, my larger new one has an auto setting that allegedly stops at 50ft lbs. then I torque to 80ft lbs then to 130 ft lbs. I started doing that I can't remember if it was my 02 neon or 04 Durango the manual said to do it that way to prevent warping the rotor... or maybe it was the '87 Fifth Ave... can't remember, any way, I still do it. I almost never retorque, every once in a while I do grab the lug nuts and see if i can spin them by hand.

 

[Wild one]

Just a little tidbit,alot of cheap torque wrenches are out of spec before you use them once. You can easily calibrate them at home,there's a pile of video's on you tube on how to DIY calibration at home

 

[Marshall]

I use never seize on the mounting face of the wheel and on the lug nuts. I'm well aware of the 130 ft.lbs in the manual but with the lubricated wheel studs I use a 110 ft. lb. torque stick and call it good . I have checked the wheel nuts previously with a torque wrench after using the torque stick and they are within +- 5 ft. lbs.

Remember dual Bud wheels on old grain trucks, that was a lifesafer on those. More then once you damn near dragged the cutting torch out.