Bolt Torque for Lug Nuts Too High?

Torqued unevenly, one stands a very good chance of distorting brake rotors.... torqued too tight and we stand the chance of weakening or breaking the wheel studs or damaging the nuts or wheels at the contact points.

DIYer quality torque wrenches with adequate accuracy can be purchased at many places for a reasonable price and can be used for other repair tasks..... The engineers are busy designing parts that require 'better' fastening technology than in the past. FWIW, if push comes to shove, a DIYer will have more leneiency from a court of law should something fail and cause "problems" than someone that get's paid to do it.

If you are a tool junkie like some of us, you might wind up with 7 or 8 torque wrenches...

Yup, I buy the Craftsman ones on sale, with the manual dial. Would like a nice set of torque sticks someday. Must have for tire rotations (1/2") and various other jobs (3/8" ft lb and 3/8" in lb). Most people are loyal to their brand. I went with cheap & easy for light duty use. All kinds are out there, pick one that works for you.

Regards

local parts stores carry torque wrenches for around $30 I think.

I am in the throws of looking for a torque wrench. Found a couple of cheap ones, the Tire Rack has one for $30 and AutoZone has one for $40. Since I only plan to use the torque wrench every 5000 miles, I hope one of these will do the job as they are cheap compared to a name brands.

The one at the tire Rack is advertised as for use on Auto Lug nuts. Anyone ever use this?

- John

only once every 5000 miles? I use my torque wrench for everything

Some people never touch their cars (or their tools) between major services - much less at 5000 mile intervals.

Unless they are going to use the torque wrench to open the doors, wash (what's that? ) the car etc

Torque sticks? EEEWWWWWW!!!!

I've been doing "this" for a "while". I don't use torque sticks.... I refuse to use torque sticks beyond my initial testing. They are too easy to use "wrong".

I am often chastised for my views on things like this.... My detractors are usually much younger than I and swear up and down that these sorts of miracle tools are the cats meow....

While I am firmly set in my ways, I simply refuse to trade quality for speed....

My detractors are

ya I pretty much fall into that category

How do you torque your head bolds?

been in the buisiness of car repairs since 1972 . you really need to torque lug nuts on wheels.. from the guy that warps hs rotors from overtight to the guy that has his wheel come loose from undertorque its a must to do it.. lucas

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Being in a facetious mood.... I have to say "according to the workshop manual". Realistically, the torque wrench "should" he used more often than many do. Modern manufacturing and assembly techniques have made many fasteners "torque critical". Add that, with todays litigious society, one is much further ahead to be able to state that a fastener has been tightened to factory spec...

Seems to me Ford is now using torque plus angle on some of their lug nuts. Made them torque sticks obsolete pretty fast...

I haven't seen any torque "plus angle" lug nuts thus far.... This insinuates a torque to yield fastener and these are discarded after one use. Not too likely for a multiple use fastener such as a wheel stud.

At the same time, the reason for using a taorque wrench to begin with is to achieve proper "clamping" force... hence the requirement for a clean fastener, free of burrs or other signs of damage and strict adherence to whether the fastener is to be torqued "dry" (as with wheel nuts) or "wet" (as with most engine fasteners).

There is a lot of logic applied to how and why things are done... but this logic can escape many of us (me included, many times) until we do some digging...

HTH