Do alloy wheels have a different torque specification than steel wheels?

Folks,

I'm looking in a Haines manual, and the suggest wheel lug nut torque is 85 to 105 ft-lbs. I'm driving a 2003 Mercury Sable. No mention is made that the specs given in the book are for _alloy_ wheels.

I check the bolts, they were -loose- relative to the midrange of 95 ft-lbs. I torqued them all down to 95 ft lbs ( alloy wheels / painted aluminum alloy ). Is this correct? Anybody?

Lg

Reply to
Lawrence Glickman
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================ your good, dont worry about it.

Reply to
Scott M

don't know the specific torque settings for your particular wheels, but yes alloy rims should have a higher torque setting that regular steel rims. steve.

Reply to
steve

|don't know the specific torque settings for your particular wheels, but yes |alloy rims should have a higher torque setting that regular steel rims. |steve.

Thanks. I was wondering if I would _crack_ the alloy wheels by torquing them to that specification. After doing extensive google research, I still could not find a -definitive- answer, so thought I would ask here.

All the lug nuts on all 4 tires were WAY loose. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't checked this car's lug nuts since I had purchased it, but it was on my To Do list, so I went out in the garage tonight to check. Glad I did.

I made a little text file of some answers I found in google groups. I'll post it here and now for anybody interested in this topic. Seems that alloy wheels need to be REtorqued after they are mounted, and given a chance to *settle* for a few hundred miles. Here is a sampling of what I found.:

BTW these posts are all in reference to *alloy* wheels like mine: begin quotes ==========================================================

And, it should be noted, the rotor warping is most likely a result of uneven lug nut torque which can be prevented. This doesn't mean the lug nuts were not properly torqued when the wheel was put on last, but that the alloy wheels are very stiff and thus after being removed and replaced even the slightest amount of "settling in" will leave the lug nuts torqued VERY unevenly.

My wife's 92 SL2 had no problems with warping for several years, and then one time, over a period of a month after getting new tires, both front rotors warped. Nothing changed about the way the car was being used -- just that the wheels had been removed and replaced. We replaced the rotors, and the next time we went there (to rotate tires) I watched a tech hand-torque the lugs to 100 ft-lbs. The guy at the shop said that with alloy wheels I should come back in a few days to retorque, so several days later I checked the torque (myself) and found a seemingly random variation between 25 and 80 ft-lbs. I re-torqued back to spec, and have continued to do so several days after any wheel gets re-installed, and have had no problems with warping since then.

We observed a couple years ago on this newsgroup that the vast majority of rotor warping occurred with alloy wheels. The steel wheels are much less stiff, and thus the equivalent amount of settling in results in only a small decrease in torque. Of course improper torquing can still result in rotor warping with steel wheels, but this is less common.

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Even if you have the beveled or 'acorn' ones, anti seize is a good idea when putting steel lugs against aluminium if just for the steel/aluminum corrosion factor.

I just saw an aluminum rim that was seized to the back brake drum on a Cherokee. When the 10 lb 'convincer' Finally managed to bounce the tire enough to knock it off, a 1/4 x 1/4 x 1/8 thick triangle was left 'welded' to the hub ring! Had to chip it out to get the drums off.

Aluminum doesn't like steel, but threads are steel on steel and need to just be clean.

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I called back and the dealer tells me I was supposed to have been told to tighten these at intervals. I was never told.

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Every trailer I've ever had came with a manual that stated that the trailer wheel lug nuts should be checked periodically, but always after the first 50 miles, as even a correctly torqued lug nut can loosen if the wheel settles in a little. With a new trailer, I always check the lug nuts at 50 miles, at

200 miles, and at each fuel stop. After the trailer has been on a few trips, I just check them before and after each trip.

I don't know what you paid for your trailer, but it seems like the dealer would find a new wheel, repair the stud, and get you back on the road as a goodwill measure.

But let this be a lesson. Don't count on the dealer to do anything, or do anything right. Do your homework and double check all the important stuff.

======================================================= end quotes

Lg

Reply to
Lawrence Glickman

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