Wheels' Lug nuts loosened unexpectedly

Last month I rotated the wheels on the '06 Camry, from front to back. Yesterday I re-torqued them after 350 miles of driving and five weeks.

All the lug nuts on the two rear wheels did not turn even a bit; they were perfectly torqued. But 4 out of 5 lug nuts on the passenger-side front wheel turned a little bit, less than a quarter turn--probably about an eighth of a turn (1/8 turn).

On the driver-side front wheel, 2 out of 5 lug nuts also turned about 1/8 of a turn when I re-torqued them.

I know these 6 loosened lug nuts on the two front wheels lost more than 5 foot-pounds of their original 76 foot-pound torque setting because yesterday to re-torque them, I set my torque wrench at 71 foot-pounds, which is 5 less than the

76 foot-pounds I torqued them to last month during the 5,000-mile wheel rotation.

Is this greater-than-5-foot-pound loosening of some of the lug nuts on the front wheels something to be concerned about? I'd like to wait until the next 5,000-mile wheel rotation before re-torquing the wheels again. Is this advisable, or should I check and re-torque the wheels more often?

Reply to
Built_Well
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Torque them as many times as you feel like. Was the temperature of the wheels and hubs identical from front to back? Are the mating surfaces clean?

Reply to
Paul

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Well, on that particular day, yesterday, the temperature of the wheels and hubs was much warmer on the front wheels than the rear wheels, because the sun was hitting only the front half of the car. The rear half was in the shade. I happened to notice a temperature difference between the front wheels and rear wheels when I touched them during the re-torquing.

Yep, the mating surfaces were all clean. I cleaned them really well last month with a soft shop rag during the rotation.

Reply to
Built_Well

I hate to say it but it sounds like you didn't torque the front wheels properly. Did you come up on the proper torque in stages using a criss-cross pattern? After you torqued the nuts to 76 ft/lbs did you back them off, one at a time, and re-torque to 76 again?

If you didn't use a criss-cross pattern, it's possible that you got a bit of a warp in the wheel or the rotor which worked itself out as you drove the car. Backing off and re-torquing makes sure that your lug nut is seated against the wheel properly.

Jack

Reply to
Retired VIP

=========================

Yes, I used a criss-cross or star pattern, and torqued each set of lug nuts gradually, first to 40, then to 60, then 76.

I also re-torqued everything last month during the rotation, but what do you mean by "back them off, one at a time, and re-torque to 76 again."

Reply to
Built_Well

==== I rotate aluminum alloy wheels at 5K and re torque them cold the following morning. They always move a bit more, after using staged torque, three passes, final 82 ft. lbs. After checking the torque again following morning, I check again 30 days laters and they're always fine.

Reply to
Daniel

No, you should torque them all properly the FIRST time. ;)

Reply to
Mike hunt

I have noticed alloy wheels with moderate amounts of corrosion on the mounting face do tend to loosen up a bit.

Dave

Reply to
spamTHISbrp

Were the wheels off the ground, or at least only lightly loaded to prevent turning, when you torqued them? Embedded dirt too was my first suspect of properly torqued lugs coming loose. Also, the stud threads should NOT be lubed.

When you tighten from 60 to 76 lb/ft, the lug nut was turning, right? (Otherwise you may be near 60 lb/ft instead of 76 lb/ft). That's why I use 25, 50, 76 lb/ft.

Reply to
johngdole

Yeah, that's similar to embedded dirt that loosen the lug nuts. I also have no problems with Costco hand-torqued. It's cheap shops (dealer or independent) using impact wrenches that cause problems.

Reply to
johngdole

When was the last time you had your torque wrench calibrated?

Reply to
Art

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Doesn't calibrating a torque wrench cost as much as buying a new one?

This Sears Craftsman's cost $80, which is about the price of calibration, I think.

Reply to
Built_Well

Yes, becuase the lug nuts were not torqued properly the first time.

I'd like to wait until the next 5,000-mile wheel rotation

Once you get the knack of properly tightening lug nuts, they should stay tight until you remove them.

Does your Camry have alloy wheels or steel wheels?

Were the wheel on the ground when you did the final tightening?

Was the wheel properly seated before lowering the vehicle to the ground?

Reply to
Ray O

====================

JohnGdole, yes, I torqued the rear wheels while the car was still on stands since the parking brake was on and holding the rear wheels tightly. Since the front wheels moved freely, I torqued them after lowering the vehicle unitl the wheels barely touched the ground enough to prevent the front wheels from moving.

After lowering the car completely, I re-torqued everything again.

Judging from the replies, I guess it's normal for some lug nuts to loosen a little bit due to metallic elongation and other factors. Even Sears tells its cutomers to re-torque the wheels after driving

100 miles.
Reply to
Built_Well

====================

JohnGdole, yes, I torqued the rear wheels while the car was still on stands since the parking brake was on and holding the rear wheels tightly. Since the front wheels moved freely, I torqued them after lowering the vehicle unitl the wheels barely touched the ground enough to prevent the front wheels from moving.

After lowering the car completely, I re-torqued everything again.

Judging from the replies, I guess it's normal for some lug nuts to loosen a little bit due to metallic elongation and other factors. Even Sears tells its cutomers to re-torque the wheels after driving

100 miles. ********************* You need to make sure that the wheels and lug nuts are seated and as tight as you can get them before you lower the vehicle to the ground, then tighten to the specified torque. If you lower the vehicle before the wheels and lug nuts are seated, they might seem tight until the vehicle is driven, then loosen up.
Reply to
Ray O

I was just going to say, is it the same torque wrench ? Has it been properly stored ? Used a lot in between ?

Reply to
RT

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Yep, it's the same torque wrench, stored with the numerical torque selector at the lowest setting, as Tegger recommended, contrary to the Sears salesman who recommended storing at 20 foot-pounds. IIRC the salesman said there was some memo floating around recommending that the Craftsman torque wrenches be stored at 20 foot-pounds to prevent damage to the mechanism, but I think Tegger is probably right, and have stored my wrench at zero Newton-meters ever since.

It is interesting, though, that almost all the torque wrenches I've seen at Sears (and the Huskys at Home Depot and the Kobalts at Lowe's) have all been set to a torque of between 20 and 30 foot-pounds while they're sitting on the shelf waiting to be bought.

But I have faith in Tegger, and store my wrench at zero.

Reply to
Built_Well

You need to be sure that the shoulder of the nut is seated properly into the counter-sunk lug hole of the wheel. A fast way to do this is to bring the lug nuts up to the proper torque in steps. Then loosen each nut a bit and retorque it to the proper torque. Don't loosen and retorque all the nuts at the same time, do them one at a time.

Jack

Reply to
Retired VIP

The users manual that came with my Home Depot wrench specifically said to store it set to 25 foot-pounds and specifically warned against storing it at zero.

Reply to
E Meyer

E Meyer wrote in news:C4A64384.32ACC% snipped-for-privacy@msn.com:

The manual that comes with my Sears MicroTork says this: "When the wrench is not in use, keep it set below 25% of capacity. If you leave the wrench set at a reading of more than 50% capacity for more than a few hours, set the wrench at its lowest setting and leave it there for a few minutes before using it again."

I infer from this that the lower the storage setting the better, although benefits of storing at 0% capacity are apparently not significantly greater than storing at 24%.

Since it's clearly being left to me to decide between 0% and 24% as I see fit, I see fit to impose zero deformation on the spring in my torque wrench rather than some deformation. Except for, of course, the danger that I may loosen that famous locknut unless I'm very careful or stop turning a click or three short of the bottom...

Reply to
Tegger

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