Do you guys torque your wheels?

[whitey4311]

I dont have a torque wrench and when I did my CAI I just snugged the lugs up good and tight but didnt stand on them or anything crazy.

I dont remove wheels often enough that I think it will matter since I have the dealter rotate the tires at my 5k oil changes so I should be good but thought I woudl ask.

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

usually lug nuts should be torqued down to like 80 ft lbs... never tighten them too much...

 

[bkw]

Highly doubt that the dealer uses a torque wrench when rotating your tires. After any work where the lugs are touched, I always make sure that I give them my torque wrench or insist that I torque them to 80ft/lbs. Why? On my AP1, had issues with broken studs from the assholes torquing them with an impact gun after replacing tires which caused a wheel to fly off at speed.

 

[whitey4311]

Well s*** I wonder if I over torqued them?

Wouldnt you have to really wrench on them hard to over do it with a hand wrench?

Maybe when I get my nice rims I will take it to a nice shop for rotating to be sure they torque it right.

 

[M3_Zoom]

usually lug nuts should be torqued down to like 80 ft lbs... never tighten them too much...

+1. Also now-a-days it's worth spending the money for a torque wrench because just about everything on newer cars has a torque specification. I have three myself for light, medium and heavy torques etc. Mine are all Craftsman and what's nice in addition to the "if it breaks, we replace it" warranty, you can also take them in and have the torque calibration checked for free.

 

[whitey4311]

So then what do you guys do when they rotate the tires, loosen the lugs and redo it yourself?

I hope I didnt ruin anything but like I said I didnt go stupid and really wrench on the lugs after i did the CAI install.

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

any mechanic should have a torque wrench...tell them you want them tightened to 80lbs, and no more...

 

[M3_Zoom]

So then what do you guys do when they rotate the tires, loosen the lugs and redo it yourself?

I hope I didnt ruin anything but like I said I didnt go stupid and really wrench on the lugs after i did the CAI install.

They? The only time my car goes to the dealer is if something breaks, period. I'm a little OCD so somethings are better if I do them myself and I know it was done correctly. I rotate my own tires and torque them etc. Yes, I know rotating the tires are a simple job, but the time it takes me to drive to the dealer, sit, wait and drive home, I would be finished in my own garage.

 

[major error]

When I got my first vehicle, the 2nd and 3rd things I got were a breaker-bar and a large torque wrench...

 

[whitey4311]

They? The only time my car goes to the dealer is if something breaks, period. I'm a little OCD so somethings are better if I do them myself and I know it was done correctly. I rotate my own tires and torque them etc. Yes, I know rotating the tires are a simple job, but the time it takes me to drive to the dealer, sit, wait and drive home, I would be finished in my own garage.

So how do you balance them?

I will hunt down a torque wrench but more then likely I will stand over them when I have the wheels balanced and rotated and tell them no more then 80lbs torque.

I am sure my wheel is fine even though its not torqued. I loosened one lug on a wheel to feel how tight it was and did my best to get a feel for what how tight to make them when I put the wheel back on.

 

[M3_Zoom]

So how do you balance them?

I will hunt down a torque wrench but more then likely I will stand over them when I have the wheels balanced and rotated and tell them no more then 80lbs torque.

I am sure my wheel is fine even though its not torqued. I loosened one lug on a wheel to feel how tight it was and did my best to get a feel for what how tight to make them when I put the wheel back on.

Well to balance them, I have no choice but to take it to the dealer or tire & wheel shop. Personally if I need new tires or balance, I go to a well established business that deals with custom wheels on a daily basis and has the know how to speed balance a wheel, not put those ugly weights on the outside of the rim. After they do the job and I return home, I do loosen the lugs and retorque them. I've experienced over torqued lugs that broke the stud when I removed the lug nut and I've also experienced lugs that were not tight enough and it caused serious wheel shimmy during driving. So, bad experiences have caused me to be a little OCD on certain repairs etc.

 

[whitey4311]

Thanks for the info I will have to hunt down a good custom wheel shop for my balance/rotations.

I dont take the wheels off hardly ever to really need to worry about the torque settings and when I did my CAI I just made sure they were tight but not crazy tight. I think that will do just fine but I do see your points and will have to keep an eye on which ever shop should ever need to remove my wheels.

 

[Rotus8]

One other tip is to tighten the nuts in the correct sequence. Use the pattern we used in kindegarden to draw a five pointed star. One nut, skip one, skip one, etc. Also it is best to do it in two steps: First pass make the nuts just a little past snug, but not to full torque. This is to seat the wheel evenly. Then take another pass to full torque. If you torque one nut to full torque with the others loose, you run the risk of warping the rotor or the wheel.

 

[whitey4311]

I knew that part, thanks though.

I am not a total idiot but I just dont own lots of tools however I can have fixed plenty on cars with friends tools ect.

 

[BHOUST528]

i just do my own rotation and then run them down with my impact gun .....

 

[voiceKoil]

Ill be nice, Just so you dont have a wheel fall off on the freeway you should double check your wheelies a couple days after you put them on, dont care where you live but if its hot and cold the wheels can actually contract themselves and end up being loose, you notice that by the wheels vibrating at any speed, or by lugnuts being loose after a couple cold nights..... I dont know anyone that actually sits and torques their wheels, my arms know when its good enough....... Its tight but not tight enough to snap my lug bolt tight...then check after a couple days... You might know what I mean. but then again..................

 

[Toothy07]

Everybody knows what tight is but you can definitely overtighten. Do that and you'll warp your rotors. Therefore, I always torque to the right spec.

 

[Brian MP5T]

Buy a good torque wrench early in life, it will last you till you die..

 

[SwampAss]

I torque mine. The only time I didn't is when jbiiird and I switched wheels. I forgot it.

 

[whitey4311]

I just did a rotation last night and have no torque wrench but I though I had them tight enough and the neghibor works on trucks he said they were too loose. He sort of pushed on them a bit more and they did budge so they werent that tight I guess.

I will buy a wrench but I noticed that at only 5k my fronts look pretty freaking worn compared to the backs. I also talked to the neighbor and he said since the out side edges were more worn that the PSI was low and that I should up them. So I out 42psi front and 40psi rear to get the tire to ride more center and wear more even.

With the hand tool in the trunk I had to push pretty hard on the lugs but its so short that I bet I am some where around 80lbs torque although with a long wrench I realize I wouldnt have to push nearly as much. I didnt stand on it or get crazy but I did muscle it a bit more after the neighbor took the wrench and backed mine off super easy the first time around.

I really hope they will be alright and that I didnt over do it but I have never torqued a wheel before and the 2 neghibors dont either with zero problems. Also while at the dealer I watched them rotate my friends wheels and they just use a air gun. Unless I missed them finsih off with a torque wrench I dont think they used one either. Now days most shops dont torque which sucks but thats not to say its a good thing.

For these tires my new method will be to self rotate at 2500 miles and torque then at 5k miles oil change with balance and rotation again. They wear too fast to not rotate often and I want to buy them again so if I can get 20k out of them I will be happy and choose them the next time around.

PS after you guys torque to 80lbs can you still budge the lugs or are they tight when checked with a solid wrench?