Tip for everyone.....

[JcsMP3]

Ok this has been two days in a row now. On Sunday I drive off to go shopping with the gf. Now that my girl knows how to drive stick I let her drive once and awhile. My front passenger tires is making this awckward noise that I never heard before. I cant' describe it besides wwwrrrraaaatnnnnnn.... but whatever...

stop at the mall check my tires nothing seems to rub and everything is in place.... it was freaky... I let her drive again but I told her to take it slow... as I wanted to hear it better with my head sticking out the window... so if anyone seen an mp3 on the 401 on sunday with a head sticking out of it.. it was me.. LOL

I am totally lost on how to get this fixed... I jack up my car to freally spin my wheel... still nothing.. so I am about to rotate my tires to see if it's the tire or something else... 4 of the nuts are loose... WTF like seriously loose... the one that was still tight was my lock nut... I was like WTF is this... I check all my 4 rims and its' all good....

Next day I was paranoid so I check out my tires and the same freakin rim had the same 4 nuts loose again....

Guys do a quick safety check before you leave... check your nuts on your wheels as it might save your ass or life one day... whatever the public can fool around with. I am checking alot.. just in case.... and btw they are tight.. it's not that I am a whimp....

Jamie

 

[JMS'sMSP]

nice

The world needs more people like you man thanks for the tip I would have never thought to check my lugs every now and then to see if some piece of %^&* had loosened my lugs. I will start checking them now. Especially since this stinking town I am stationed in has the highest car theft rate in SC.

 

[BigBlue]

I believe lug nuts are actually supposed to be done up using a torque wrench...any ideas what that torque is?

I always do a check on the lugs every ime I do an autocross event...be a hell of a time to find out they aren't tight when flying around some pylon!

 

[cjstringer]

The torque specs for our lug nuts is 75-80lbs. For a deal on a good wrench and socket, go to tirerack.com. We use a 21mm socket.
I rotate my tires often and always re-torque them. (about every 2-3 weeks) It seems excessive, but when you race 2-3 weekends a month, the tires wear like a SOB, and you gotta change them a lot. I have less than 9500 miles, and I'm probably gonna need new ones by 12000.
Sears wants almost $70 for a good torque wrench, tirerack.com wants about $35 for a really good one. Easy choice in my mind.

 

[redwagon02]

cjstringer, thanks for the torque wrench info. I never thought about one from tire rack.

 

[70]

(snip)...Guys do a quick safety check before you leave... check your nuts on your wheels as it might save your ass or life one day... whatever the public can fool around with. I am checking alot.. just in case.... and btw they are tight.. it's not that I am a whimp....

Jamie

HAHA, I always check my nuts...

 

[JcsMP3]

I was waiting for that one... I am surprised it took so long...

Jc

 

[70]

Yep...

Well, I figured someone had to as well...So I did it.

 

[gjmoreo]

Yeah, I think that I heard somewhere that if someone is missing their hub cap that your supposed to say to them Hey, didn't you know that it is illegal to show your NUTS in public!
LOL - I'll admit, I laughed the first time I heard it....

 

[mx6929]

sorry i am not a pro on this. but how can we check them if we don't have tool on hand? kick them ans see if they are still stable? or any method else???

 

[Kooldino]

sorry i am not a pro on this. but how can we check them if we don't have tool on hand? kick them ans see if they are still stable? or any method else???

Look in your trunk...under the mat. You'll see a tool in there on the right side under a peice of plastic.

 

[70]

sorry i am not a pro on this. but how can we check them if we don't have tool on hand? kick them ans see if they are still stable? or any method else???

We are talking about the car right??

 

[Traveler]

According to the Mazda shop manual, the proper torque spec for the Protege is 67-87 lb/ft. I always torque mine to 80 and NEVER let Les Schwab or any other tire place tighten the lugs without me watching. I usually do it myself on my Protege but I've caught them putting the wheels on with an air gun on my other cars. You think that someone making $8-9 bucks and hour to take wheels on and off cars checks the torque when he's putting on wheels everytime? I've had several warped rotors over the years from that happening.