Retorq Lug Nuts?

[dmpi]

I'm not sure I understand the concept of 're-torque'. Once they're on you can't measure the torque other than taking them off and putting them back on with a torque wrench.

 

[Car-Guy]

^^^
Sure, it's easy. Just hit each lug nut with a preset torque wrench. Ex. I may set mine for 100 lbs. Then hit each nut until the wrench clicks... Done.... Usually it clicks immediately. IME, it's pretty rare that any need to be tighten. I can check the lugs all four wheels in about 3 or 4 minutes.

 

[njhowie]

I'm not sure I understand the concept of 're-torque'. Once they're on you can't measure the torque other than taking them off and putting them back on with a torque wrench.

From a tire manufacturer:

https://www.continental-tires.com/products/b2c/tire-knowledge/retorquing-wheels.html

 

[dmpi]

^^^
Sure, it's easy. Just hit each lug nut with a preset torque wrench. Ex. I may set mine for 100 lbs. Then hit each nut until the wrench clicks... Done.... Usually it clicks immediately. IME, it's pretty rare that any need to be tighten. I can check the lugs all four wheels in about 3 or 4 minutes.

Oh, I see. Maybe I have the wrong type of torque wrench. I have one of the older style ones with the arrow and the meter. If its too loose I can tighten it but if its too tight I have to take it off and put it back on. Maybe I'll get one of these settable clicking torque wrenches. They don't cost as much as they use to cost.

 

[skyking1]

That's all I do, I set the torque wrench at 150 in my case, and just check the nuts.
I'll do it periodically as the alternative is not pretty, especially when towing a heavy trailer.
It's been 6 months since the last big trip and I'll check air pressure and the lugs before the camping trip.
There are large sections of Chinook Pass without guardrails

 

[Koolau]

I've never had any place say come back for a retorque.

Ditto. Far as I know, nothing on the receipt either.

 

[JoeWras]

6 point socket, always, if proper size, which is almost assuredly metric.

Brakes.

 

[Telly]

IIRC, the "retorque after 50 miles" came about with aluminum wheels. I believe it was first mentioned by aftermarket aluminum wheel manufacturers back in the late '60s, like the 5-spoke "mag" wheels.
Not too many vehicles come with a steel wheel anymore, other than the typical cost-reduced spare tire assembly. All our present vehicles have aluminum wheels, but the spares are all on steel wheels.

I always check some time after putting a wheel back on. If I have tires put on at Discount Tire, I do a first-check when I get home, the second after some miles. I have found some that needed to be snugged up after 25 - 50 miles. I've been doing my own work since the late 1960s, checking torque on lug nuts is simple. Speaking of lug niuts, one vehicle we've had had lug bolts, and that was a pain... thank you, VW.

One-piece chrome lug nuts that become two-piece - For our vehicles that have the chromed thin-metal overlay over a base-metal (steel) nut, I have bought replacement chromed solid-steel lug nuts on Rockauto. Too many horror stories of the outer overlay destructing, and the base nut not fitting any wrench size. If any look distorted or losing their crisp corners on the hex, I put the solids in for them. Have some solids in the glove box, too.
Have heard that some company now has a custom socket that fits the base nut, but it's meant for a socket wrench. But I use a cross-bar wrench for everything, and don't carry torque wrenches around.
In a earlier post above, Jerry1 mentions those lug nuts.
I suspect that putting them on, and taking them off, with an impact wrench is not doing them any good! I don't impact them. But tire places do.

 

[CaptTom]

I used to always cuss at the grease monkeys at the local garage who over-torqued the lug nuts with an air tool every time. At home I always used @Spock's "ugs of grunt" measurements.


I guess these days the chain tire places probably do it "by the book" with a proper torque wrench. Now that I think about it, I haven't had to cuss as much getting wheels off. That's probably why.

 

[38Chevy454]

It's mostly CYA for the tire shop. It did start with alum wheels as thermal expansion can loosen if lug nuts are not tightened correctly the first time. Steel wheels can also have the effect, but less since the wheel stud, brake rotor, lug nut, and wheel are all made of basically the same material (steel and cast iron).

There are many tire shops now that use a torque wrench to be more accurate than the old air impact wrench. You can recheck torque at home, do it when cold, not after driving and parts are heated up.

 

[Jerry1]

One-piece chrome lug nuts that become two-piece - For our vehicles that have the chromed thin-metal overlay over a base-metal (steel) nut, I have bought replacement chromed solid-steel lug nuts on Rockauto. Too many horror stories of the outer overlay destructing, and the base nut not fitting any wrench size. If any look distorted or losing their crisp corners on the hex, I put the solids in for them. Have some solids in the glove box, too.
Have heard that some company now has a custom socket that fits the base nut, but it's meant for a socket wrench. But I use a cross-bar wrench for everything, and don't carry torque wrenches around.
In a earlier post above, Jerry1 mentions those lug nuts.
I suspect that putting them on, and taking them off, with an impact wrench is not doing them any good! I don't impact them. But tire places do.

Yes, that’s exactly what we were dealing with. I didn’t know about the one piece log nuts. I’ll definitely look into those.

 

[Music Lover]

I suspect that putting them on, and taking them off, with an impact wrench is not doing them any good! I don't impact them. But tire places do.

They make adjustable air wrenches, I've seen several places around here use them.

I also own an impact wrench and swap my own summer/winter tires. I use the impact wrench on high to remove the lug nuts, but when putting them back on I use the low impact setting that stops as soon it feels resistance. I then tighten them by hand.

 

[thod]

I have watched the torque procedure at the tire place I go to.
They use an air powered wrench to put on and tighten the lugs. Then they go back with a manual torque wrench that stops at the preset torque. The problem is the wrench only guarantees at least the torque it was set to. If the air gun over torqued it, then it would just immediately click.

So checking with a torque wrench just ensures a minimum torque, it does not prevent an over torque.

And yes I have had some lug nuts that were nearly impossible to get off as a result. One effort did result in the destruction of a chrome plated lug nut.

 

[Music Lover]

I have watched the torque procedure at the tire place I go to.
They use an air powered wrench to put on and tighten the lugs. Then they go back with a manual torque wrench that stops at the preset torque. The problem is the wrench only guarantees at least the torque it was set to. If the air gun over torqued it, then it would just immediately click.

The shop may have (probably?) used an air wrench that had an adjustable setting.

 

[skyking1]

All my impacts do. My Dewalt hits the truck nuts just about right on high setting, then I put the long wrench to them. Overtorqued can be a bad day. I had a 63 falcon convertible when i worked at Sears, and they hammered those lugs on so hard that I broke a breaker bar trying to get them off.

 

[music-and-ski]

You should definitely check to see if any of the nuts are loose after a day or two. I once drove around with a wobbly loose wheel for *way* longer than I should have.

But, you can just use your own muscles and a wrench.

 

[grasshopper]

My Santa Fe came with wheel locks which I refused to pay for. But when I go to the big city or know I will have my tires rotated they go on or come off.

I have a 50 YO Craftsman click torque wrench, but would question it's accuracy. So I use the Grunt-O-Meter 4 way and so yes I do the checking.

Bacon for me.

 

[SnowBound]

If you have a duel (or tri-axle) camper, definitely re-torq the camper lug nuts.

Also, my son's RAV4 with factory rims will have the lug nuts come loose unless at factory specs. The snow tires on aftermarket rims have no issues.

 

[ERD50]

I have watched the torque procedure at the tire place I go to.
They use an air powered wrench to put on and tighten the lugs. Then they go back with a manual torque wrench that stops at the preset torque. The problem is the wrench only guarantees at least the torque it was set to. If the air gun over torqued it, then it would just immediately click.

So checking with a torque wrench just ensures a minimum torque, it does not prevent an over torque. ....

It it clicks right away, with no detectable movement, loosen the nut, then check the torque.

I guess if you wanted to check if it was over-torqued, you could move the setting up 5# at a time, and see where it starts to move?

-ERD50

 

[Badger]

Tires are rotated every time the oil is changed. I have heard the horror stories of wheels coming off while driving down the highway after a rotation and been concerned so maybe from now on I will check myself. First need to buy a decent clicking torque wrench.

Cheers!

 

[Surewhitey]

Are you sure you had a prefect socket fit? People often get a near fit (especially when they mix up SAE vs Metric sockets. That can cause problems.

No matter if rotating/changing your tires or doing a brake job, it's unusual to strip (or round off) the lug nuts if you use the correct sockets/4 way. Now I have broken off a few studs in my time but rarely damaged a lug nut.

Last week I was doing a brake job and came across lugs that are nuts w/thin caps. They swell & you can't even pound the wrench on... Took it to the tire store, got 2 new tires and 1-pc lugs on all 4 with the rotation and all is good. Took it home & knocked out the rotors/brake job. Good for another few years...

They said it's usually Fords that have these nuts, but mine is a Sienna...

 

[Car-Guy]

^^^^
Sounds like decorative lug nut caps. Lot's of cars have them and those should be removed before trying to use a lug wrench. Here's some examples of cap removal tools.

 

[Surewhitey]

^^^^
Sounds like decorative lug nut caps. Lot's of cars have them and those should be removed before trying to use a lug wrench. Here's some examples of cap removal tools.

Good to know. Had never heard of this.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

IIRC, the "retorque after 50 miles" came about with aluminum wheels. I believe it was first mentioned by aftermarket aluminum wheel manufacturers back in the late '60s, like the 5-spoke "mag" wheels.
Not too many vehicles come with a steel wheel anymore, other than the typical cost-reduced spare tire assembly. All our present vehicles have aluminum wheels, but the spares are all on steel wheels.

Yep, I agree that retorqing became a thing with alloy wheels. Also, a lot of Euro cars use bolts instead of lugs and nuts. I've experienced them loosening up, and suspect that bolts would be more inclined to do so -- especially on the front wheels, which can heat up with repeated braking and other "spirited" driving behaviors. Why the Euros use them is beyond me; their vehicle inspection requirements are so much more rigorous than ours, so it's probably not an issue over there. But they make mounting wheels a bit of a pain.

Torque wrenches: I've owned beam-style torque wrenches for over 40 years. They aren't as gee-whiz as clicker or beeping wrenches, but they are a lot cheaper -- you can get a 1/2-inch drive at NAPA for less than $30 -- and they never need recalibrating.

 

[Telly]

Found one in the garage! Didn't think I saved one!

Picks of a "two-piece" lug nut that I described previously in this thread. It's known as a "two piece", as it was made in two pieces. It's meant to stay as "one piece", forever. Even I didn't know that it was two-piece, originally when new, just noted a color change at the base of the hex.

In this case, the outer chromed shell came off. It's not supposed to. I was able to slide it back on, to get the lug nut off the vehicle. In northern or coastal climates, corrosion can build up between the shell and the base nut, and swell. In southern climates, the shell can come off and be lost, or get all gnarled up. Looking closely at the shell, can see deformation of the shell at the corners of the hex. Strongly suspect impact gun at Discount Tire. I think it dragged the shell around enough that it let go of the base nut.

The shell is pretty thin chromed steel, and is the appropriate standard or metric size.
The base nut is steel, had a goldish cast to it, may be zinc dichromated, and has it's own non-standard-anything size. The shell was never meant to come off (or swell up, ha ha!).