Torquing those Lug Nuts...

[Doc Zaius]

Hey everybody... quick question... bought a 1/2" torque wrench last week, and rotated my tires, front to back, and tightened everything to the factory spec 76 ft.lbs. I've been told that its a good idea to re-torque all your lug nuts after 100 km or so just to make sure everything is still snug. Now, in the instruction manual for the wrench, they say you should never try to torque an already tight nut... its best to loosen it, and then re-torque for an accurate reading.

My question is this... should I just ensure each nut is still tight with the wrench, or should I loosen each nut individually and re-torque, possibly undo-ing the last 100 km "settling-into-place" phase...?

Thanks! :smile:

[largeorangefont]

Hey everybody... quick question... bought a 1/2" torque wrench last week, and rotated my tires, front to back, and tightened everything to the factory spec 76 ft.lbs. I've been told that its a good idea to re-torque all your lug nuts after 100 km or so just to make sure everything is still snug. Now, in the instruction manual for the wrench, they say you should never try to torque an already tight nut... its best to loosen it, and then re-torque for an accurate reading.

My question is this... should I just ensure each nut is still tight with the wrench, or should I loosen each nut individually and re-torque, possibly undo-ing the last 100 km "settling-into-place" phase...?

Thanks! :smile:

Don't loosen it. Just apply smooth even pressure until the torque wrench clicks, then stop.

[johnnyfive]

the only reason the manual says to losen it first, is so you know the nut is not over tight. if you put them on with the wrench in the first place, you can be sure that they are not over tight. and re-tightening your lug nuts is more to make sure they are still tight, more often than retightening them :)

[ChinoCharles]

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that he didn't get a clicking torque wrench.

DID I WIN DID I WIN?

[mikeukrainetz]

my new rims and lugs needed re-tightening shortly after installing them.
torqued them down once with a half inch torque wrench then again just after.
they had loosened off slightly.
I highly recommend doing it twice.

[Doc Zaius]

Charles... sorry! You lose! :wink:

I bought a clicking-style torque wrench. Its pretty sweet... never used one before. But ya, the idea of loosening them first to ensure they're not over-tightened makes perfect sense.

Thanks all who replied! :biggrin:

[ChinoCharles]

Aw shit.

[cali yaris]

Charles FTL :smile:

[brickhardmeat]

one click:wink: