Wheel Torque????

[Timothy Ferguson]

Make a long story short. I have

-2006 Toyota Tacoma Access Cab - 86 ft lbs.
-2008 Toyota Sienna - 76 ft lbs.

How much torque is too much. I think my mech. torqued the lugs down to 100 ft lbs. How bad is this or should i be worried? I mean my wheel hasn't fallen off yet.

Thanks

 

[Quattro Pete]

Probably not too bad, as long as all the lugs were torqued to the same value.

If you're worried, buy yourself a torque wrench. They aren't expensive.


FYI, for my car, 89 ft lbs is recommended.

 

[cosynthetics]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Probably not too bad, as long as all the lugs were torqued to the same value.

If you're worried, buy yourself a torque wrench. They aren't expensive.


FYI, for my car, 89 ft lbs is recommended.


+1

That may be a little hight but equal torquing is important. I do 80-85 except for my excursion.

 

[alreadygone]

100,s obviously too high, but only by about 20ft-lbs average. Lug nuts are designed with much higher strength margin than this. As long as no brake shake has developed there's no harm done. If shop is competent otherwise,I'd ask for re-torque and remind them of proper values in the future. Many of us don't bother looking up each vehicle and use a average value for cars, different one for truckss.

Bob

 

[Kestas]

We've tested automotive wheel bolts in the lab and find they need about 400 ft-lbs before they neck. It takes a lot to ruin them, but somehow shops find a way to do that.

Torque values are available, usually from the shop manual. I write the torque values for each car either inside the wheel cover or inside the alloy wheel.

 

[Timothy Ferguson]

So everyone think its going to take a lot to ruin a lug nut. But what about ruining a rim, rotor, or anything else. I feel by everyones tone that 100 ft lbs on a 86ft lbs recommendation is going to be just fine. huh????

 

[Kestas]

What makes you think the mechanic overtorqued the nuts?

A 14% difference is nothing to get excited about. Things just aren't that precise when it comes to torqueing lug nuts. Sometimes a little grit or corrosion on the threads can reduce your clamp load, or your torque wrench may not be exact (mine was off 10% right out of the box). 100 ft-lbs on an 86 ft-lb specified lug nut isn't a big deal to any of the parts. You aim for the proper torque and hope for the best.

 

[hi-miler]

For liablility purposes my mechanic friend always requires torque specifications to be followed for each vehicle. They differ signifigantly. For example, a Geo Prizm has a spec that is probably 80 or more foot pounds lower than a Ford F-150. We don't guess, we inspect each bolt visually, and we always use a torque wrench. It's just good mechanical practice.
Steve

 

[demarpaint]

I have never been to a shop where they torque a wheel. Its always slammed home with an impact wrench, which is one of the reasons why I never had a shop do a brake job, and only once a tire rotation which turned out to be a fiasco. Even tire shops in my neck of the woods slam them home with the impact wrench when replacing tires.

Frank D

 

[hi-miler]

The local Discount Tire store uses a special attachment that approximates torque. As best as I can remember, they have several that must be specific for the different ranges. They don't mind if I watch and I always give at least a $5 tip.
FWIW

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: hi-miler
The local Discount Tire store uses a special attachment that approximates torque. As best as I can remember, they have several that must be specific for the different ranges. They don't mind if I watch and I always give at least a $5 tip.
FWIW


its called a torque stick. techs tend to abuse them. when i turned wrenches i never used them. i put my impact gun on the lowest setting, got the lugnuts snug, lowered the car and finished with the torque wrench with the proper setting. there were techs at my shop who seemed to love hearing the impact guns blast away and wanted to get the lugs as tight as humanly possible. strange how any cars i worked on never had broken studs.