Lug Nut TORQUE WEIRDNESS ! (kinda)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Feb 11, 2014
Messages
1,980
Location
Upper Midwest by the Lakes USA
Looking for possible "reassurance" on this one fellas....

I did my latest 5k 4 wheel rotation on my '13 Corolla, done it twice before. Just to be overly detailed... The car was driven 3blocks from the garage where I keep it at night and into my driveway. So the car, rims brakes etc were ambient temp 75F. Up on blocks, did the rotation, everything came off and went on easy, did my usual reinstall just the slightest bit of fluid film via a sesame seed sized squirt into my finger tip, spread only thinly around the hub shoulder there they tend to rust (hub centric rims) and out the lug nuts back on , spun them hand tight. Lowered to just touching concrete, torqued to 40ft-lbs, lowered nearly fully (3/4load off jack) and tightened to factory 76ft-lb spec in star pattern. NO lube on the studs, they are clean metal and rust free at two years old. By-the-book. Drives fine.

I make it a habit to verify torque after about 50-100 miles, which happens
To be 48 hours later (today) . So today I ran an errand to a nearby city about 50 miles away. Took my torque wrench with. Got off the highway and cruised through town to my first destination. Car and rims were warm, not hot, not emergency braking, nothing extraordinary. I let the car set for 20 minutes and came out with my stuff. Took my torque wrench and set it to 74 ft-lbs. as a simple step to not add torque where none was needed. .... And something happened that never has before.....

The lug nuts ALL turned by a noticeable amount before click, nothing wild but noticeable movement, not the typical slight push and click I have experienced every time before. I'd say about 3-4inches at the end of the torque wrench handle which is maybe an eighth or quarter inch at the lugnut. It happened on every lugnut. I was paying more attention to the movement at the handle. Drives fine but left me wondering why it hasn't ever before.


So, is it normal???? Was it because the rims and stud were warm (easily touchable, NOT sizzlin hot)??? Was it just part of the manufacturer stated +\- 4% variance of the torque wrench. (Never dropped, 1 year old, stored correctly at low setting)

Did I over torque by accident due to these circumstances. I'm not a newb and know to never torque unevenly or when smokin hot, so I'm not worried about rotors or anything.


Just very curious as to why this never happened before. Somebody experienced has to know if this is "within reason" to experience the "budge" after driving for 50-75miles. And please, any wise [censored]es go want to okay , " You ruined your car sell it to me!" Please refrain.
 
Normal?

Seems a bit obsessive to me, so completely normal in the local context.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Trav
Totally normal especially if you have aluminum rims. It sounds like it moved about half a nut flat which is nothing at all to worry about.


Thanks Trav. Always happy to see your posts.

I forgot to mention that they are OEM steel rims with what I'd call tapered seat chrome "fully capped acorn lugnuts". They are tall and encase the stud completely.

Glad to hear it's ok. It was a little alarming to experience the phenomena of them actually turning on the 75ish mile torque check. Never happened before and the only difference was that the wheels and thus studs were probably warmer than I've had them on previous torque checks. Most other torque checks were done after a few days of in town driving to total the 75miles. And as you said, I would indeed describe it as
About a half to maybe three quarters a nut flat that the turned with the 3-4inches of torque wrench stroke that it took to achieve click. They didn't creak or jump. They turned eerily smoothly and then very gently clicked. I didn't have to apply heavy pressure, just a straight arm push. Interesting.
 
What kind of torque wrench do you have? If it's a Harbor Freight I'd maybe wonder, but if you have a Matco (what I have) I'd say it's pretty accurate.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
What kind of torque wrench do you have? If it's a Harbor Freight I'd maybe wonder, but if you have a Matco (what I have) I'd say it's pretty accurate.


Harbor Freight half inch and 2 years old. Has tightened a total of 8 wheels (2 cars in my household) with 5 lugnuts each for a total of 3 tire rotations. My math tells me that the wrench has been used to achieve 76ft-lbs of torque a grand total of 60 individual times. ( 60 lugnut torque events)

Stored indoors in cool dehumidified basement. Never dropped. Transported in Corolla trunk secured in black factory case for the 45miles of smooth interstate driving and 3 miles of concrete city low speed driving prior to being removed and used in parking lot of destination for my day's errands.
 
Originally Posted By: SumpChump
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
What kind of torque wrench do you have? If it's a Harbor Freight I'd maybe wonder, but if you have a Matco (what I have) I'd say it's pretty accurate.


Harbor Freight half inch and 2 years old. Has tightened a total of 8 wheels (2 cars in my household) with 5 lugnuts each for a total of 3 tire rotations. My math tells me that the wrench has been used to achieve 76ft-lbs of torque a grand total of 60 individual times. ( 60 lugnut torque events)

Stored indoors in cool dehumidified basement. Never dropped. Transported in Corolla trunk secured in black factory case for the 45miles of smooth interstate driving and 3 miles of concrete city low speed driving prior to being removed and used in parking lot of destination for my day's errands.
Still Harbor Freight...


I don't hate Harbor Freight, bought a pipe cutter and torch there today; but I wouldn't say for certain the torque wrench is perfectly accurate.
 
I would vote normal but also I can understand your surprise. Among the cars that I've maintained with aluminum wheels and checked the torque after a couple hundred miles of driving like this, on most of them the nuts never budge on the retorque, but on one car in particular they nearly always rotate a little, about as much as it sounds like you're describing.

So, I'm voting that it's normal for them to move AND normal for them not to move!
 
well, if you are really paranoid, do it again after another 75 miles. If they keep on rotating, you have a right to be paranoid then!
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Originally Posted By: SumpChump
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
What kind of torque wrench do you have? If it's a Harbor Freight I'd maybe wonder, but if you have a Matco (what I have) I'd say it's pretty accurate.


Harbor Freight half inch and 2 years old. Has tightened a total of 8 wheels (2 cars in my household) with 5 lugnuts each for a total of 3 tire rotations. My math tells me that the wrench has been used to achieve 76ft-lbs of torque a grand total of 60 individual times. ( 60 lugnut torque events)

Stored indoors in cool dehumidified basement. Never dropped. Transported in Corolla trunk secured in black factory case for the 45miles of smooth interstate driving and 3 miles of concrete city low speed driving prior to being removed and used in parking lot of destination for my day's errands.
Still Harbor Freight...


I don't hate Harbor Freight, bought a pipe cutter and torch there today; but I wouldn't say for certain the torque wrench is perfectly accurate.


In this context it wouldn't have to be accurate, it'd just have to be consistent, since what is being discussed is a change.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I don't hate Harbor Freight, bought a pipe cutter and torch there today; but I wouldn't say for certain the torque wrench is perfectly accurate.


Any torque wrench can lose accuracy, of course. Even suddenly.

I have HF 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" torque wrenches. I test them against each other regularly and once in a while on a torqcheck. No problems in 3 years. Of course, if one took a hit or failed a test I would retire it immediately. Habitually taking the tension off immediately after use probably helps as well. Just a data point.

OP, I also have had steel/alloy wheels seem slightly loose on recheck. If you have a chance maybe you could check your wrench against a friend's to be safe.
 
My 'old school' take on the clicker torque wrenches is to always bring it down to zero after use=don't want the spring to take a set
 
Never have experienced this in three plus decades of torquing wheel lug nuts. Torque them at 76 ft lbs and a recheck at same torque setting doesn't rotate lug nuts to any significant degree.. This on aluminum wheels. Snap On 1/2" torque wrench.
 
Originally Posted By: HosteenJorje
Never have experienced this in three plus decades of torquing wheel lug nuts. Torque them at 76 ft lbs and a recheck at same torque setting doesn't rotate lug nuts to any significant degree.. This on aluminum wheels. Snap On 1/2" torque wrench.


I've never experienced it in FOUR decades plus of NOT torqueing lubricated wheel lug nuts.

There's a solution.
smile.gif
 
Last edited:
Torque them once roughly to the factory spec and don't worry about it again. They're not going to break and they will probably outlast the engine as long as you use a little lube and don't cross-thread them. Then again, this is BITOG. Did you confirm the torque wrench was exactly 90 degrees to the axis of the stud? If there is even a slight angle, it could skew your measurements.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top