Breaking wheel studs
Thought I would ask the collective for help. I have now had 3 lug nut wheel studs break. Rig is a 34ft, 14,400 GVWR with 16 inch 8 lug aluminum wheels, studs are 9/16"dia. Studs have broken only on...
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One other thought to consider is that if you have aluminum rims, 120 ft/lbs may be too high. The aluminum will creep if overtightened and you will loose torque. I've observed that many aluminum rims have a lower torque setting than the steel rim equivalent. What is strange is that in my experience, most of the other lug nuts would have to lose torque for to cause a loose wheel to stress and begin breaking lug nuts but you're reporting that none of them are loose.
I'd wager you have a grossly out of calibration torque wrench and are over torquing the lug bolts (?). I found that my torque wrench was almost 30% out of calibration (too low). Harbor Freight sells what we used to call a "torque watch." You can put one end in a vice and your torque wrench on the other end and verify if your wrench is in calibration. You can also use the torque watch to put on the end of a non-torque ratchet and torque your wheels that way. Very helpful tool. Here's a link for the tool:
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-drive-digital-torque-adapter-68283.html
After losing a wheel on the interstate, I'm paranoid about this subject. If you think you've stressed the other lug bolts, you may want to consider pounding out all the old ones and starting with new bolts, properly torqued.
Good luck,
Phil
I'd wager you have a grossly out of calibration torque wrench and are over torquing the lug bolts (?). I found that my torque wrench was almost 30% out of calibration (too low). Harbor Freight sells what we used to call a "torque watch." You can put one end in a vice and your torque wrench on the other end and verify if your wrench is in calibration. You can also use the torque watch to put on the end of a non-torque ratchet and torque your wheels that way. Very helpful tool. Here's a link for the tool:
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-drive-digital-torque-adapter-68283.html
After losing a wheel on the interstate, I'm paranoid about this subject. If you think you've stressed the other lug bolts, you may want to consider pounding out all the old ones and starting with new bolts, properly torqued.
Good luck,
Phil
