Lug Nut Concerns

GASA765 wrote:
If you read one of my previous posts you'll see where I called around to some tire shops to get their opinion on what they should be torqued to. Also found the sticker on the non damaged side after the fact. So,I didn't just arbitrarily make the decision to have them retorqued!

Just based my comments on what your opener said:

GASA765 wrote:
The repair facility said to tighten the lugs to at least 175 lbs. Seemed high but I trusted they new what they were talking about. A couple weeks ago I was thinking again this might be too high. I called around and found out they should only be tightened to 100 lbs.

Per which "experts" are nearer to correct: You may want to check out this thread on the subject of torque values for fivers. The following are quoted from that thread:

Keystone wrote:
"The information contained in these printed instructions outlines the most recently recommended processes involving Lug Nut Torque and takes precedent over any information regarding Lug Nut Torque shown in your Lippert, Dexter or AL-KO Owners’ Manuals."

Francesca Knowles there is a sticker on the fender flare indicating not to exceed 100 lbs that I was unaware of at the time of the wheel coming off. We lost the fender flare when the wheel came off. So I was relying on what I thought was a professional that knew what they were talking about. If you read one of my previous posts you'll see where I called around to some tire shops to get their opinion on what they should be torqued to. Also found the sticker on the non damaged side after the fact. So,I didn't just arbitrarily make the decision to have them retorqued!

Sorry, this is a little off topic:

I worry about over tightening with all the torque wrench checking. OK, that's not true, I am just lazy. I wanted to use those plastic arrow things they sell to show if a lug has loosened, but they do not work with deeply recessed lugs like I have. So I removed my pretty wheel covers and travel without them. I torque them once and then use a black and silver Sharpie pin to mark the nut and the wheel with a dot. The silver Sharpie can also be used to erase the black dot on the nut if it changes. I have never seen one move. I don't know much about metal, but I suppose it is possible for the nut to not move and the torque to still decrease, but I am not going to worry about it.

(on edit)
I forgot to add that I implemented this technique after the normal wheel installation cycle which did involve rechecking the torque with a wrench after use.

GASA765 wrote:
........snip.....My concern is the only wheel that was removed was the original wheel that came off. When they were all retorqued back to 100 lbs they were all on the ground. One lug was loosened and then retorqued. And then the next one and so on and so forth. If they were tight then why are some loosening up.

:S

GASA765 wrote:
We purchased a 2008 FR Silverback 30LSA in Dec to replace our Wildcat that was totaled in an accident back in Oct. We bought new tires and put them on ourselves. Hand tightened without a torque wrench. My buddy has done this many times with his rigs and never had a problem. When we left Pahrump in Feb about 70 miles down the road I looked in my side mirror and saw our driver side front wheel come off our rig. It rolled past us into the desert. The studs had all been sheered off. Towed to a big rig repair facility and had studs for that wheel replaced. The repair facility said to tighten the lugs to at least 175 lbs. Seemed high but I trusted they new what they were talking about. A couple weeks ago I was thinking again this might be too high. I called around and found out they should only be tightened to 100 lbs. I had all 4 manually adjusted to that. A few days ago when we left to come back to Pahrump I was stopping every 50 miles or so to check the lug nuts. About half the stops I had to tighten a couple.
Is this normal? I don't ever recall having ever to do this.
What could be the cause of this? Could a bent axle be causing the studs,to heat up and loosen the lug nuts?
What's the cost of replacing axles?
Someone else thinks the lugs on the other 3 wheels might be worn and need replacing.
Any ideas?
Thanks.

Let's review the parts of your opening post highlighted above.
-First you head off into the wild blue yonder on "hand-tightened without a torque wrench" lugnuts.
-70 miles later a front wheel falls off.
- You go to professional big rig shop for repairs. They repair/install new lugnuts and tell you that proper torque for your lugnuts is 175 pounds.
- Everything is fine until a few weeks later YOU decide based on who-knows-what that 175 lbs is too high, so readjust to a hundred pounds.

Lo and behold- everything goes all to h-e-double-pitchforks again.

Call me foolish, but if I was in your shoes I'd heed the advice of the only professionals that seem to have been involved with the wheels, and torque those nuts to the recommended value. With a TORQUE Wrench.

My concern is the only wheel that was removed was the original wheel that came off. When they were all retorqued back to 100 lbs they were all on the ground. One lug was loosened and then retorqued. And then the next one and so on and so forth. If they were tight then why are some loosening up.

One day I was looking at the wheels on my 5er and noticed that a lug nut was missing. Actually, as I looked closer, I saw that the stud had actually broken off and the whole affair had taken off for parts unknown.

So I took off the wheel and broke off another stud in the process. I decided to replace all the studs. Unfortuneatly the adjacent wheel looked worse the the one I was working on so, to make a long story short, soon I had the whole 5er in the air and all four wheels off.

Well, since I'd gone this far I thought I might repack the bearings and check the brakes while I was at it. The bearings were no problem, but since I had never worked on magnetic brakes before I decided to go to the internet for help. Some guy told me that before I could check my brakes the 5er had to be pointed north because the brakes were magnetic, so it took awhile to figure out that he must have gone south with that advice. I'll tell you-some guys write the longest rambling posts-they should just write a book.

Well the brakes did need some parts and I got them installed, then decided to really look close at my tires before I put them back on. Since I'm getting older I got a magnifying glass and went over every inch of those tires, I checked the valve stems, I checked the air pressures, and I checked the manufacturing date too. Everything looked good so I put the tires back on, lowered the 5er back to the ground, but left the TV hooked up 'cause we were getting ready to go on a trip.

We packed up, checked the oil levels in the TV, adjusted the mirrors and checked the lights. Everything looked good so we loaded up the dog and took off. But we didn't get far because all the wheels fell off. I had forgotten the lug nuts.

Yes folks - this is a joke, but I hope it helps the OP as he considers his plan of action. I guess I could have just told him what he should be doing with his stuff if it were my stuff, but I thought this would be more fun.

DH checks at 10, 25, 50, 75, and 100 after the wheels have been removed. Some of the lugs are loose each time time he checks. He continues to check every 50 miles or so after that until he finds none loose. We also check the air and lugs each time we move the 5th wheel. This is a pain looking for a a safe place to pull off to check them especially on a secondary road. But the alternative is a damaged wheel or worse. We tend to err on the side if safety since we are fulltimers and this is our home.

GASA765 wrote:
I do have a torque wrench and that's what I've been using to tighten the loose lug nuts. Thinking about replacing studs and lug nuts on other 3 wheels.

Absolutely! Check your rims too, make sure they are OK.

I do have a torque wrench and that's what I've been using to tighten the loose lug nuts. Thinking about replacing studs and lug nuts on other 3 wheels.

harbor freight has a tourque wrench for $10/$20 buy one and have piece of mind