Torque on Lug Nuts

Bruce Brown wrote:

Chum lee wrote:
Whenever anyone (well, . . . besides myself) touches the wheels, tires, suspension components, etc., on ANY vehicle I own, drive, etc.,
I ALWAYS check/retorque at least a few of the lug nuts/bolts before I leave visual range of the shop that just worked on it. I don't enjoy getting stuck with a flat tire, at night, while it's raining/pouring in the middle of nowhere with a lug nut/bolt that was torqued to 450 ft-lbs and now I CAN'T GET IT OFF with the tools I have. The factory spec on the MH is 150 ft-lbs.

Chum lee

Factory specs on ours is 450#. My biggest torque wrench only goes to 300#. Might be time,for a torque multiplier.

Wow! 450 ft-lbs. That's a lot. (well beyond the capability of mortal men) A torque multiplier is a good idea. If I was driving your vehicle (no, I'm not giving advice here) I would consider investing in a 120 volt pancake style compressor and a 3/4" drive heavy duty pneumatic impact gun like they use in the long haul truck stops.

Chum lee

Thanks for all the replies and info. Had the lug nuts all retorqued, everything is good. Taking her in after I reload everything and getting the front and rear weights and the setting the correct psi.

My RV is on a light chassis with 19.5" wheels with a torque spec of 150 ft. lbs. so easy for me to check and correct. Usually the lugs are excessively over tighten and I need a cheater bar to get the off and reset to correct torque. I check anytime someone other than myself removes a tire.

The daily driver I also check so I know I can loosen the nuts on the side of the road with the tools that came with the car. Again most of the time they are over torqued and would be very difficult to get off to fix a flat without assistance.

Chum lee wrote:
Whenever anyone (well, . . . besides myself) touches the wheels, tires, suspension components, etc., on ANY vehicle I own, drive, etc.,
I ALWAYS check/retorque at least a few of the lug nuts/bolts before I leave visual range of the shop that just worked on it. I don't enjoy getting stuck with a flat tire, at night, while it's raining/pouring in the middle of nowhere with a lug nut/bolt that was torqued to 450 ft-lbs and now I CAN'T GET IT OFF with the tools I have. The factory spec on the MH is 150 ft-lbs.

Chum lee

Factory specs on ours is 450#. My biggest torque wrench only goes to 300#.

Might be time,for a torque multiplier.

These were put on by a tire dealer using a torque wrench. I watched them as they were installed. 600 miles later......

Every vehicle that I own has aluminum rims. They are more likely to have rim damage than steel wheels. If the lugs are loose, the lugs will eat the rim. If they are too tight, the rim can be warped, lugs stretched, etc. I check mine 50 and 100 miles after the rim was removed, and before every trip. I then check them after 2 weeks on the road.

If you have disc brakes, torqueing is more of an issue so as to not warp the rotor. Using an impact is not good. Final tightening on many MHs is not recommended. Could snap the bolts off, strip them out or stretch them.

Whenever anyone (well, . . . besides myself) touches the wheels, tires, suspension components, etc., on ANY vehicle I own, drive, etc.,
I ALWAYS check/retorque at least a few of the lug nuts/bolts before I leave visual range of the shop that just worked on it. I don't enjoy getting stuck with a flat tire, at night, while it's raining/pouring in the middle of nowhere with a lug nut/bolt that was torqued to 450 ft-lbs and now I CAN'T GET IT OFF with the tools I have. The factory spec on the MH is 150 ft-lbs.

Chum lee

Have been RVing since the mid 80's. Have never had to retorque lug nuts, have never had any come loose. All the tires were installed using large impact wrenches, usually 3/4 to 1 inch size impacts.

I have found when I have bought new tires for any vehicle they always say to drive for several miles then come back for a torque check. As said above, carry a suitable torque wrench with you so you can check them yourself.