Sheared Lugs
New to this forum. It is winter but in a few months it will be time to go get the camper out of storage. My last camping outing was ended abruptly and I can't stop thinking about it. I was towing i...
Forum Discussion
MFL wrote:
In my Gulf Stream owners manual, which like most, is for more than one model, it states two torque specification settings. It talks of side load, and importance of checking lug torque often.
The chart shows
"Lite" Towables 50-75 ft. lbs.
All other Towables 85-95 ft. lbs.
WARNING! DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN THE LUG NUTS! OVER TIGHTENING MAY CAUSE THE LUG STUDS TO SHEER OFF UNDER CERTAIN DRIVING CONDITIONS.
I have six bolt 5,200 lb axles on my FW. I have two torque wrenches, one tightens slightly more than the other, when set the same. I tighten the lug nuts on mine to 95 lb./ft, with the slightly weaker wrench.
IMO, a spread of 90-120 is too much. IMO, anything over 100 lb./ft is too much on a mid sized RV trailer.
Maybe the OP will come back with the specific info, given to him from his axle manufacturer.
Jerry
Actually a spread of 30 is not that uncommon. Dexter Torque Specs gives the torque values for their wheels/axles. This table is only applicable for Dexter wheels/axles prior to 2004 since they got out of the wheel business that year, but it seems other wheel/axle manufacturers would have similar numbers.
It is instructive to note the way to tighten the lug nuts from finger tight to the spec in 3 stages along with the multiple checks over a fairly short mileage span followed by periodic checks very similar to what I mentioned in my last post in this thread.
I didn't double check, but IIRC the 14" wheels on my current trailer have a spec of 90 to 110 in the owner's manual.
Larry
