Lug Nut Torque

[ralphnjoann]

My fifth wheel has 15" five bolt load range C tires. What should the lug nut torque be? Would 80 foot pounds be about right?

[fj12ryder]

And there's no reason you ever should.

I use anti-seize on my lug nuts, and tighten them to about 5-7 lb.ft. less than the recommended. Never had a lug nut come loose in 40 years, and I can always get them off with the tools at hand. Which is the main idea. I've had friends that cannot say the same when they needed to change a tire.

[3oaks]

JIMNLIN wrote:
Good point.
Dry such as a new lug and a new nut with no rust present on the lug nuts or studs or where the nut contacts the wheel.
Lug nuts and studs can become rusty over time to the point they are hard to break loose and pop when broke loose. When this happens on any of my trailers I add a couple of drops of heavy oil or a touch of red grease to the stud and run the lugs in and out a few time for good coverage and getting rid of rust and the nut contact point.
Don't over lube the threads on a old nut or stud.

I so similar, only I give them a shot of WD-40. And to all the nay sayers, I have never had a lug nut work loose from using WD-40 on the threads.

[time2roll]

ralphnjoann wrote:
Thank you, everyone. Per earlier posts, I found a chart on eTrailer which shows 90 to 120 foot pounds. I'll stay on the lower side.

That is what my sticker said. I have similar wheels and tires. I use 105 to split the difference.

[ralphnjoann]

Thank you, everyone. Per earlier posts, I found a chart on eTrailer which shows 90 to 120 foot pounds. I'll stay on the lower side.

[LOFAT36]

Aluminum wheels 105

[MFL]

I would say 80 lbs would be about right, not more than 90 lbs. It does make a difference, depending on wheel type.

Mine are 6-bolt 5,200 lb axles. I set mine about 90 lbs, and they do not loosen, after the initial couple tight checks, required from wheel removal. I have white spoke steel wheels.

Jerry

[MarkTwain]

ralphnjoann wrote:
My fifth wheel has 15" five bolt load range C tires. What should the lug nut torque be? Would 80 foot pounds be about right?

Contact the customer service of your trailers MFG or look in your RV's manual or you could just call your local RV shop as they would have all these torque numbers.

[JIMNLIN]

Good point.
Dry such as a new lug and a new nut with no rust present on the lug nuts or studs or where the nut contacts the wheel.
Lug nuts and studs can become rusty over time to the point they are hard to break loose and pop when broke loose. When this happens on any of my trailers I add a couple of drops of heavy oil or a touch of red grease to the stud and run the lugs in and out a few time for good coverage and getting rid of rust and the nut contact point.
Don't over lube the threads on a old nut or stud.

[TxGearhead]

Whatever value you settle on, torque values are usually stated as "dry". So no grease or anti-seize on the threads.

[allen8106]

jfkmk wrote:
what axles do you have? The Dexter axles on my TT call for 100-120 ft pounds.

Same here.

[JIMNLIN]

Dexster axle and wheel torque
Axle manufacturers like Dexster or Rockwell American/other have a max torque for their lugs however the wheel manufacturer may have less torque requirements.
Example Dexster says their 1/2"-20 thd axle lugs are good to 120 ft lbs.....then their steel wheels may go to from 90 to 120 ft lbs.
Most aluminum wheels use max torque numbers.

A google has tons of reading on the subject.

[eHoefler]

Depends on stud size. 1/2" usualy 90ftpds, 9/16" 140ftpds

[jfkmk]

what axles do you have? The Dexter axles on my TT call for 100-120 ft pounds.