Wheel Lugs

[Card35]

New to Class C Traveling/Camping. Purchased a new JAYCO 31F, and Dealer kept emphasizing the importance of using a torque wrench frequently on lug nuts. Have done a lot of traveling over the years in various size 5th wheels. Did monitor lug nuts occasionally, but not to the extreme the dealer was suggesting. How often do Class C owners actually check and torque? Thanks for any help...

[Jaxom]

jfkmk wrote:
I check the lugs with a torque wrench before each trip. Never had a lug loosen up, but still check. It takes me just a minute.

How can you check the lug nuts' torque? Mine is supposed to be 450 ft. lbs. or so. At work they have a clicker style torque wrench. It's about 5 feet long.

[klutchdust]

pauldub wrote:
I check mine immediately after I buy tires. I don't think I've ever found any under-torqued, but finding them over-torqued happens too often.

x2
I have removed tires from other cars not my own and wonder if they used a cheater pipe on the end of a breaker bar.

And i usually find that out on the side of the road with the OEM lug wrench/pry bar thingy as my weapon of choice.

My dad always had a 4 way in his vehicles. i carry a breaker bar and strong socket.

[klutchdust]

2oldman wrote:

ron.dittmer wrote:
Wow, I never check them, never thought of doing so on any vehicle I own.

Every tire shop I've been to tells me to check them at 50 miles after a wheel removal.

My guess is to double check their work. Remember, be sure you are using your torque wrench properly. snap check is the best way otherwise you may add a little bit of torque each time you check.
Do you back off your wrench in-between uses?
So far and wrenching for a living I have not found a torqued lug nut loose, now in heavy equipment is another issue.

[bukhrn]

Dusty R wrote:

ron.dittmer wrote:
Wow, I never check them, never thought of doing so on any vehicle I own.

X-2

x-3

[pauldub]

I check mine immediately after I buy tires. I don't think I've ever found any under-torqued, but finding them over-torqued happens too often.

[Durb]

I check mine maybe twice a season. I'm surprised at how many have loosened some. I take a lot of trips but don't tow a lot of miles.

[Grit_dog]

ron.dittmer wrote:
Wow, I never check them, never thought of doing so on any vehicle I own.

That's because the recommendation to do so is not because a properly installed wheel with properly torqued lugs has the propensity to come loose on it's own, it's to lower the chance that an improperly installed or torqued wheel has enough time to come completely loose and cause damage or an accident. Or in more rare instances, a part or hardware has been over stressed, received physical damage or out lived it's useful life span, thus causing a condition.

For tire shops, it's a liability protection thing. "We told you to check the lugs 50 miles later...but ya didn't. Claim denied."

For private parties, it's a good thing to do to ensure the same thing. Didn't leave a lug loose or whatever.

To check lug nuts or bolts "regularly" is just paranoia or lack of comprehension. If you check your RV lugs weekly, do you check the toad weekly, the wife's Buick, the kid's car? Think about it.

And yes if you're worried about it, installing tattle-tales is way easier to check than hitting 64 lug nuts with a wrench "regularly."

[JKJavelin]

Got 2 new rear tires for the truck while in Quartzsite a few weeks ago. After a couple hundred miles I checked them with a torque wrench. Almost all of the nuts moved a bit. I was surprised, as it seems most shops tend to overtighten them.
JK

[2oldman]

ron.dittmer wrote:
Wow, I never check them, never thought of doing so on any vehicle I own.

Every tire shop I've been to tells me to check them at 50 miles after a wheel removal.

[Dusty_R]

ron.dittmer wrote:
Wow, I never check them, never thought of doing so on any vehicle I own.

X-2

[ron_dittmer]

Wow, I never check them, never thought of doing so on any vehicle I own.

[BarabooBob]

I check all of the lugs on my aluminum wheels after driving about 100 miles. After that, I may check them once or twice during the summer. I always use a torque wrench because my trailer requires 100 ft lb or torque and my truck requires 150 ft lb. That is pretty tight and I want to make sure I get it right without over tightening. If you over tighten the lugs on aluminum rims, you can distort the rims and that can affect the integrity of the rim. It takes very little effort to do it correctly and can cost so much (or get someone killed) if you do it wrong.

[jdc1]

Just like the old new car (50's, 60's and 70's) head bolts, wheel studs stretch when new. So, yeah, for the first few thousand miles, check them more often than you would normally.

[jfkmk]

I check the lugs with a torque wrench before each trip. Never had a lug loosen up, but still check. It takes me just a minute.