Adam

I'm installing some 1" aluminum "wheel adapters" as spacers to my rear wheels. My rear is 5-lug and has drum brakes. The wheels are aluminum American Racing Torq Thrust Ms. Summit says 75-85 ft/lbs with 1/2" studs. Does this sound about right for torquing the wheel adapter to the drum, as well as the wheel to the adapter? Thanks,

hiboostwoody

Sounds about right.

RogerDodger1

Doesn't sound right to me at all. I have been in the automotive maintenance/repair industry for the past 25 years and in my auto centers, vehicles with aluminum wheels typically have a lug nut torque specification of over 100 ft. lbs. There are O.E. factory specifications for this that any competent auto center will have. Pull out the phone book/yellow pages/auto/repair and call around to a few places and ask them what the torque specs for your vehicles lug nuts are.

Secondly and more importantly, in my professional experience and opinion, wheel adapters/spacers are very dangerous. They put a lot of stress on the wheel studs, can actually cause the studs to snap and then you can watch your wheel/tire pass you as you are driving down the road. That can tend to ruin your day. These things are so dangerous that the auto centers I have worked for/managed, per company guidelines refuse to install them because of the legal liability involved.

Further, these wheel adapters/spacers move the center of the load either positive or negative on the wheel bearing and this can cause the wheel bearings to wear out before their time.

Lastly, aluminum wheels need to have the lug nuts re-torqued after 25-50 miles of driving, for safety reasons. What happens is we have a steel lug but being torqued down onto an aluminum wheel and since steel is a harder metal than aluminum, this can microscopically stretch the aluminum that steel lug nut is being torqued down onto and this can cause the lug nut to work loose, with the result being you can again watch your wheel/tire pass you as you are driving down the road.

I hope this has been of help.

Adam

I thought the consensus is that Spacers are ill-advised but Wheel Adapters (seen below) are safe. Spacers don't bolt to anything, they just go in between the hub and wheel. This puts extra stress on the studs. However, wheel adapters bolt to the hub and then the wheel bolts to the adapter. This shouldn't be stressing anything more than normal.

wumarshall82

I have 17x7s and they said to torque them 75-85

pass1over

i do 95 ft/lbs on my aluminum wheels

RogerDodger1

Who is, "they"?

Find out the correct torque specs and stick to 'em.

Adrenolin

Summit is correct in saying 75 to 85'/lbs for 1/2" lugs. I have the aluminum 10 spoke Shelby wheels which are made by Vintage Wheel Works. Their FAQ says the following.
I've had a few people tell me thats not enough but after putting 2500 miles on our car in the last month, including an 1100 mile 4 day trip, the lug nuts stayed tight and didn't need to be tightened afterwards.

I torque in 3 steps btw.

1. Torque each lug to about 55 to 60 ft/lbs following the star pattern.
2. Re-torque to spec 85 ft/lbs.
3. Finally I re-re-torque them all once again to the final spec.

Its always easier on the part to torque up in steps. This spreads out the force. The star pattern is basically every other nut. Starting at the top I torque 1, 3, 5, 2, 4 then continue back at 1 for the next step.
Hope this helps.

lefty3382

I have worked at America's Tire Co. for the past 2 years as an apprentice technician, so all I do all day is bolt and unbolt wheels and tires. FYI, all foreign and domestic car manufacturers recommend their own stock torque rating for their lug nuts. When you throw aftermarket wheels into the mix it starts to complicate matters but the general rule of thumb is as follows:

Japanese/German/foreign cars: 80-85 ft/lbs of torque
American/Domestic cars: 100-110 ft/lbs of torque
Standard trucks/6 lug: 125-135 ft/lbs of torque
Heavy Duty trucks/8 lug: 150 ft/lbs of torque

Most domestic cars (Ford, Chevy, etc) have a stock torque rating of a flat 100 ft/lbs of torque for a 5 lug bolt pattern. 4 lug hubs in general tend to belong to less powerful vehicles and therefore don't require as high a torque rating. I have a V8 engine in my car, and therefore 5 lug wheel hubs, and torque my lugs down to 100 ft/lbs, and wouldn't be comfortable with anything less.

Adam

Thanks lefty!