proper torque specs for lug nuts?
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 853
From: Lake Worth, FL.
RE: proper torque specs for lug nuts?
SECTION 204-04: Wheels and Tires[/align]
2006 Mustang Workshop Manual[/align]
SPECIFICATIONS[/align]
Torque Specifications
Description
Nm
lb-ft
wheel nuts
133
98
Cut & Paste Expert
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 13,322
From: NW Arkansas
RE: proper torque specs for lug nuts?
Look to your left. 
100 ft lbs or 98 if you are **** about it.
Now thats the OEM spec for the OEM wheels.
Aftermarket wheels might have a different spec.
Contact the wheel manufacturer to be sure.
Retorque after 250 miles or so.
100 ft lbs or 98 if you are **** about it.
Now thats the OEM spec for the OEM wheels.
Aftermarket wheels might have a different spec.
Contact the wheel manufacturer to be sure.
Retorque after 250 miles or so.
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 538
From:
RE: proper torque specs for lug nuts?
ORIGINAL: 157db
Look to your left.
100 ft lbs or 98 if you are **** about it.
Now thats the OEM spec for the OEM wheels.
Aftermarket wheels might have a different spec.
Contact the wheel manufacturer to be sure.
Retorque after 250 miles or so.
Look to your left.
100 ft lbs or 98 if you are **** about it.
Now thats the OEM spec for the OEM wheels.
Aftermarket wheels might have a different spec.
Contact the wheel manufacturer to be sure.
Retorque after 250 miles or so.
What is notable: over all those years my re-torque technique was wrong. I just cranked up the right numbers on the handle, applied the socket to the nut (careful to do it in criss-cross pattern to avoid distorting the components) and leaned on the bar until it clicked. The new wrench came with specific instructions, especially for miscreants like me: "NO, Dummy! Loosen the nut and really re-torque it!" Who knew?
The instructions also shake a figurative finger in my face and say, in effect, "Don't you dare use this fine instrument of mechanical advantageas a common breaker bar! Which means I must approach a candidate for re-torque with at least one more tool than I expected or was used to using, and:
Fit the socket to the breaker bar
Apply the combination to the lug nut
Loosen the nut
Remove the socket from the breaker bar
Put down the breaker bar
Pick up the torque wrench
Fit the socket to the torque wrench
Combo to the lug nut
Torque the nut
Remove the socket from the torque wrench
Put down the torque wrench
Pick up the breaker bar
Fit the socket to the breaker bar
Move to the next (diagonally opposed) lug nut
Repeat nineteen more times, moving to a new wheel after each fifth rep.
OK, I'm figuring, "Just loosen the nuts one after another per wheel". But, isn't that eliminating the effect of the intervening mileage, starting over? "Yup", thinks I, "Each nut must be re-torqued while the others remain fixed, or you've thrown away that 250 miles or so".
Let me look around in my tool box. What's this? Another 3/4-inch socket? Aha! Uh-oh. It's 3/8-nch drive. What's this? An adapter. Whew. Eliminated four remove-replaces per wheel. Still, there's all that picking up and putting down ...
My question is (questions are):
If the Owner's Guide says 100 ft-pounds and the Shop Manual says 98, does either of them mention that's for a clean (I say clean, boy), seat, nut and stud, not a dirty, rusted, or lubricated one?
How many uses of a torque wrench as a breaker bar will result in deteriorated accuracy? One? One hundred? How many uses must one avoid in order to make up the value of twenty pick-up-put-downs per torque-re-torque series?
If I use a "deep" socket when torquing, I bang my knuckles on the fenders; if I use an inch-and-a-half extension, they miss, and remain un-bruised. Does using an extension influence torque readings?
How come one lug nut on one wheel needs tightening when nineteen don't, not even one lb-ft?Different wheel, different nut each time?
After how many uses should studs and nuts be replaced, given the actual function of nuts and studs (torquing stretches/distorts them to provide clampng force)?
How come someone sold me black powder-coated wheels that were coated on the nut- and hub- seating surfaces, when the Owner's guide - the freaking Owner's Guide - explicitly states these must be clean metal-to-metal contact?
Can anyone answer these questions?
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 275
From: Shelby Twp, Michigan
RE: proper torque specs for lug nuts?
ORIGINAL: FyouGitive
After many, many re-torquings over many years, I've bought a new torque wrench. It agrees with my old torque wrench. That's encouaging, but tells me I might as well have saved my money.
What is notable: over all those years my re-torque technique was wrong. I just cranked up the right numbers on the handle, applied the socket to the nut (careful to do it in criss-cross pattern to avoid distorting the components) and leaned on the bar until it clicked. The new wrench came with specific instructions, especially for miscreants like me: "NO, Dummy! Loosen the nut and really re-torque it!" Who knew?
The instructions also shake a figurative finger in my face and say, in effect, "Don't you dare use this fine instrument of mechanical advantageas a common breaker bar! Which means I must approach a candidate for re-torque with at least one more tool than I expected or was used to using, and:
Fit the socket to the breaker bar
Apply the combination to the lug nut
Loosen the nut
Remove the socket from the breaker bar
Put down the breaker bar
Pick up the torque wrench
Fit the socket to the torque wrench
Combo to the lug nut
Torque the nut
Remove the socket from the torque wrench
Put down the torque wrench
Pick up the breaker bar
Fit the socket to the breaker bar
Move to the next (diagonally opposed) lug nut
Repeat nineteen more times, moving to a new wheel after each fifth rep.
OK, I'm figuring, "Just loosen the nuts one after another per wheel". But, isn't that eliminating the effect of the intervening mileage, starting over? "Yup", thinks I, "Each nut must be re-torqued while the others remain fixed, or you've thrown away that 250 miles or so".
Let me look around in my tool box. What's this? Another 3/4-inch socket? Aha! Uh-oh. It's 3/8-nch drive. What's this? An adapter. Whew. Eliminated four remove-replaces per wheel. Still, there's all that picking up and putting down ...
My question is (questions are):
If the Owner's Guide says 100 ft-pounds and the Shop Manual says 98, does either of them mention that's for a clean (I say clean, boy), seat, nut and stud, not a dirty, rusted, or lubricated one?
How many uses of a torque wrench as a breaker bar will result in deteriorated accuracy? One? One hundred? How many uses must one avoid in order to make up the value of twenty pick-up-put-downs per torque-re-torque series?
If I use a "deep" socket when torquing, I bang my knuckles on the fenders; if I use an inch-and-a-half extension, they miss, and remain un-bruised. Does using an extension influence torque readings?
How come one lug nut on one wheel needs tightening when nineteen don't, not even one lb-ft?Different wheel, different nut each time?
After how many uses should studs and nuts be replaced, given the actual function of nuts and studs (torquing stretches/distorts them to provide clampng force)?
How come someone sold me black powder-coated wheels that were coated on the nut- and hub- seating surfaces, when the Owner's guide - the freaking Owner's Guide - explicitly states these must be clean metal-to-metal contact?
Can anyone answer these questions?
ORIGINAL: 157db
Look to your left.
100 ft lbs or 98 if you are **** about it.
Now thats the OEM spec for the OEM wheels.
Aftermarket wheels might have a different spec.
Contact the wheel manufacturer to be sure.
Retorque after 250 miles or so.
Look to your left.
100 ft lbs or 98 if you are **** about it.
Now thats the OEM spec for the OEM wheels.
Aftermarket wheels might have a different spec.
Contact the wheel manufacturer to be sure.
Retorque after 250 miles or so.
What is notable: over all those years my re-torque technique was wrong. I just cranked up the right numbers on the handle, applied the socket to the nut (careful to do it in criss-cross pattern to avoid distorting the components) and leaned on the bar until it clicked. The new wrench came with specific instructions, especially for miscreants like me: "NO, Dummy! Loosen the nut and really re-torque it!" Who knew?
The instructions also shake a figurative finger in my face and say, in effect, "Don't you dare use this fine instrument of mechanical advantageas a common breaker bar! Which means I must approach a candidate for re-torque with at least one more tool than I expected or was used to using, and:
Fit the socket to the breaker bar
Apply the combination to the lug nut
Loosen the nut
Remove the socket from the breaker bar
Put down the breaker bar
Pick up the torque wrench
Fit the socket to the torque wrench
Combo to the lug nut
Torque the nut
Remove the socket from the torque wrench
Put down the torque wrench
Pick up the breaker bar
Fit the socket to the breaker bar
Move to the next (diagonally opposed) lug nut
Repeat nineteen more times, moving to a new wheel after each fifth rep.
OK, I'm figuring, "Just loosen the nuts one after another per wheel". But, isn't that eliminating the effect of the intervening mileage, starting over? "Yup", thinks I, "Each nut must be re-torqued while the others remain fixed, or you've thrown away that 250 miles or so".
Let me look around in my tool box. What's this? Another 3/4-inch socket? Aha! Uh-oh. It's 3/8-nch drive. What's this? An adapter. Whew. Eliminated four remove-replaces per wheel. Still, there's all that picking up and putting down ...
My question is (questions are):
If the Owner's Guide says 100 ft-pounds and the Shop Manual says 98, does either of them mention that's for a clean (I say clean, boy), seat, nut and stud, not a dirty, rusted, or lubricated one?
How many uses of a torque wrench as a breaker bar will result in deteriorated accuracy? One? One hundred? How many uses must one avoid in order to make up the value of twenty pick-up-put-downs per torque-re-torque series?
If I use a "deep" socket when torquing, I bang my knuckles on the fenders; if I use an inch-and-a-half extension, they miss, and remain un-bruised. Does using an extension influence torque readings?
How come one lug nut on one wheel needs tightening when nineteen don't, not even one lb-ft?Different wheel, different nut each time?
After how many uses should studs and nuts be replaced, given the actual function of nuts and studs (torquing stretches/distorts them to provide clampng force)?
How come someone sold me black powder-coated wheels that were coated on the nut- and hub- seating surfaces, when the Owner's guide - the freaking Owner's Guide - explicitly states these must be clean metal-to-metal contact?
Can anyone answer these questions?