Lug nut torque indicators

[crazyangel]

I was next to a tractor trailer the other day and noticed the lug nuts on the wheels had a simple visual indicator showing that the nut had not loosened. Pretty clever. Anyone use them on their tractor?

http://www.wheel-check.com/

 

[joshuabardwell]

I'm not convinced that these would work as you describe. When there is less-than-perfect fitup between two pieces, torque can change without the nut or bolt moving. This is why it's recommended to re-check torque on a car's lug nuts after 50 miles of driving (or 10 hours of use for a tractor) every time the wheel is removed. This is also why it's recommended to check the loader frame bolts every ten hours for the first 50 hours, or something like that. The bolts are properly torqued from the factory, and on my tractor they had paint marks to indicate whether they had moved. For whatever reason, the two pieces of metal "settled in" relative to each other and some of the bolts became loose even though the paint marks showed that they hadn't moved.

I could potentially see these being useful if they were installed after it was confirmed that the bolts had fully 'settled in"--that is, after several scheduled torque checks revealed no change.

 

[texasjohn]

Now why didn't I think of that?? Never heard of them before.

Dad always said: "Accidents are caused by the nut that holds the wheel!" Now, I know what he meant!

Actually, One would only need to put them on every other nut...half price sale!!

 

[art]

We often use paint pens to not only mark the nuts position but to write the torque on the wheel needed.

 

[murphy1244]

That is pretty cool, ugly but cool.

 

[DT86]

All the trucks from one power company here use those. You can spot them from a country mile with that neon green.

 

[mikehaugen]

I saw those on a school bus about a month ago... I was wondering what they were.

 

[LJH]

That is pretty cool, ugly but cool.

No joke. I wouldn't be caught dead with those fugly things on my mirror-polished 10-hole Alcoas. :laughing: Vanity aside, it's a clever idea and no, I've never seen it before.

 

[SandalwoodRanch]

Those are used on every city bus here in Lansing. Must work for them or they wouldn't use it on the hundreds of buses they have.

 

[RaydaKub]

Actually, One would only need to put them on every other nut...half price sale!!

Really? Would you be comfortable if I removed 3 of the 6 lug nuts from your car? The wheel isn't going to fall off immediately, but would you only tighten certain lugs? Of course not. You'd tighten all of them again. So if you are concerned at all, why would you be satisfied w/ only 1/2?

 

[3930dave]

Those indicators are common on many fleet maintained medium duty and up vehicles here (Ontario, Canada).

Got popular after the province rubber stamped pretty hefty weight increases on trucks, then acted surprised 18-24 months later when wheels started flying off trucks. :confused2:

Less common here is a retainer ring, that is sized for the specific diameter of the bolt pattern. Mainly what that is intended to do is if you have one nut loose, it is hopefully prevented from vibrating off the stud totally. Not a bad idea, esp. if it prevents a 1/4 lb nut from bouncing through my windshield !

Rgds, D.