check your lug nuts + torque wrench madness

[timswi]

i never use a torque wrench and never had for any tire. If i dont hammer lug nuts on with my impact gun, ill put half of my 240 pound weight on each lug with my foot on my wrench.:thumbsup:

I set my impact to # 2 and run them in evenly...Then double check with a 4-way. Never had a problem with anything in 25 years.

Probably not recommended, but I've done this with steel, alloy, mags, aluminum..Everything. Never had a wheel or rotor problem or ever had a cracked rim...None ever came loose either.

 

[brokenot]

It should be a concern with anything that has wheels. When new lugs are torqued cold, they will stretch when subjected to a couple of heat cycles, even if the nut doesn't turn, they will loosen.

Unless the lugs/studs we're talking about are made of butter, the amount of heat they're exposed to will absolutely not result in any stretching.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Not too difficult to check your wrench at various points on its scale by hanging known weights off the handle.
larry

 

[Diamondpilot]

Not too difficult to check your wrench at various points on its scale by hanging known weights off the handle.
larry

Good idea. You could chuck the socket end in a shop vise then hang say a 50# weight off it. Very smart.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Good idea. You could chuck the socket end in a shop vise then hang say a 50# weight off it. Very smart.

Could. I was thinking putting it on a large TIGHT nut. Squeezing a socket real hard would bother me. Ahh! Maybe hold a big bolt in the vise.:thumbsup: Dont forget to allow for length of the lever arm. L X Wt= ft-lb
larry

 

[crashz]

I researched calibration of my Craftsman torque wrench after reading this thread and found a multitude of reviews that are very unsatisfied with the wrench. Apparently the lockring breaks and the handle falls off, leading to a useless tool. Mine hasn't yet broken, but maybe I'll think of investing in a higher quality wrench when it does. Apparently its a "when" not an "if" situation. Too many detailed bad reviews to be just a few angry customers.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I researched calibration of my Craftsman torque wrench after reading this thread and found a multitude of reviews that are very unsatisfied with the wrench. Apparently the lockring breaks and the handle falls off, leading to a useless tool. Mine hasn't yet broken, but maybe I'll think of investing in a higher quality wrench when it does. Apparently its a "when" not an "if" situation. Too many detailed bad reviews to be just a few angry customers.

Those tools are replacement guaranteed. They will fix that problem in self defense.
larry

 

[RobertN]

Not torque wrenches. I have to read again in the manual for mine, but seem to remember a year gaurentee or something like that. There are a few tools Craftsman does not gaurentee.

Those tools are replacement guaranteed. They will fix that problem in self defense.
larry

 

[mwb]

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/parts-repairs/148455-torque-wrench-recommendation-2.html

I posted on a similar discussion on torque wrenches (see link); if you are looking to buy a wrench it might be worth reading.

 

[xtn]

What you are seeing there is a settling into the hub of the lug and the wheel, not a stretch of the lug. Otherwise yould be seeing engine bolts requiring re torque. Head bolts can benefit cuz of gasket settling, but metal to metal like rods and mains dont need it.
larry

I can't argue with that, so I'll consider it as probable as the bolt stretching explanation. Possibly it's some of both.

Usually the wheel to hub interface is metal to metal, as is the lug nut to wheel interface, right? How does this fit in with your assessment?

Might we consider that the metallurgy of rods and their bolts may be different than that of lugs and wheels? Also that lugs as typically installed have a wheel thickness's worth of space between the nut and the hub in which the threads are not engaged, and that rod cap bolts do not? Might these differences add up to the possibility that there is some lug stretching going on?

Well, either way the result is the same. Re-torque and THEN put on a dab of paint.