REMINDER: Retighten Lugs

just a reminder to those who have taken thier wheels of recently. after 100 miles you are supposed to retighten the lugs. since yesterday alot of people had their wheels of i found it important to remind you.

i had a bad incidnet w/ this. road trip to cancda, going north into ontario starting to get alittle baren. all the sudden sounds like we got a flat so we pull over. all 6 people hop out and look. the wheel was sittign crooked. pulled ahead slowly in to a driveway. the wheel wobbled as it went. parked the car and jacked it up. removed the lug cover, and out fell 5 lug nuts w/ lug studs still in them.

the wheels had been rotated prior to the trip and we had not retightend them at 100 miles. we got lucky in the fact that a. we werent going to fast b. one lug stayed on and held the wheel on c. we broke down across the street form a repair shop d. two hours later all the bussinesses would be closed for a 3 day weekend.

CHECK YOUR LUGS!

 

ya scared me there martin....thought you'd had an 'incedent'....


but ya...check 'em, I've certainly learned the hard way!

 

The Discount Tire techs said to me that you only need to retighten lug nuts if you're installing a new set of wheels. But it's better to be safe than sorry. Having own a torque wrench, retorqueing the lug nuts for my old set of steelies after a hundred miles from installation was needed.

 

discount tires.. hmmm well maybe cause they dont use torque sticks.. we have replaced about 10 broken studs for the one down the road... any alloy wheel you need to retorque after driving a bit... stelies not so bad but hey it takes 5 mins to check.. sure is a lot quicker than trying to find your lost wheel thant went through another cars windsheild...

 

its all about the different rates of thermal expansion. since the alloy (aluminum) expands faster due to being less dense or having a lower specific heat or something like that they expand faster then teh steel lug studs when at the same temp. so when the get hot they will expand pulling out on the lugs, and when they cool the will contract making them loose.

 

i believe discount tire like i believe in aliens, and fair government :roll:

 

but hey, they've got great customer service. At least the one in Saint Paul does.

 

I keep a torque wrench in my trunk.

The better to spot check suspension and wheel tq settings to make sure everything maintains the correct level of tightness. since I started doing this, little noises in my suspension became non existent.

 

damn..gotta retorque mines.....

 

...so what do i need from a torque wrench? what would you buy today if you had to get a new one?

 

one that has the click settings. so when you reach desired torque it clicks. they are far more accurate than the bending arrow type. but both will work. on lug nut si normally just put a tire iron on and give it all i got. by hand is better IMO to air guns

 

definitely like the click design - nice sound too
more specifically i was wondering about what torque range you want for wheels and other common uses in working on the car; and whether anyone likes a certain brand.
thanks for the reminder about re-tightening though... i'll go do it tomorrow

 

Wheels shold be around 75 ft/lbs

the bendy kind of torque wrench is less accurate, but fine for stuff like wheels. The clicky kind cost much more money.

 

thats about right but this depends on the vehicle... subara is 58 - 72 all models except SVX

 

what about suspension bits? other common uses?

 

Screw you all, I'm loosening mine... just to be different. 8)

 

prezawagon was helping me with a few things on my car, we changed some fluids and he helped me take the caliper off my wheel to inspect the system. the part that lets the caliper float was frozen, we got it moving again and put everything back on. even used a torque wrench after mounting the tires back on.

i was noticing a high pitched squeeking noise that was occuring at about wheel revolution speeds. *chirp* *chirp* *chirp* *chirp* i figured it was something with the brakes rubbing becuase it was not in good condition before

i had no idea what it was. today there was a hint of a new noise, sounded like a wheel issue so when i stopped the car i checked out the nuts... 2 were loose!

i went to tighten 1 of them and it sheared off with a feather weight of force.

from what i've read its not too hard to fix this (2000 imprezza rs) correct me if i'm wrong

sorry to be off... well more tangental topic... should i replace just the one that broke or the couple around it to (because the force that made the one very frail was probably applied to a lesser extent on the neighboring bolts (at least the other one with the loose lug)

i've taken my wheels off many times befoore with no problems, but i will surely retighten the lugs from now on.

 

FWIW, Harbor Freight has a very cheap torque wrench (1/2") for something like $12 this week on sale. I'd have gotten a Craftsman one, but they're only warrantied for a year unlike the rest of their tools. To to mention they're like $70+. For $12, I figure it's disposible if it ever stops working accurately. Hell, I can use it as a breaker then.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=239

There's also a store in Columbia Heights where you can pick them up locally (although it's like $2-3 more expensive in house).