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Lug Nut Torque


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  • 2 weeks later...

If I weigh 170 lbs and stand 12" out on a breaker bar, I have torqued it 170 ft-lbs.

Used this last week when I had to pull off the wheels to remove a 3" rock that had wedged itself between them.

I must have stopped directly on the rock, as it happened at a stop on hiway 88 west of Carson Pass. Big clunk after turning around on the USFS road. Could not hammer it out, so had to pull the wheel. The lug wrench worked great. Put it on the nuts and stood on it. Popped off nicely.

For the final tightening, with the lug wrench bar being about 12" long, I stepped up on the bar and let it settle with my weight. Checked out fine when I got home.

This was not the first rock of the trip, but the only one I could not pull out. But I successfully skied this Patch.

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I'm wondering if letting the air out of one of the tires would have let you remove the rock without removing the wheel. Of course this solution would only be useful if you had an air supply to re-inflate it!

For the record, it's possible that late '80's Owners Manuals gave a tightening torque of around 140 ft-lbs. Anyone got one to confirm?

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  • 3 years later...

My 85 Dolphin has a little metal plate on the coach just above the rear tires. It says 80# torque. The guys at Discount Tire who just today put tires on for me said the same thing, before they saw the plate. We didn't discuss the front tires. I assume the knew what they were doing.

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These are the torque values I've seen documented:-

1988 FSM lists 141ft-lb

1993 FSM lists 170ft-lb

1992 Owners Manual lists 170ft-lb for DRW

I see no indication of a lower torque value for the front wheels.

Anyone have a 1986 Owners Manual to see what (if anything) is listed for the 6 hand hole rims? They have different lugs and nuts to later axles.

EDIT: And of course the only other FSM I know of online (1985) doesn't have a torque value for duallies. :)

Does anyone know if the 'Axle Recall Kit' from Toyota came with any documentation with a torque value? I'll (dangerously) assume it would be 170ft-lb since the recall kits were issued in 1991.

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These are the torque values I've seen documented:-

1988 FSM lists 141ft-lb

1993 FSM lists 170ft-lb

1992 Owners Manual lists 170ft-lb for DRW

I see no indication of a lower torque value for the front wheels.

Anyone have a 1986 Owners Manual to see what (if anything) is listed for the 6 hand hole rims? They have different lugs and nuts to later axles.

EDIT: And of course the only other FSM I know of online (1985) doesn't have a torque value for duallies. :)

Does anyone know if the 'Axle Recall Kit' from Toyota came with any documentation with a torque value? I'll (dangerously) assume it would be 170ft-lb since the recall kits were issued in 1991.

An 85 would be the same torque as the 86 front. No changes were made there

Linda S

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Yeah,,, Subaru tell me to put 32# in front and 30# is rear tires. Sooo underinflated it doesn't even steer rite!!! 35# in all four works great :) feels like a great steering car that goes exactly where you point it. Was talking to a mechanic at a dealership that had one like mine and when I asked him what he ran in his he said 35 # in all four....

Just because someone says it doesn't make it right. I run mine less than that, done with a torque wrench. I think that you may very well get away with that 170#, but it's too much for me. YMMV

john

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... it's too much for me.

Can't say I quite understand. Too much what? Clamping force? Trouble?

I'd say, rather, that you're 'getting away' with using less torque, rather than 'getting away' with the factory torque.

So how many ft-lbs do you tighten yours to? And if you're not following the factory spec, is it worth the trouble of using a torque wrench?

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Can't say I quite understand. Too much what? Clamping force? Trouble?

I'd say, rather, that you're 'getting away' with using less torque, rather than 'getting away' with the factory torque.

So how many ft-lbs do you tighten yours to? And if you're not following the factory spec, is it worth the trouble of using a torque wrench?

He's talking about drivability so I think he got mixed up with tire pressure. Torque doesn't affect drivability unless it's too loose and your wheel falls off. No worries John. Lots of posts here and I get lost sometimes too

Linda S

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Okay, I'm no mechanic. Not even very mechanically inclined. The lug nuts on my dualies are so tight (at 85lbs as set by my mechanic) I need a cheeter bar on my lug wretch to loosen them. Seems unlikely to me that the nuts are going to vibrate loose and my wheels are going to fall off. So what are the issues involved with torque? What will happen if they are either too loose or too tight? So many different opinions and not much clarity about the risks involved. Whose advise is the safer?

Call me confused and concerned in Santa Fe.

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Great, I did under torque mine at 120# last night...good thing haven't put the motorhome on the road yet. Thanks for the valuable info. I will set it at 170# if my torque wrench can go that high ortherwise...breaker bar after that.

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Again, I ask, does anyone know what the consequences of too little or too much torque might be? My Dolphin has been on the road with 85# torque since I bought it last year. I'm still alive and there are no problems that I am aware of resulting from this. Both the tire place and my mechanic seem to think 85# is correct (independent of each other and independent of the little metal plaque on the wheel well about the tires, which apparently was intended for the original 5 lug axle, not the updated 6 lug axle which I have.) They must be getting this spec somewhere.

What is going to happen if the dualies aren't torqued correctly? I'm hesitant to more than double the torque without knowing what might happen of they are over-torqued. But I'm concerned about what might happen if they are too loose. Anyone?

I guess I'm inclined to leave it as is, going with the theory that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

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Sometimes you have to ask the right question. "How many people here had their wheels fall off"? I'm guessing none, so I'm not going to think about it anymore.

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Again, I ask, does anyone know what the consequences of too little or too much torque might be? My Dolphin has been on the road with 85# torque since I bought it last year. I'm still alive and there are no problems that I am aware of resulting from this. Both the tire place and my mechanic seem to think 85# is correct (independent of each other and independent of the little metal plaque on the wheel well about the tires, which apparently was intended for the original 5 lug axle, not the updated 6 lug axle which I have.) They must be getting this spec somewhere.

What is going to happen if the dualies aren't torqued correctly? I'm hesitant to more than double the torque without knowing what might happen of they are over-torqued. But I'm concerned about what might happen if they are too loose. Anyone?.

I guess I'm inclined to leave it as is, going with the theory that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I guess you could say the same thing about the 5 lug axle with fake duallies. Gee lots of them still out there and didn't break. Why change it.

I don't think I would personally worry if you were at least in the low hundreds but 85 is crazy low. I see some mention of low wheel torque in the front with independent front suspension causing bearing failure and low torque causing excessive bolt heat which makes them fail too. Either way your flying down the highway without a wheel.

Linda S

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Hmm, my Harbor Freight torque wrench tops out at 159 Lbs and I'm betting I'm loosing some force using 2 extensions to get the angle square and safe/correct. Guess I better put an 8" extension on the shopping list. Does anyone use a little "anti-seize" compound at those upper torque ranges mentioned? I can just see myself packing a 4' cheater bar back there with everything else...

TG

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Does anyone use a little "anti-seize" compound at those upper torque ranges mentioned?

That's a whole different can of worms! :)

https://www.google.ca/search?q=EFFECT+OF+LUBRICATED+THREADS+TORQUE+&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb&gfe_rd=cr&ei=YBUCVJzHH4TM8gfeoYHACw

There's no such thing as a 'little anti-seize', especially when you get some accidentally smeared on your nose! :)

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The lug nuts on my dualies are so tight (at 85lbs as set by my mechanic) I need a cheeter bar on my lug wretch to loosen them. Seems unlikely to me that the nuts are going to vibrate loose and my wheels are going to fall off. So what are the issues involved with torque? What will happen if they are either too loose or too tight? So many different opinions and not much clarity about the risks involved. Whose advise is the safer?

170-180 pound feet dry, and 135 pound feet lubed is the rating for the studs and nuts.

Ford and Chevy use the same size lug-nuts and studs on their 1 ton pickups and also call for 170 lbs. tightening torque. M14 X 1.5. Considering the Toyota only has 6 lugs instead of 8 like the Chevys and Fords - I'll assume the Toyota needs that extra wheel-nut torque even more, not less. Having nuts too loose can wind up with them working loose. Having too tight means that the stud has been stretched beyond it's yield point and it basically weakened and ruined. A metal bolt or stud is basically just a spring. When tightened it is stretched and has tension. If stretched too much (with excessive nut-torque) - it is ruined. Just like a coil spring that you pull too far open. Those wheel studs must be very high tensile alloy to sustain that kind of torque.

A 14 mm grade 9 lug-stud or bolt is made to handle tightening torque like this. If dry with NO lube - up to 180 foot pounds of torque. If lubed with oil, grease, Never-Seez, etc. - tightening torque is 135 foot pounds. And note that "Never Seez" can be many types of lubes. Many variations.

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From various sources...and practically, I set my torque wrench at max (150lbs), clicks and I use the breaker bar (or cheater bar) to tight a little more; this makes me comfortable enough for now. Anything below 100ft-lb is way too low in my opinion as a regular small car often calls for 80ft-lb

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