I was told by my rim installers to retorque my rims every so often. i'll be doing it for the first time. I have search for the specs on how many lbs to torque the rims to but found nothing.

for any of you that have torque their rims, what did you torque it to. also would the torque spec differ with different size rims?

 

Factory spec is 76 lbf/in., it doesn't matter what size the rim is.

 

thanks men

 

I check them 1000 miles or so after putting them on. Other than that I rotate everytime I change my oil (4000 miles), so they are torqued then as well.

 

^^ yes i concur, 1000 miles is when you re-check them, it's in your owner's manual as well.

 

Too bad that when I had my tires mounted at tires plus they were over 150 lbs when I checked them! Shattered a key and a lock trying to get them off (mcgaurds at that). Needless to say they bought me new locks and will never pu there no-torque wrench using hands on my car again! But I digress :p

 

hey engifineer-
yeah i always bring the car back to my place, and undo any torque they've put on at the tire place. Usually I watch them, they do torque it to 76ft-lbs, but I'm just picky. Had too many warped brake rotors over the years to leave their torque on my lugs. So I just re-do it myself, been much happier too. No warped rotors.

sorry to hear about your 150lbs, that really sucks. I wouldn't go back again to a nut job place like that either! how do these people get and keep their jobs??!?

 

Your stock studs actually made it past 150 lbs?!?!?! One of mine snapped at 110 when my buddy helped me do my CAI and we were putting the tire back on. Didn't think to look in the manual for the specs so we took the shop guys word on it and used a torque wrench...click click snap

 

what about 80lb? is 4 ft lb more tq gunna matter?

 

No, not really. 80 is fine.

 

i cant emphasize torquing bolts to spec enough. met a guy who i was swapping wheels with snap of a wheel stud right after he was explaining to me that he "tightened his lugs until they were tight".

lol he drove to the toyota dealership with 4 lugs on his back wheel!

 

I agree with what you've said! people on here saying "oh 4lbs isn't going to matter", yeah if it didn't matter why did the engineers who designed it ask for exactly 76 ft/lbs?? Hmm I think they've done the analysis of what it needs more than someone out there saying "that's close enough". Doesn't mean it's correct.

 

^ you're over engineering the thought process behind it, close enough within 4 ft/lbs is fine, otherwise, they would have given us a torque wrench in our spare tire kit.

Using just an unregulated impact gun on lugnuts is just stupid on any car and you're asking for a broken stud but most torque wrenches aren't calibrated every 6 months like they should be anyway so the tolerance for error is probably +/- 5 ft/lbs accuracy.

 

I have done like 79-80 since i have had my car and havent had one problem. That 3-4 ft lbs isnt going to do ____. Now once you get up higher than yes it will.

 

When was the last time you got your torque wrench calibrated? If you say anything other than never, I don't believe you.

Also, I bet you didn't know that every bolt on the entire car has torque specs, even the little plastic screws for interior trims. Do you use calibrated torque wrenches and inch pound torque wrenches when you work on your car? If you say anything other than no, I don't believe you.

 

I used nothing but inch/lb wrenches that were calibrated every 6 months when working on C-130's. You also have to know that if you have ever dropped a torque wrench, you must send it in for calibration. Additionally, when you store a torque wrench, you must set it to the lowest measurable rating so you do not prematurely wear out the internal spring. Just some fun facts about torque wrenches!

 

doesn't matter to me what you believe or dont believe, and yes i already had it calibrated 3 weeks ago, and no i don't drop my torque wrench.

hey you guys can do whatever you want to your cars, and good luck to you when you have problems later on. and over-engineering thought? Too bad I'm actually thinking and thinking correctly. good luck to you and your beliefs, again, glad you arent doing the work on my car. Would not meet my requirements. and go ahead, debate that, I won't be bothered to debate it with you at all. It's my car and I'll do what is required not the "close enough" type thinking

 

The problem is that if I give 10 people a lug wrench and tell them to tighten a lug to 80 ft lbs, I am willing to bet that 6-8 are setting it closer to 100 every time garaunteed, which WILL prematurely wreck studs to some degree. Even worse, ,many probably wont get them near the same level of tq, which causes rotor and even wheel warpage depending on the degree of difference. Unless you have a good feel for what a given amount of tq is, then you just wont get it close. Someone who has spent a lot of time with a wrench in their hand will get it closer. So in general, it is best to just use a tq wrench.. especially if you already own one. They give you a standard wrench with the car, because they expect 99% of people will put on the spare, take it to a tire shop for the tire repair and they will re-install to proper tq.