Wheels' Lug nuts loosened unexpectedly

Yeah, that's similar to embedded dirt that loosen the lug nuts. I also
have no problems with Costco hand-torqued. It's cheap shops (dealer or
independent) using impact wrenches that cause problems.



On Jul 17, 3:55*pm, wrote:
> I have noticed alloy wheels with moderate amounts of corrosion on the
> mounting face do tend to loosen up a bit.
>
> Dave

When was the last time you had your torque wrench calibrated?


"Built_Well" > wrote in message
...
>
> Last month I rotated the wheels on the '06 Camry, from front
> to back. Yesterday I re-torqued them after 350 miles of driving
> and five weeks.
>
> All the lug nuts on the two rear wheels did not turn even
> a bit; they were perfectly torqued. But 4 out of 5 lug nuts on
> the passenger-side front wheel turned a little bit, less than a
> quarter turn--probably about an eighth of a turn (1/8 turn).
>
> On the driver-side front wheel, 2 out of 5 lug nuts also turned
> about 1/8 of a turn when I re-torqued them.
>
> I know these 6 loosened lug nuts on the two front wheels
> lost more than 5 foot-pounds of their original 76 foot-pound
> torque setting because yesterday to re-torque them, I set my
> torque wrench at 71 foot-pounds, which is 5 less than the
> 76 foot-pounds I torqued them to last month during the
> 5,000-mile wheel rotation.
>
> Is this greater-than-5-foot-pound loosening of some of the
> lug nuts on the front wheels something to be concerned
> about? I'd like to wait until the next 5,000-mile wheel rotation
> before re-torquing the wheels again. Is this advisable, or should
> I check and re-torque the wheels more often?

Art wrote:
> When was the last time you had your torque wrench calibrated?
========

Doesn't calibrating a torque wrench cost as much as buying
a new one?

This Sears Craftsman's cost $80, which is about the
price of calibration, I think.

"Built_Well" > wrote in message
...
>
> Last month I rotated the wheels on the '06 Camry, from front
> to back. Yesterday I re-torqued them after 350 miles of driving
> and five weeks.
>
> All the lug nuts on the two rear wheels did not turn even
> a bit; they were perfectly torqued. But 4 out of 5 lug nuts on
> the passenger-side front wheel turned a little bit, less than a
> quarter turn--probably about an eighth of a turn (1/8 turn).
>
> On the driver-side front wheel, 2 out of 5 lug nuts also turned
> about 1/8 of a turn when I re-torqued them.
>
> I know these 6 loosened lug nuts on the two front wheels
> lost more than 5 foot-pounds of their original 76 foot-pound
> torque setting because yesterday to re-torque them, I set my
> torque wrench at 71 foot-pounds, which is 5 less than the
> 76 foot-pounds I torqued them to last month during the
> 5,000-mile wheel rotation.
>
> Is this greater-than-5-foot-pound loosening of some of the
> lug nuts on the front wheels something to be concerned
> about?

Yes, becuase the lug nuts were not torqued properly the first time.

I'd like to wait until the next 5,000-mile wheel rotation
> before re-torquing the wheels again. Is this advisable, or should
> I check and re-torque the wheels more often?

Once you get the knack of properly tightening lug nuts, they should stay
tight until you remove them.

Does your Camry have alloy wheels or steel wheels?

Were the wheel on the ground when you did the final tightening?

Was the wheel properly seated before lowering the vehicle to the ground?
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

wrote:
> Were the wheels off the ground, or at least only lightly loaded to
> prevent turning, when you torqued them? Embedded dirt too was my first
> suspect of properly torqued lugs coming loose. Also, the stud threads
> should NOT be lubed.
>
> When you tighten from 60 to 76 lb/ft, the lug nut was turning, right?
> (Otherwise you may be near 60 lb/ft instead of 76 lb/ft). That's why I
> use 25, 50, 76 lb/ft.
>
>
>
> On Jul 17, 11:57½am, Built_Well > wrote:
> > Yes, I used a criss-cross or star pattern, and torqued
> > each set of lug nuts gradually, first to 40, then to 60,
> > then 76.
> >
> > I also re-torqued everything last month during the rotation, but
> > what do you mean by "back them off, one at a time, and re-torque
> > to 76 again."
====================

JohnGdole, yes, I torqued the rear wheels while the car was still on
stands since the parking brake was on and holding the rear wheels
tightly. Since the front wheels moved
freely, I torqued them after lowering the vehicle unitl the wheels
barely touched the ground enough to prevent the front wheels from
moving.

After lowering the car completely, I re-torqued everything again.

Judging from the replies, I guess it's normal for some lug nuts to
loosen a little bit due to metallic elongation and other factors.
Even Sears tells its cutomers to re-torque the wheels after driving
100 miles.

"Built_Well" > wrote in message
...
wrote:
> Were the wheels off the ground, or at least only lightly loaded to
> prevent turning, when you torqued them? Embedded dirt too was my first
> suspect of properly torqued lugs coming loose. Also, the stud threads
> should NOT be lubed.
>
> When you tighten from 60 to 76 lb/ft, the lug nut was turning, right?
> (Otherwise you may be near 60 lb/ft instead of 76 lb/ft). That's why I
> use 25, 50, 76 lb/ft.
>
>
>
> On Jul 17, 11:57½am, Built_Well > wrote:
> > Yes, I used a criss-cross or star pattern, and torqued
> > each set of lug nuts gradually, first to 40, then to 60,
> > then 76.
> >
> > I also re-torqued everything last month during the rotation, but
> > what do you mean by "back them off, one at a time, and re-torque
> > to 76 again."
====================

JohnGdole, yes, I torqued the rear wheels while the car was still on
stands since the parking brake was on and holding the rear wheels
tightly. Since the front wheels moved
freely, I torqued them after lowering the vehicle unitl the wheels
barely touched the ground enough to prevent the front wheels from
moving.

After lowering the car completely, I re-torqued everything again.

Judging from the replies, I guess it's normal for some lug nuts to
loosen a little bit due to metallic elongation and other factors.
Even Sears tells its cutomers to re-torque the wheels after driving
100 miles.
*********************
You need to make sure that the wheels and lug nuts are seated and as tight
as you can get them before you lower the vehicle to the ground, then
tighten to the specified torque. If you lower the vehicle before the
wheels and lug nuts are seated, they might seem tight until the vehicle is
driven, then loosen up.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:23:00 -0400, "Art"
> wrote:

>When was the last time you had your torque wrench calibrated?
>
>

I was just going to say, is it the same torque wrench ? Has it been
properly stored ? Used a lot in between ?

RT wrote:
>
> I was just going to say, is it the same torque wrench ?
> Has it been properly stored ? Used a lot in between ?
=======

Yep, it's the same torque wrench, stored with the numerical
torque selector at the lowest setting, as Tegger
recommended, contrary to the Sears salesman who recommended
storing at 20 foot-pounds. IIRC the salesman said there was
some memo floating around recommending that the Craftsman torque
wrenches be stored at 20 foot-pounds to prevent damage to the
mechanism, but I think Tegger is probably right, and have
stored my wrench at zero Newton-meters ever since.

It is interesting, though, that almost all the torque wrenches
I've seen at Sears (and the Huskys at Home Depot and the Kobalts
at Lowe's) have all been set to a torque of between 20 and 30
foot-pounds while they're sitting on the shelf waiting to
be bought.

But I have faith in Tegger, and store my wrench at zero.

On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:57:23 -0700 (PDT), Built_Well
> wrote:

>Retired VIP wrote:
>> On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:57:34 -0700 (PDT), Built_Well
>> > wrote:
>>
>> >
>> >Last month I rotated the wheels on the '06 Camry, from front
>> >to back. Yesterday I re-torqued them after 350 miles of driving
>> >and five weeks.
>> >
>> >All the lug nuts on the two rear wheels did not turn even
>> >a bit; they were perfectly torqued. But 4 out of 5 lug nuts on
>> >the passenger-side front wheel turned a little bit, less than a
>> >quarter turn--probably about an eighth of a turn (1/8 turn).
>> >
>> >On the driver-side front wheel, 2 out of 5 lug nuts also turned
>> >about 1/8 of a turn when I re-torqued them.
>> >
>> >I know these 6 loosened lug nuts on the two front wheels
>> >lost more than 5 foot-pounds of their original 76 foot-pound
>> >torque setting because yesterday to re-torque them, I set my
>> >torque wrench at 71 foot-pounds, which is 5 less than the
>> >76 foot-pounds I torqued them to last month during the
>> >5,000-mile wheel rotation.
>> >
>> >Is this greater-than-5-foot-pound loosening of some of the
>> >lug nuts on the front wheels something to be concerned
>> >about? I'd like to wait until the next 5,000-mile wheel rotation
>> >before re-torquing the wheels again. Is this advisable, or should
>> >I check and re-torque the wheels more often?
>>
>> I hate to say it but it sounds like you didn't torque the front wheels
>> properly. Did you come up on the proper torque in stages using a
>> criss-cross pattern? After you torqued the nuts to 76 ft/lbs did you
>> back them off, one at a time, and re-torque to 76 again?
>>
>> If you didn't use a criss-cross pattern, it's possible that you got a
>> bit of a warp in the wheel or the rotor which worked itself out as you
>> drove the car. Backing off and re-torquing makes sure that your lug
>> nut is seated against the wheel properly.
>>
>> Jack
>=========================
>
>Yes, I used a criss-cross or star pattern, and torqued
>each set of lug nuts gradually, first to 40, then to 60,
>then 76.
>
>I also re-torqued everything last month during the rotation, but
>what do you mean by "back them off, one at a time, and re-torque
>to 76 again."

You need to be sure that the shoulder of the nut is seated properly
into the counter-sunk lug hole of the wheel. A fast way to do this is
to bring the lug nuts up to the proper torque in steps. Then loosen
each nut a bit and retorque it to the proper torque. Don't loosen and
retorque all the nuts at the same time, do them one at a time.

Jack

On 7/18/08 10:44 AM, in article
,
"Built_Well" > wrote:

> RT wrote:
>>
>> I was just going to say, is it the same torque wrench ?
>> Has it been properly stored ? Used a lot in between ?
> =======
>
> Yep, it's the same torque wrench, stored with the numerical
> torque selector at the lowest setting, as Tegger
> recommended, contrary to the Sears salesman who recommended
> storing at 20 foot-pounds. IIRC the salesman said there was
> some memo floating around recommending that the Craftsman torque
> wrenches be stored at 20 foot-pounds to prevent damage to the
> mechanism, but I think Tegger is probably right, and have
> stored my wrench at zero Newton-meters ever since.
>
> It is interesting, though, that almost all the torque wrenches
> I've seen at Sears (and the Huskys at Home Depot and the Kobalts
> at Lowe's) have all been set to a torque of between 20 and 30
> foot-pounds while they're sitting on the shelf waiting to
> be bought.
>
> But I have faith in Tegger, and store my wrench at zero.

The users manual that came with my Home Depot wrench specifically said to
store it set to 25 foot-pounds and specifically warned against storing it at
zero.