How Tight...?

[C4a0s]

i have seen tire shops and workshops...use the rattle gun until it clicks... then click somemore...

now i bring my own torque wrench along...

[Sick_R31]

98-118 Nm as per the workshop manuals specifications

I have been doing my aluminum wheel nuts up to 110 Nm with a torque wrench for the past 6 years and i haven't had any issues.

[89CAL]

Honestly, its not worth stressing about. I've never used a torque wrench to do mine up. While its a good thing to do, I wouldnt stress if you use a regular size 1/2" Breaker bar and a socket to do them up tight. Not straining on the breaker bar but doing it tight

[C4a0s]

98-118 Nm as per the workshop manuals specifications

I have been doing my aluminum wheel nuts up to 110 Nm with a torque wrench for the past 6 years and i haven't had any issues.

which brand/type of aluminum wheel nuts are these?

[Sick_R31]

Just some generic ones from autobarn

[XKLABA]

I use a cordless Milwalkee 3/4 rattle gun with a single hex deep socket as tight as it'll go, the steel nuts I use to use ended up pulling the thread out of it so I now use Rays nuts same way and no more issues

[89CAL]

3/4 rattle gun?

on a car wheel nut?

I hope that was a misprint.........

[MagicMikeZ32]

3/8 surely lol

[C4a0s]

I use a cordless Milwalkee 3/4 rattle gun with a single hex deep socket as tight as it'll go, the steel nuts I use to use ended up pulling the thread out of it so I now use Rays nuts same way and no more issues

if u can pull threads out of the steel nuts... wouldnt it be worse for aluminium ones?

[XKLABA]

yeah 3/4 cordless electric, I use it for the nuts on my truck, so no misprint

The Rays alloys are a lot stronger the steel nuts funny enough given their wieght and I would deffenintly only use it on genuine Nissan studs not the crap Autobarn shitters

I do em up till the nut stops and that's it I never ever sit there rattling away like the tyre mobs do

I've been doing it this way for a number of years now on both cars without any dramas

[Anfanee]

The rattle you hear is usually the torque setting. They may have it set quite a bit lower and they are making sure they are all done up properly. That's how they are meant to be used.

Also if a wheel nut is so tight you can't get it off by hand it is too tight. That simple.

[89CAL]

It's not hard to overtighten wheel nuts on a car. I don't even use a 1/2" rattle gun to do these up.

Seriously..... How hard is it to do 5 nuts up by hand? Alot easier than replacing studs or getting stripped nuts off

Undoing them with a rattle gun is O.K, but doing them up with one for me is too risky

[GTR-N1]

You guys have read the recommended nM to tighten up Duralumin (Al) Nuts haven't you?

Most of your posts are correct. Caution during tightening is required especially for Al or Duralumin nuts as Cassbo (Matt) and others have said.

[simpletool]

Honestly, its not worth stressing about. I've never used a torque wrench to do mine up. While its a good thing to do, I wouldnt stress if you use a regular size 1/2" Breaker bar and a socket to do them up tight. Not straining on the breaker bar but doing it tight

Depends entirely upon experience and tools. Some people have NO IDEA how tight things should be, they don't do it often enough or use a different length bar. I use a torque wrench now, 105Nm.

Most tyre shops do them up too tight with a rattle gun. I've had two steel nuts crack this way (internal drive hex nuts).

Edited April 3, 2014 by simpletool

[XKLABA]

Reading people using torque wrenches on wheel nuts makes me chuckle

Unless you properly clean both threads and apply assemble lube how consistent do you think the torque wrench is going be

I not some teenage apprentance that has never had any real experience with cars and/or mechanics, I wasnt asking for advice i was simple stating how I do it, I have been doing this many years and know my tools and how tight something is by feel from my experiences

[simpletool]

Reading people using torque wrenches on wheel nuts makes me chuckle

Unless you properly clean both threads and apply assemble lube how consistent do you think the torque wrench is going be

I not some teenage apprentance that has never had any real experience with cars and/or mechanics, I wasnt asking for advice i was simple stating how I do it, I have been doing this many years and know my tools and how tight something is by feel from my experiences

Yeah I know. It's hilarious to follow the manual and use a torque wrench to put bolts on DRY. If you have experience with your tools that's fine and it's how most people do it. But using a torque wrench is by no means amusing, it's sensible if you aren't confident.

[XKLABA]

Yeah I know. It's hilarious to follow the manual and use a torque wrench to put bolts on DRY. If you have experience with your tools that's fine and it's how most people do it. But using a torque wrench is by no means amusing, it's sensible if you aren't confident.

Using a torque wrench on a new car yeah fine but a 20 year old car with 20 years worth of grime and anti seize paste and what ever else has been applied to the studs aswell as 20 years of wear on the studs will give all sorts of variations in torque settings, so like I said, unless you properly clean both stud and nut before torquing it then you may very well not be torquing it up tight enough or if the stud is excessively wore then a torque setting for a new stud could mean youre do it to tight

Which defeats the purpose of using a torque wrench as well as that it isn't that important that the studs are all exactly the same level of tight, the average person with a tyre wrench doing as tight as they can is plenty tight enough

What I find amusing is the people saying that is how it should be done and that is the right/best way and make doing it any other way sound incorrect or the wrong way to do it

If your not confident enough to be doing up the nuts that hold the wheels on your car then maybe you shouldn't be or should get someone that knows to show you how

[C4a0s]

u have a point but actually i think most people who even think of using a torque wrench are familiar with cleaning the nuts and studs before tightening them. isnt that like the first thing u would do even if u use a rattle gun?

its not abt no confidence in oneself but rather, no confidence in tire shop apprentices. have u seen some tire shops rattle away and round a wheel nut or loosen a wheel stud? I have... thus now i tighten the wheel nuts myself.

[C4a0s]

I've had two steel nuts crack this way (internal drive hex nuts).

omg...now thats scary...

but wouldnt the wheel studs loosen first before a steel nut even cracks? its steel rite?

[XKLABA]

If their doing all the prep then good but if not then it's pretty much wasting time, as for me cleaning the studs it depends on how dirty they are

I guess that's where I different, I don't go to shops that use apprentices ( though if i need something done to a wheel i take it off at home and run it down in the ute anyway) and if I do have to for some strange reason I would either do it myself or for sure would check their work, the shop I use I haven't seen an apprentice there yet in the 10 years they have been doing my tyres

Nah the internal hex key type he is referring to are actually quite easy the crack, I did it a few times when I had em on a corolla I had many years ago, way way before I could get hold of a rattle gun so that was by hand, I refuse to use them cause of it

That brings up another point, what torque setting do you use for after market/non genuine nuts and studs