Wheel studs/ lug nut torque question

[LPChristensen]

Got a question on wheel studs. I just got my tires on my 3500 4X4 rotates at 12,000 miles. The guy at the tire shop tells me that one lug nut on the left rear and two on the right front wheel would not torque down to the recommended 135 pounds, they went to a 150 pounds, and still would not torque down. They guy says that I probably have a couple of bad studs, but that he would not worry about it, that the 3 lug nuts had been torqued past the recommended 135 pounds, so I was good to go. I am a tad concerned about this. I was wondering if anybody had ever run into this before and did you take it back to the dealer.



I carry a large camper on my truck and would not like to see one of my wheels pass me as I am going down the road.

 

[Grayhackle]

This really sounds suspicious. I think I would take my own torque wrench and try it. It is possible "they" stripped the stud or lug nut. I would have to find out and fix the problem Trouble is you will have to take all the nuts off to isolate the problem ones. I don't believe the dealer would stand behind this problem. Too easy to blame someone else for stripping some threads. Of course for a healthy price the dealer will repair.

Knowing I had some bad nuts/studs would drive me nuts and I wouldn't feel comfortable driving it, especially with the camper on.



Good luck!



Bill



Also, how do you go 15 pounds beyond the recommended torque and not have them "torque down", is the nut still turning, what is going on?

 

[John - K5AWO]

I ditto the uncomfortable feeling. In fact, I would consider that to be down right dangerous.



The guy may have stripped the threads by using a big impact wrench and letting it hammer to nuts down and won't fess up to it.



He may be like one of those 5 minute quick lube outfits. Looking for a dishonest buck.



That is exactly why I will not let tire work be done without my supervision. Untrained tire jockies ruin more studs than you would believe.



Go back to the tire shop. Talk to the owner. If you don't get satisfaction- remove yourself and find another tire shop. Have the work double checked.



Buy a torque wrench. You need one anyway. Check every lug nut on the truck. Maybe this should be step #1 as already mentioned in this thread.

 

[whamby]

This doesn't make much sense. If they will not torque to 135 ft# obviously 150ft# isn't going to do anything. If the wrench doesn't click at 135 it sure as heck ain't going to click at 150. If the nut won't tighten down there is a problem and cranking to the torque wrench on down isn't going to fix it. I would say the stud is stripped. And I would say he is to blame for trying some stupid crap like that.

Just the fact that he told you the rest of the nuts had been torqed past the recommended 135ft# is evidence enough.

 

[Bill Stockard]

Larry,



I too haul a heavy camper on my truck. I rotate my tires and torque my lug nuts with my torque wrench. Lug nut torque is critical for the heavy loads we haul.



I'll bet what happened to you was like what happened to me several years ago. The tire shop rotated my tires and the tire jockey ran the lug nuts on with his air impact wrench without starting the nuts first by hand He stripped a couple on each rear wheel. He gave me the story about needing the extra torque to tighten them up.



I took the truck back the next day and had the supervisor try to take off the lug nuts. He couldn't do it without taking off the threads on the studs that were stripped. They paid to have the stripped studs and nuts replaced by the dealer.



Bill

 

[CChase]

Originally posted by WHamby

This doesn't make much sense. If they will not torque to 135 ft# obviously 150ft# isn't going to do anything. If the wrench doesn't click at 135 it sure as heck ain't going to click at 150. If the nut won't tighten down there is a problem and cranking to the torque wrench on down isn't going to fix it. I would say the stud is stripped. And I would say he is to blame for trying some stupid crap like that.

Just the fact that he told you the rest of the nuts had been torqed past the recommended 135ft# is evidence enough.

Ditto.



Have you ever had the wheels off before... . if not, it may be a case that the stud was never properly seated and is still trying to seat itself. Get a couple washers (to keep the seats on the wheel from becoming deformed), a disposal lug nut and see if that will pull the stud through. Of course this is after verifying that the stud is not indeed stripped.



The chance that it was screwed up by them is also a possibility. Lot of those shops like to start the nut on the stud with the impact gun... when I was a tire buster we started them all by hand, then bumped them up to set the wheel, then torque... . course in my time as a tire jockey, I saw plenty of studs come in that had been cross threaded and then been run down to the wheel with impact wrench. These typically popped up from the large chain stores...

 

[JoelCool]

Originally posted by LPChristensen

The guy at the tire shop tells me that one lug nut on the left rear and two on the right front wheel would not torque down to the recommended 135 pounds, they went to a 150 pounds, and still would not torque down.

I ditto what others have said. This sounds like someone screwed up and didn't fess up to it entirely. I'd contact the manager of the store and explain the situation, and your concern regarding a wheel coming off with your camper on.

 

[CChase]

After re-reading the post about not torquing down at 150 ft-lbs, did they mean they wouldn't seat up to the wheel at 150 ft-lbs? If so then yes they are stripped and that tire shop needs to replace the damaged studs.

 

[smithinc]

isnt there a difference in torque specs between aluminum wheels and steel? I had to back my torque wrench down to 115 to get it to click on my aluminum wheels. i was thinking the aluminum was too soft to accomplish a 135 torque. now i am wondering if something is wrong. i am the only one to remove and reinstall the lugs so if stripped the must have been from the factory. a couple of them were tight the whole way off. hmmm... .



gary

 

[LPChristensen]

stud/lug nut update

Well. first his this morning went back to the tire shop that rotated my tires. Told the store manager that I was not feeling very warm and fuzzy about the service manager's remark "don't worry about them, they will be fine" referring to the 3 lug nuts that would not torque down to specs on two wheels. I told the manager that I was worried, that I often carried a heavy load or pulled a heavy trailer or both. He said that if I was not happy, that they would replace the studs and lugs nuts for me at no cost. Since they probably damaged them, I thought that was big hearted of him, but none the less, it was a no hassle/argument situation. Of course they did not have them, so they had to get them from the dealer, don't know how long that will take, but they are going to remedy the situation. and so far, I am pleased. The tire shop is Discount Tires, a national chain operation, so, they deserve to be credited for customer service.

 

[whamby]

You can't beat that. A no arguement fix. Glad it worked out for you. If it were me and my luck I woud have to argue and kick and scream to get it fixed.

 

[Dean Upson]

That is great service. It would have been better if the service manager had done this in the first place. I bet that he has been educated by now. It is a good idea to re-torque those lug nuts after you have driven a couple of hundred miles. When I travel, a torque wrench is always with me to check the lug nuts on both the truck and trailer, worst part is getting the hubs off the dually.



Dean

 

[klenger]

One of the things that I like about Discount Tire is that they actually use a torque wrench on the lug nuts.

 

[Pawpaw]

I stopped using Discout Tire years ago after they warped the front rotors on my 3/4 ton Dodge van -- twice.



I guess I'm kinda slow, but I finally watched how they use the torque wrench. Every tire jockey I saw used the airgun to hammer the lug nuts down, then made a show of using a torque wrench.



The real tipoff was when I watched the guy pick up a torque wrench that had just been used on a small car and use it on my van. He didn't even check, much less adjust, the wrench before using it.



I always use NTB now and watch them torque my lug nuts.



Just my $. 02.

 

[rbattelle]

Originally posted by smithinc

isnt there a difference in torque specs between aluminum wheels and steel? I had to back my torque wrench down to 115 to get it to click on my aluminum wheels. i was thinking the aluminum was too soft to accomplish a 135 torque. now i am wondering if something is wrong. i am the only one to remove and reinstall the lugs so if stripped the must have been from the factory. a couple of them were tight the whole way off. hmmm... .



gary

135 is, indeed, the correct torque spec for the aluminum wheels and steel wheels on SRW trucks. Gary, I totally sympathize with you on thinking the Al was too soft the first time. I got over that fear on the second tire rotation. First rotation I set them all at 125 ft-lb. Now I go to 133 on the torque wrench, which in my opinion is accurate within the limits of my wrench. No problems at all. I know sometimes it seems like they're never going to click, but it does eventually... trust me.



Some of mine were a bit hard all the way off too, but it's because the studs were not squeeky-clean.

 

[smithinc]

Originally posted by rbattelle

135 is, indeed, the correct torque spec for the aluminum wheels and steel wheels on SRW trucks. Gary, I totally sympathize with you on thinking the Al was too soft the first time. I got over that fear on the second tire rotation. First rotation I set them all at 125 ft-lb. Now I go to 133 on the torque wrench, which in my opinion is accurate within the limits of my wrench. No problems at all. I know sometimes it seems like they're never going to click, but it does eventually... trust me.



Some of mine were a bit hard all the way off too, but it's because the studs were not squeeky-clean.

I'll have to go give it another try, i was scared to keep tightening when the didnt seem to want to click at 135.



good to know you too had the same experience and all is well.



gary

 

[LPChristensen]

Gary, got me to thinking I was wrong or maybe Discount tires figured all Dodge one ton truck were steel wheels. Went to the Owners Manual and the service manual, both are the same. Page 271 of the owner's manual states: " Using the wheel wrench, tighten all nuts using a crisscross pattern. The correct nut tightness is 135 ft. lbs. (183 N-M) torque for 2500/3500 single rear wheel (SRW) models and 145 ft. lbs. (197 N-m) for 3500 dual rear wheel models. "

 

[smithinc]

i got them to torque at 135 but it took about another 1/2-3/4 turn, wasnt too comfy doing it but was happy when the wrench clicked. i am a little gunshy since i break alot of stuff...



gary