Lugnut Torque Wrenches

[caper]

We had a nut and bolt seminar last month in our safety meeting at work.The company that supplies our fasteners brought in a machine that showed the torque on a bolt as you turned it.One of our guys was given a wrench,a breaker bar and a ratchet and asked to tighten a bolt with each to what he felt was proper torque.Every time he tightened a bolt,no matter what he used,the digital readout showed him taking the bolt to the point that the torque would peak and start to drop off.He ruined every bolt in the demo.When he used a torque wrench to proper spec the torque would rise till the torque wrench clicked and the readout would stay at that pressure.Many professional techs need their elbow clicker recalibrated.How many wheel studs out there have been taken to their yield point many times?How many studs are on the verge of breaking from being stretched?Who tightened the wheels last?Did they do it right or are those studs ruined?With a torque wrench you verify that the studs are still useable.If they're not you'll know it because the wrench won't click.

 

[econoaddict]

I am a torque wrench kinda guy.

I used the torque sticks long ago and then one day actually read the "instructions" that came with them and compared air compressor, air line and air gun specs to what the sticks call for to be close to accurate and have not used one since.
Way to many variables to try and control, not to mention that torque stick DO get old and can turn into shrapnel very easily.

 

[Toolhorder]

I use a torque stick and have for years and never had a problem. People who don't trust them always seem to have a story for why or know someone, etc.. I've NEVER had a car come back in my whole career and I'm on my second torque stick. The first one broke clean in half and never shrapneled. I don't use cheapo torque sticks though if that matters. Mine are SO. Most professional shops use high shop pressure and if you are using a good impact gun it's not an issue. I've gone back and checked behind one with a torque wrench and none of the lug nuts needed to be tightened more.
Most techs I've met can't use a torque wrench correctly anyway (multiple clicking of the wrench and pushing it not pulling it toward them)

 

[1stwarrior95]

I'd have to agree with ya Skyline. Any shop should torque the wheel studs every time.


Although it's not just the newer cars that have weak studs. GM's older cars, (musclecars, pickups, maybe even older ones) had 7/16in studs that you could break with a long 3/8dr ratchet sometimes.

I'm wondering if anybody has personally tested the runout effects of torquing the wheel studs? How'd ya do it if ya did? My son's S10 is in the shop right now with the front wheels off. (Gotta bleed the brakes) I'm thinkin about trying this; drill an access hole in the dust shield for a dial indicator, (if there isn't already some sort of access), and check runout with no wheel, torque a wheel on, check runout again, remove the wheel, hand tighten the studs and recheck runout. The last tighen the studs some sort of lopsided to see what effect it has.
If I can create some extra time I might try this out in the next few days.

 

[Toolhorder]

I'm wondering if anybody has personally tested the runout effects of torquing the wheel studs?

Honda has....
That's why I think it's funny when people think it's a myth.

 

[nissan_crawler]

I use a torque stick and have for years and never had a problem. People who don't trust them always seem to have a story for why or know someone, etc.. I've NEVER had a car come back in my whole career and I'm on my second torque stick. The first one broke clean in half and never shrapneled. I don't use cheapo torque sticks though if that matters. Mine are SO. Most professional shops use high shop pressure and if you are using a good impact gun it's not an issue. I've gone back and checked behind one with a torque wrench and none of the lug nuts needed to be tightened more.
Most techs I've met can't use a torque wrench correctly anyway (multiple clicking of the wrench and pushing it not pulling it toward them)

Yes, but did they need to be tightened less? That was usually the case in my experience.

Each to their own, I'll grab a torque wrench every time. I borrowed my moms crv when my only vehicle was down, and to be nice, bought her new tires before she took it back, as it was a long drive, in winter, and hers were pretty bad.

We took it to wal-mart, did some shopping, and came back to the tire monkey rattling on the last lugnuts.

Yeah, I walked right out there, grabbed the tire tool, and told him to loosen one, he couldn't. I got the manager out there, he couldn't. The 150 ft lb torque wrench they had...just clicked on the max setting.

I promptly told them to call a rollback and have it hauled to the honda dealer, as they just bought us a complete set of studs. No way in hell I was going to let my mom drive it after that.

 

[Tavy]

Torque sticks get the job done, but I always double-check with a well calibrated torque wrench to be sure. Once or twice it's had to go a little further to click, but not often.

If the question of how they work hasn't been answered, it's basically a calibrated torsion bar piece of spring steel -- at a given torque, it'll twist instead of continueing to turn the nut, effectively setting it. Too much abuse can knock them out of whack, and they do age, but other than that.

As for "correct" wheel lugnut torque, check the application. Seriously. It doesn't take too long to grab a manual and look it up, and it's better than tearing the stud off a Toyota because it's meant to be set at 67ft/lb whilst most 19mm lugnuts are 80 to 100ft/lb.
Seen some cars that call for 40ft/lb on a 14mm stud...and some that call for 160ft/lb. Always check. Extracting a busted stud, especially rusted to death in the New York Salt, is not a fun process.

[edit] On the flipside of this..I *only* use a torque wrench when dealing with engine/drivetrain components or lugnuts. Suspension and framework you can develop a good enough feel for, just use the right size ratchet for the job.

 

[Skyline]

I use a torque stick and have for years and never had a problem. People who don't trust them always seem to have a story for why or know someone, etc.. I've NEVER had a car come back in my whole career and I'm on my second torque stick. The first one broke clean in half and never shrapneled. I don't use cheapo torque sticks though if that matters. Mine are SO. Most professional shops use high shop pressure and if you are using a good impact gun it's not an issue. I've gone back and checked behind one with a torque wrench and none of the lug nuts needed to be tightened more.
Most techs I've met can't use a torque wrench correctly anyway (multiple clicking of the wrench and pushing it not pulling it toward them)

One big problem with this statement is that you only use one torque stick. I guess if you only work on one brand, model and model year of a certain car, that would work. But if you work on different vehicles, you need a whole set of torque sticks, or better yet, torque adapters, (so you can use plastic coated sockets for nice wheels). Look up the proper torque for each car before proceeding. Most of the stick sets come with a nice chart.

 

[aczr2k]

Torque wrench for me, if for some reason my truck goes into the shop for tires etc...I explicitly state "no air wrench" on the lugnuts, I don't want my chrome "nuts all beat up".

Back when I went to college I worked at a service station, every lugnut was torqued by hand, standard practice, no torque sticks either.

 

[matt H]

i work for costco in their tire center and we hand torque everything. our impact guns are torque limited to 50 ft lbs. there is no way in hell i would trust torque sticks.