Lugnut Torque Question

Hello everyone,

This may be an obvious question but I keep seeing torque recommendations expressed as "Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage3"

Could someone please explain what these stages mean? My guess is that you tighten all wheels to the Stage 1 level before next tightening all wheels to the next stage level and so on... but I could be way off

Thanks!

Nope, you nailed it, sort of.  Tighten all nuts on one wheel to stage 1, then to stage 2, then to final torque.  Then move on to the next wheel. 
Don't have to circle the rig 3 times.

There are also a bunch of people that insist you are supposed to re-torque the lug nuts after driving it 50 miles...

In 40 years of driving large company owned trucks and trailers... I never did.

Torque?.... Whenever I had a tire changed on the road side,  the tire-truck guys would just hold the airgun on the lug until the gun stopped chugging....

I drove on down the road and never lost a wheel 

  When I rotate tires at home, or do some work requiring tire removal on the RV....I will torque, though only using two steps. When on the road, I would torque....but usually forget the torque wrench at home! So, I resort to the ?SWAG?  (scientific wild a$$ guess) system! So far, haven?t lost a wheel!

Memtb said:

  When I rotate tires at home, or do some work requiring tire removal on the RV....I will torque, though only using two steps. When on the road, I would torque....but usually forget the torque wrench at home! So, I resort to the ?SWAG?  (scientific wild a$$ guess) system! So far, haven?t lost a wheel!

Click to expand...

My best friend was a car mechanic all his life. He rarely used a torque wrench. If he tightened something and said it was 25 ft lbs, I could put a torque wrench on the nut and it would be 25 ft lbs.

Torque.. is one of those engineers specs like a 'Speed Limit'.....  What you should do.. is different than what everyone does.  ;D

Thanks everyone

Unlike many vehicles, trailers do not use the center hole to locate the wheel, the lug nuts do the centering.  By bringing up the torque in a number of steps allows the centering to better take place.  Since the lugs carry carry the loads rather then the center hole, there is a greater probability that they may loosen, so re-torque after operating a while.  Disregard those that suggest ignoring proper techniques.

https://www.etrailer.com/question-75604.html

lynnmor said:

re-torque after operating a while.  Disregard those that suggest ignoring proper techniques.

https://www.etrailer.com/question-75604.html

Click to expand...

Very good advice.

lynnmor said:

  Disregard those that suggest ignoring proper techniques.

https://www.etrailer.com/question-75604.html

Click to expand...

and Disregard speed limits too...

lynnmor said:

Unlike many vehicles, trailers do not use the center hole to locate the wheel, the lug nuts do the centering.  By bringing up the torque in a number of steps allows the centering to better take place.  Since the lugs carry carry the loads rather then the center hole, there is a greater probability that they may loosen, so re-torque after operating a while.  Disregard those that suggest ignoring proper techniques.

https://www.etrailer.com/question-75604.html

Click to expand...

That's a great little bit of knowledge, thank you!

I?ve never had a flat tire or blowout on my RV.  Doesn?t mean I don?t check before I leave.

My Grandfather smoked for 65 years and did not die from any smoking related illness.  Is smoking safe?

If torquing were a waste of time OEM?s wouldn?t do it.  Maybe a very small risk but some just don?t like taking chances.

Happy motoring!

Torque specs are an engineers attempt to legislate mechanical common sense.
;D 

When it?s important, you torque.

I suppose you just squint when drilling holes too.

As an ex owner of a Antique British motorcycle shop, (and a big believer in Loctight  )  In the repair business of well used machinery,  I feel it's far more important for a fastener to be tightened.... than it is to be torqued.

Spring Creek said:

I?ve never had a flat tire or blowout on my RV.  Doesn?t mean I don?t check before I leave.

Click to expand...

Cruise ships almost never sink............should I still be wearing a life jacket ?   

sightseers said:

As an ex owner of a Antique British motorcycle shop, (and a big believer in Loctight  )  In the repair business of well used machinery,  I feel it's far more important for a fastener to be tightened.... than it is to be torqued.

Click to expand...

As a 35 year ASE Master Automotive Tech, and a former hot rod restoration shop owner who started his career in the Air Force as a mechanic on fighter jets,  I find your advice both irresponsible and dangerous. 

Torque specs are the engineer's way of insuring that the clamp load of the fastener is correct and that the fastener itself is not over-stressed.
Over-torquing can lead to stretched fasteners and fastener failure(who among us hasn't broken a bolt by over-torquing?).  In the case of wheel lugs that we're talking about here, that could lead to injury or death.  Under-torquing can lead to loose or missing fasteners, which, again with the wheel lugs can lead to a bad accident.
I always installed wheels using the air impact and then verified the torque with a  torque wrench.  Anything else would have gotten me a stern talking to by the management(prior to me owning the shop).  Nowadays I use a 4-way and then a torque wrench.
Admittedly, I don't carry a torque wrench in all my vehicles, so a flat replaced on the road side wouldn't get torqued, but then the spare would be taken off as soon as the opportunity to fix the flat presented itself.

As far as Loctite.  As a motorcycle rider for 55 years, and having owned both Harleys and Triumphs in the past, I have(and use)a whole collection of the different grades of both the liquid Locktite and the sticks.  I love the sticks.
However, I do not and never will believe that Loctite is a substitute for a properly torqued fastener.

Those torque specs written by Norton Motors Co. in 1939 were based on Ideal lab situations and brand new parts.

IMO..  when working with older castings the amount of pressure (or torque) it takes to close a gap changes after 75+ years of heat cycling and abuse.  Sometimes even the original 1939 engineering/manufacturing processes were flawed .... and things needs to be modified.

I'm sure with all your qualifications you know your stuff,  and yes.....If I was building a brand new aircraft engine....I'd use a torque wrench.

peace...

sightseers said:

. . . . . Torque?.... Whenever I had a tire changed on the road side,  the tire-truck guys would just hold the airgun on the lug until the gun stopped chugging . . . . . 

Click to expand...

The problem I've found with the shop using airguns to tighten lug-nuts is some get them so darn tight.  Breaking them loose with hand tools can be a real challenge.


Question: Putting a rust preventing lubricant on the stud before tightening. Good or bad practice?

What gets me about tire shops is using an impact, then a torque wrench. They put the torque wrench on, it clicks, but no movement of the lug nut. The only thing they accomplished besides wasting time is proving the lug nuts are tighter than the wrench setting. The lug nuts could be torqued to twice the spec as far as anyone knows.