Can I re-torque my wheels with the cars weight still on them?

[subaruplatt]

Recently had some steel snow tire wheels put on. I'm pretty sure the guys who mounted them just used an impact gun not a torque wrench.

 

I would like to re-torque them evenly to prevent rotor warp but I don't want to go to the Garage as I don't have the proper jack.

 

Can I just loosen them somewhat and re-torque them with a torque wrench myself while the car is still on the ground?

[idosubaru]

yep, sure can. leave two (opposite sides) still tightened...loosen and tighten 3 properly, then do the other two. or something like that. i wouldn't loosen them all at the same time, then do it.....although technically it *should* work (i know from experience), i wouldn't recommend it. if it's any consolation i don't think overly tight lug nuts really affects subaru's much at all , at least not most EJ stuff i'm familiar with, i think SVX is a bad one to overtighten though.

[OB99W]

Recently had some steel snow tire wheels put on. I'm pretty sure the guys who mounted them just used an impact gun not a torque wrench.

Even with an impact wrench that's set too high, if a torque stick was used, they may have been tightened to something near spec. (Note that I said "near"; use of torque sticks certainly doesn't guarantee accurate/consistent tightening.)

 

 

Can I just loosen them somewhat and re-torque them with a torque wrench myself while the car is still on the ground?

The weight of the car shouldn't affect your ability to loosen and then properly tighten the lug nuts. The only issue could be wheel centering, and as long as the wheels are correct for the car (in the sense that the centerbore fits the hub correctly), that shouldn't be a problem.

[edrach]

I don't see any problem with re-torquing. I would loosen one and re-tighten it properly and then go to the next in an alternating sequence.

 

I use a portable electric impact tool (thank you harbor freight) and a torque stick since I change wheels and tires all the time when I run rallycross events. I use a torque wrench after the torque stick tightening to make sure it's correct. After 300 to 500 miles, I re-check all the lugnuts with the torque wrench.

[subaruplatt]

Update..... I went outside to re-torque the nuts thinking I could loosen an re-torque the nuts one at a time to 50 ft/lbs and then follow up with the 80 ft/lbs setting in a star pattern. Normally this would have been no big deal.

 

What happened was one of the theft protection locking wheel nuts from subaru snapped and I was unable to loosen that nut.

 

So of I went to the garage and had them remove the 4 cheesy cast aluminum locking wheel nuts and replace them with the 4 regular steel ones that came with the car. The mechanic said that an additional one snapped getting them off.

 

Was -2 c outside but that shouldn't have made a difference. One could just as easily get a flat in the winter.

[idosubaru]

Was -2 c outside but that shouldn't have made a difference.

that sucks, and good point that's not really that cold even. guess you could ask them to torque them properly.

[OB99W]

[...]What happened was one of the theft protection locking wheel nuts from subaru snapped and I was unable to loosen that nut.[...]Was -2 c outside but that shouldn't have made a difference. One could just as easily get a flat in the winter.

The locking lug nuts obviously aren't as rugged as the solid steel ones; they certainly wouldn't tolerate significant over-tightening. What happened may be a sign that you were correct about the nuts having been over-torqued when the wheels were mounted.

[forester2002s]

I retorque my wheel nuts EVERY TIME after the car has been in for repair.

 

I sometimes have to undo the nuts using my socket-set and a torque-bar, but I retorque them using the wheel-wrench that I keep in the back of the car, and I estimate the torque by feel (after more than 40-years of doing this, I am pretty accurate).

 

Then if I have to change a wheel on a 'dark and stormy night', I know that I'll be able to get the nuts undone on my own with that wheel-wrench.

[GeneralDisorder]

That's interesting... are you sure those locking nuts are aluminium? It's difficult to tell from the picture. I have a set of Subaru ones very similar to those on my 94 Legacy (on it when I got the car - probably on there since it was new as it came with alloy's) and I use an impact on them without issue. Perhaps they changed the material.

 

GD

[edrach]

The mechanic said that an additional one snapped getting them off.

 

Was -2 c outside but that shouldn't have made a difference. One could just as easily get a flat in the winter.

The likely reason that they snapped off is they were tightened without a torque stick on the impact tool. 600 ft-lbs with an air impact tool does a great job stretching the studs and ruining the threads.

 

I had a similar problem on my son's BMW. He had a local shop do a pre-buy inspection on it and brought it over here to install some fine alloy wheels with new tires. I couldn't get the first lugnut off with a 3/4" breaker bar with a 5 foot pipe on it:eek: . My son took it back to the shop and they broke 4 of the studs removing the lugnuts:mad: . Needless to say my son never went back to that shop.

[Setright]

Yeah, I'd reckon those nuts were over tightened. Quite a bit, too, since it cracked the locking nuts.

 

On those rare occasions that I leave my car at a dealership I remove the related locking nuts to avoid having them damaged.

 

 

I only torque to 100Nm, which is what?...70ft/lbs. Personally, I lift the wheels up to re-torque. The main problem being that if you don't, you will not get the wheels centered. If the shop tightens one at a time to full "air-gun" torque, the wheel will not be 100% centered.

 

I ramp the torque up. Finger tight, 20Nm, 60Nm, 100Nm. Stops those +100mph shimmies

[forester2002s]

Personally, I lift the wheels up to re-torque. The maing problem being that if you don't, you will not get the wheels centered.

 

I don't get it?????

 

My wheel nuts are cone-shaped, and they mate with a cone-shaped bore on the wheel. As the nuts are tightened, the wheel is forced into place, and ends up centered. Even if the wheels are on the ground.

[subaruplatt]

That's interesting... are you sure those locking nuts are aluminium? It's difficult to tell from the picture. I have a set of Subaru ones very similar to those on my 94 Legacy (on it when I got the car - probably on there since it was new as it came with alloy's) and I use an impact on them without issue. Perhaps they changed the material.

 

GD

They are made of Chromed Whitish grey cast metal.

[Setright]

Centering:

 

 

If one lug is tightened to max torque before the others are even in contact (workshop, mech doesn't care) the other lugs will not be able to center the wheel, since it's already stuck in position.

 

Yes, we are now talking about very small changes, but you don't need measuring equipment to prove the difference. At high speed, the wheel shimmy will cause vibrations.

 

My way is the sure-fire way to vibration free high-speed cruising.

[frag]

Centering:

 

 

If one lug is tightened to max torque before the others are even in contact (workshop, mech doesn't care) the other lugs will not be able to center the wheel, since it's already stuck in position.

 

 

And worst of all this will slightly ovalise the wheel stud holes and will make it impossible to realy have a centered wheel afterwards.

[OB99W]

If there has to be complete reliance on perfectly shaped wheel lug holes and the cone taper of lug nuts to center the wheel, then its likely the wheel is improper for the car. There should be a close fit between the hub and the wheel's centerbore, and that shouldn't allow much radial runout. Assuming the hub/centerbore fit is correct (and mounting surfaces are clean), wheel and tire manufacturing tolerances will often contribute more to radial runout than wheel centering will. A typical driver, keeping to "reasonable" road speeds, shouldn't have a problem. Tightening the nuts relatively evenly and close to the correct torque should be sufficient.

[Kilroy]

So after all this talk of tightening wheel lugs, what is the proper torque required for an EJ? Is there any difference in torque specs for other vehicles or are they all the same?

[OB99W]

For most Subarus of the last twenty-or-so years, lug nut torque of about 70 ft-lbs is reasonable; that assumes clean, undamaged threads. For SVXs, somewhat higher (about 85 ft-lbs). Those numbers are "ballpark"; check your owner's manual, which will usually give the acceptable range. Any time you mount a wheel, the torque should be rechecked after about 50-100 miles, since they sometimes loosen a bit.

[Manarius]

I put my lugnuts on as tight as I can make them. From what I figure, that's about 100ft-lbs. I'm not as strong as an airgun, and tighter is better (so the lugs don't back off), so I tighten as tight as I can make them. Never warped or broke anything yet.

[Setright]

100ft/lbs equates to 130Nm.

 

A little too tight for me - and some alloys don't like it - but hardly dangerous.

 

 

Tighter isn't always better though.