Lug nuts: how tight is right?

Tag : Socket Wrench

Q: I had a flat tire fixed, and my neighbor said I should have thewheel nuts "torqued" by someone, as the young man at the gasstation didn't do this. I didn't want to sound ignorant by askingwhat he meant by this.
A: Your neighbor is correct about the importance of tightening wheellug nuts. Excessively tightened lug nuts can strip the threads,distort brake rotors, damage the wheel, and possibly shear off thelug stud.
Insufficiently tightened lug nuts can come loose, with catastrophicconsequences.
It sounds like the fellow at the service station used either a lugwrench or impact gun, rather than a torque wrench. A simple lugwrench comes in either an L or cross shape and with the rightamount of grunt tightens lug nuts pretty well.
An impact gun uses compressed air and a hammering effect to quicklyand noisily zip the lug nuts tight. The problem with impact guns isthey're so powerful, one can easily over-tighten the nuts.
A torque wrench measures the tightening force applied, allowing theuser to accurately follow the manufacturer's recommendations.
If your lug nuts were tightened by hand I wouldn't be tooconcerned. If an impact gun was used without a torque stick (aclever long-shaft socket designed to limit torque) it's probablyworth the trouble to have the lug nuts re-checked.