Dually Lug Nut Question
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Gig Em, Tx
Dually Lug Nut Question
I am old school and remember when you just tightened the lug nuts as tight as you could get them and go on down the road. Then disc brakes came out and torquing the nuts became necessary to prevent brake rotor warpage. This is my first dually and, while rotating the tires, I see that the wheels on here don't rest on the brake rotors. So my question is - is it still necessary to torque the lug nuts or just impact them on. I know the owner's manual says to torque them but it was written for SRW and DRW trucks.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: Weatherford Texas.
Torquing properly not only prevents disk warpage, but also prevents the studs from snapping due to being over torqued, or the nuts loosening due to under torquing, Just had a friend had his snp off, he just ran them down with his inpact and off he went, lost all but one or 2 lugs, he limped it home on 2 studs and they were loose. But I am also an aircraft mechanic, and EVERYTHING has to be torqued, and safetied.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: Weatherford Texas.
How do you know your not over torquing them and stretching the studs, they may not fail right away but... With my family in the truck I dont want to risk it.
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2015
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From: West Virginia
I torque mine for a couple reasons:
1. many, many years ago as a young lad working at a service station, I mounted and balanced four new tires for a customer. Normal procedure was to simply use the air impact wrench to tighten the lug nuts securely, which I did. Unbeknownst to me, however, someone had reduced the air pressure to my gun and the rather elderly gentleman didn't make it three miles before two of his wheels came off.
2. We've all struggled at the side of the road trying to break free lug nuts that some magilla gorilla put on. If I tighten them with a wrench to the specified torque, I can be sure I'll be able to use a wrench to get them off.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Gig Em, Tx
If I remember correctly my SRW truck wheels sat against the brake rotors making torquing required to prevent rotor warpage. On DRW trucks neither the front nor the rear wheels mount to the rotor. The manual doesn't distinguish between the two.
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Logistics Pro
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: Weatherford Texas.
As an aircraft mechanic I have seen bigger bolts break or fracture do to over torque with an impact, only found during NDT, Xray or Dye test for cracks. we could see how the bolt was twisted and stretched. And this was on a turbine engine mount bolt.
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Post Fiend
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From: Waterloo, Iowa
Where do you work? Aircraft mechanics using impact wrenches ... That's a huge no-go.
Posting Guru
Joined: Feb 2018
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There is also a torque sequence to follow. I don't know how long it takes other folks to run a torque wrench on the lugs, but even if it's a 10-lug wheel, it shouldn't add more than a few minutes per wheel. I'd consider that time well spent. I do run the lugs down with the air gun, but only on low pressure just to seat the wheel and lugs, but I always torque the lugs to spec.
Posting Guru
Joined: Aug 2015
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There is also a torque sequence to follow. I don't know how long it takes other folks to run a torque wrench on the lugs, but even if it's a 10-lug wheel, it shouldn't add more than a few minutes per wheel. I'd consider that time well spent. I do run the lugs down with the air gun, but only on low pressure just to seat the wheel and lugs, but I always torque the lugs to spec.
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2015
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From: West Virginia
Interesting, I had not noticed that. Thanks.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Aug 2005
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From: NJ
I am a shop owner, every wheel gets torqued to spec, no exceptions, You should see how many under/over or even totally uneven torqued wheel run though my shop, if it adds 4 minutes to the job its a lot, just do it right.