Manually tighten up wheel lug nuts?

[AnimalChin]

You should be nervous about breaking the studs. Its far too easy to sheer them in half. Be sure the wrench handle doesn't start deviating from 90 degrees, thats very important or twist and that stud is toast.

you are good. I haven't tightened anything to 150 that much of torque. I'm kind of nervous about breaking the studs.

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[MellowJohnny]

150 lbft will only take about 80 lbs of force on the handle of a 24” torque wrench. I have not had any problem with it. I’m only 169 lbs and don’t need body weight to do it.

Bill is correct. The torque wrench will not be accurate unless force is applied in the correct spot (the grip at the end of the wrench).

^^^ Basic Physics - the torque wrench handle acts as a lever, providing a Mechanical Advantage. Just like a crowbar. Which is also the name of a pretty cool bar in London if you like Heavy Metal...

 

[AliRafiee]

^^^ Basic Physics - the torque wrench handle acts as a lever, providing a Mechanical Advantage. Just like a crowbar. Which is also the name of a pretty cool bar in London if you like Heavy Metal...

Ours is misspelled

 

[Mike G]

So the torque stick thing.....that's only used to spin them up to something less than the final value. Torque sticks aren't meant to be used in place of an actual calibrated torque wrench. It's a convenience thing to get you started.

On my out of warranty Ford hoopties (past and present) that I've taken to Walmart for tire rotations etc. I've had the opportunity to watch through the lounge windows while the tech spins them up with the impact wrench and 100lb torque stick and then when the vehicle is down off the lift he goes back with the long digital torque wrench and does the final tightening to spec. And even my old 2010 Expedition's lug nuts have the same 150Lb value as my Lightning and Mach-E do....so that's been a thing for a while now.

 

[HughJazzol]

Just some help.
I recently learned that Advance Auto parts rents a 150ft torque wrench for free; you buy it and you get a refund if you return it before 45 days. It is a needle type of wrench, but it will get the job done.
I used it during my tire rotation weeks ago, and It worked fine as long as I used an extender for the wrench socket. If you don't use one, you will scratch the rim.

 

[MoonRiver]

The reason I got it done at Ford dealership was many those disastrous stories about lifting the MME, I bet not many of tire ships don’t know where the lift points are, besides $30 bucks dealer charged was very reasonable.

To get an accurate torque, physically speaking, is to use a metal pipe, insert a break bar inside, then pick a point on the pipe, measure the distance between that point to the break bar drive, say, it’s n ft, then apply a force, say F lb perpendicularly to the pipe, at the point, then the torque is n times F.

 

[MoonRiver]

The lug nuts need to be retorqured within 100 miles after wheels were removed. This is what Ford calls for. So for the time being I am not going to do anything until 50 miles later.

Thanks all for sharing your thoughts and experience.

 

[Adventureboy]

A standard 1/2" Torque wrench can do 150 ft-lbs easily and is worth the purchase. While you can do it using other methods, this is by far the best.

You will not break the studs at 150 ft-lbs. Old F150 torque specs were 190 ft-lbs on the same size studs.

 

[jav_eee]

Just hit them with the impact gun and let it impact for 5 to 10 seconds. That should do.

on a serious note, how many people actually retorque lug nuts after having wheels serviced? None.

 

[ChrisO]

Frankly, I'm more worried that they might over torque them than under torque them.

 

[Adventureboy]

Well, it would be an impossibility for my <100 lb wife...

I taught my 98lb daughter to do it with a 24" torque wrench. It was a requirement for her to drive the car - she does just fine and helps me twice per year, switching out the seasonal wheels.
It really isn't hard if you have the right tools and techniques. Lift with the legs.

 

[Brent@ANParts]

After having snapped far too many wheel studs as a teenager, I have deep respect for torque wrenches. That said I didn't know the spec is 150, that's tight!

 

[MoonRiver]

One thing I am sure is that the tech in the dealership rotated the tire from rear to front, didn't swap from left to right. Asking me how do I know? I have the tires marked before the rotation, just to see how they did it.

Ford's recommendation is to swap from front to rear, also corner to corner. May not be a big deal but it's not ideal.

 

[superdave80]

Bill is correct. The torque wrench will not be accurate unless force is applied in the correct spot (the grip at the end of the wrench).

Bill is incorrect. The torque wrench measures the torque at the pivot point where the socket is located, and gives a click (or beep) when it hits target torque. It gives zero craps where/how you apply the torque. Think about it this way: If you slide a two-foot pipe over the end of the handle and push down on the end of the pipe, that force is being transmitted to the... handle. So it doesn't matter.

 

[ChrisO]

One thing I am sure is that the tech in the dealership rotated the tire from rear to front, didn't swap from left to right. Asking me how do I know? I have the tires marked before the rotation, just to see how they did it.

Ford's recommendation is to swap from front to rear, also corner to corner. May not be a big deal but it's not ideal.

I remember a long time ago it was bias tires cross and radial front to back. It seems it has gotten more complicated over the years. And as such I will bet most people haven't keep up with it. Of course, the overall goal is just to have the tires to wear as evenly as possible. As long as that is happening then most likely for the most part it probably doesn't matter.

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