I removed my Wheels today to do a good Cleaning and Waxing.
(Oh that darn Brake Dust Varmit keeps sprinkling my wheels)
Now I'm a little worried about the proper Torque.
I used a 4-way and tighted to what seemed to be the same to loosen.
But I haven't calibrated these Guns for awhile.
What should I do?
I don't own a Torque wrench but am willing to get one.
I know that Chrysler has a "Special" lug nut socket that clicks when it is torqued to the right ft/lb. Is there such a device for the Mini?
Anyone know the proper torque for the Clubman (non S)(I think R55)?
Please reply!!

 

Found this in the Owners Manual:

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Tightening the lug bolts

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JEEZ! 103 FtLb?

I've never owned anything that required more than 90. Wow!

 

Jeez, just torque 'em till you strain a bit on the wrench.
Lug Nuts don't get loose unless a little old lady torqued them.

 

I'd be careful about just "torquing it till you strain." Use a properly calibrated torque wrench and torque it to the recommended value.

 

We've all change tires. It's not a big deal.
When it's tight, it's tight.

 

Uhm, ok. dkamp, you decide what you want to do ...

 

And when it's too tight, you've got warped rotors. Ask anybody who owned VWs with vented rotors in the late 80s-early 90s. Priced MINI rotors?

 

I think I will get a Torque wrench.
After all if Mini, BMW, Toyota, VW, Chrysler, GM, Ford, etc....
say that a specific torque is desired, there might be a reason.

 

This guy thought his lugs were "tight"....



(I know... he had a different problem... wrong lug nuts... but it's just too good to pass up...)

 

tire rack sells an okay torque wrench that i use only for torquing wheels. so far it's pretty good and has kept it's range after 5years. I also have 3 other torque wrenches of varying range and I use the more expensive (snap-on) one to check the tire rack one and it's usually pretty close. for occasional use the tire rack one is good enough in my book

 

103 ft/lbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW.
I thought the Audi was tight at 85.

But then again, these cars just urge you to drive the wheels off of 'em.

BTW: I just washed my Clubman this weekend. The choice of the 5 spoke wheels paid off. I was able to wash the outside AND the inside of the wheels just by reaching in. Even got in behind the spokes. Beats the hell out of washing the BBS's on my old M3.

 

Wow, how does someone manage to do a dumb thing like that? It actually looks staged.

 

His pit crew have some 'splaining to do....

 

OK the red shoes should have given the entire episode away!!!

 

The RX-7 autocross wheel failure shown above was due to the wrong lug bolts altogether. Either way you slice it, that's a bad day of racing. This video is why I started marking my lugs so I know they are mine!

 

Craftsman makes them. I have 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 inch torque wrenches for various work. Don't forget to back it down to zero when you're done using it.

 

Harbor Freight also has them at a reasonable price. I would not use for engine work but for wheels and such fine. I would recommend that you do torque the bolts

 

I would not recommend a HF torque wrench. A few of my students have them.. garbage.. way off torque readings after just a few uses when checked against a Snap-On or Craftsman (ATD) wrench.

if its something as critical as lug torque, saving a few bucks is not a worthwhile savings when you damage hardware, or lose a wheel in traffic.

 

Old thread with missing pictures, but HF isn't always garbage.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=69831

 

That's nice...

Yes, a good looking copy is easy to make... Quality of materials is another.

I'll stick to sleeping at night, thanks.

No, not all HF is crap.. But mission critical torque values are not worth skimping on.

 

I'm not sure I would argue the lug bolts are mission critical. Yes they need to be tight but just how tight is debatable. Obviously there is a torque spec and the torque spec for the R56 is something like 104 ft-lbs. I did a stud conversion and now I torque them to 80 ft-lbs because we used the 14mm to 12mm conversion. Does that mean my wheels are now going to rip off? That's a difference of 24ft-lbs between the torque specs. The wheel doesn't care how it's being clamped to the hub and you're talking about a 20% reduction in clamping forces (if the assumption holds that clamping forces are directly related to wheel bolt torque).

Oh and the craftsman torque wrenches are crap. If you're at that price point go to Home Depot and get the Husky brand one as that one is actually decent for the same money.

 

Well, I guess you have never seen customer's wheels come off (I have), only to see the car on a flatbed towed back to the shop with body damage as they slid into a guardrail... or seen snapped wheel bolts and stripped hubs (I have) or distorted brake rotors and wheel hubs from unequal torque (I have..).

And, I hate to tell you this, but that Husky Wrench is the same as the Craftsman. Its made by ATD (Danaher / Matco / Husky / Craftsman.. )

No, your wheels won't fall off. Frankly, I think the 104 tq spec is absurd considering every other 4x100 17mm wheel bolt car I worked on (Mainly VW, older BMW) carried a TS of only 80. I think its more about having even torque to prevent damage and distortion than *****-tight near busting lugs.

But when it comes to trying to use a "measuring tool" to attach wheels to cars.. I'd rather use decent stuff (Personally, I have Snap-On torque wrenches..)..

 

So you're implying that all of those were caused by people using torque wrenches that weren't calibrated properly?

HF claims accuracy to 4% and this and this test seem to support that. Even if it's off by 5% you're talking about a possible torque difference of 10 ft-lbs from one lug to another if torqued to 100 ft-lbs. Seems like hardly enough of a difference to matter but I'm no expert. Seems like the condition of the lug nuts/hubs could cause more of a difference in torque values than an un-calibrated torque wrench.

While it's made by the same parent company my experience and the experience of close friends is that the Husky ones hold up much better than the Craftsman ones. Browse around GarageJournal and you'll find many people in a similar boat.


Don't get me wrong. There is absolutely a time and place for accurate torque wrenches. You wouldn't catch me replacing a valvecover or rebuilding an engine with a HF torque wrench. I've also never personally owned (although I've used) a HF torque wrench. The point I'm trying to make is that a crappy $10 HF torque wrench is perfectly sufficient for somebody who just wants to rotate tires every now and then and do a brake job. Hey it's way better than "gutendtheit" If they're worried you can always check calibration with a weight and a measuring tape. Torque = Force * lever arm distance.

 

After 5,000 miles the lug bolts (first time i've had bolts, not nuts) on my '12 loosened to about 80 lbs. when i torqued them back to 103 it felt like they were gonna snap. BUT if they loosen that much between rotations i'd say its better to put them to mini spec.