After being quoted an outrageous fee for rotate and balance at the MINI dealer, I went to Costco. Turns out they'll rotate tires for free, even if not bought there. Balance for non-Costco tires is $4/wheel.

 

where is that?
which city r u in?

 

>>After being quoted an outrageous fee for rotate and balance at the MINI dealer, I went to Costco. Turns out they'll rotate tires for free, even if not bought there. Balance for non-Costco tires is $4/wheel.

Yes. I have posted this service to costco members before. Rotate your tires and balance just the front two.
Careful- don't let them scratch your rims or over tighten the lug nuts.

When I hand tighten the nuts and if I have a torque wrench- how many pounds do I torque to?

 

I found this on torqing lug nuts
http://www.trucktires.com/library/pu...ue3/v3i3Dr.htm
How much torque is enough?

"Check the specifications provided by the manufacturer of the wheel end, but in general, most lug nuts should be torqued to about 450 to 500 ft-lbs. "

I have a 1/2" torque wrench that is about 2 feet long but it says that it delivers from 25 to 250 ft-lbs.
So if I need 450 then I have to attach a longer lever to my wrench? another foot- a pipe?

This seems too much- (must be for trucks!).
Alex@tirerack should know how much.
I would guess around 80 ft-lbs.



_________________
ALOHA

 

450-500 ft/lbs of torque on a MINI lugnut sounds extremely excessive! I think that web site is for truck tires...

 

STOP, do not torque above 80 till you get the specs, over about 150 will break the lugs!!! 500 is what i torque semi truck tires to. tim

 

fuzzyface
> do not torque above 80 till you get the specs, over about 150 will break the lugs!!! 500 is what i torque semi truck tires to. tim

So what is the correct ft/lbs you really need for our MINI???????

Anyone??????????

 

Torque them to 90 ft/lbs & you'll be fine.

 

I saw on a different thread on this site (which?) that the torque specs are somewhere in the manual. It was something like 88.2. So between 80 and 90 sounds fine.

 

>>After being quoted an outrageous fee for rotate and balance at the MINI dealer, I went to Costco. Turns out they'll rotate tires for free, even if not bought there. Balance for non-Costco tires is $4/wheel.

Sounds good, but verify that they will use taped weights to balance your wheels rather than the clip-on type. The latter will scratch your alloys. Why not call Tire Rack to find out if they have a shop near you that they recommend? Their prices may be a bit higher, but at least you'd know that people were working on your wheels that knew how to handle them.

 

I guess Costco is the way to go but I'm not a member of the Costco yet. Maybe I should look in to it to save money.

 

>>I saw on a different thread on this site (which?) that the torque specs are somewhere in the manual. It was something like 88.2. So between 80 and 90 sounds fine.


Costco torqued them to 88.

 

Yes 88lb-ft is correct.

--->Minihune, your info is typically accurate! You may want to go edit your post so people don't go snapping wheel bolts

 

>>I saw on a different thread on this site (which?) that the torque specs are somewhere in the manual. It was something like 88.2. So between 80 and 90 sounds fine.

YES. I looked it up in the manual and it is 88.5 ft-lbs. Great. 450 ft-lbs! That would require a Gorilla (or a young mechanic at least).

Lets pause a minute to think. You torque it on with your arm strength. You have a flat and now need to remove it. If you applied 88.5 ft-lbs to put it on tight then you will need just a bit more to loosen it up. Assuming the person fixing to fix the flat is of average size then 90 or so ft-lbs is not unreasonable. OK- thinking is now over.

I'm happy. Costco will use the right type of weights to balance the wheels- just tell them to. You're paying.

 

90 lb ft Torque away!

Alex

 

>>90 lb ft Torque away!

Thanks alex,
I saw a 1/2" similar torque wrench at Home Depot for $58 or twice the cost. A little longer handle and could get up to 250 ft-lbs but essentially similar. Yours is a bargain and looks just fine for MINI use.
Makes for a fine club in a pinch.

 

>>Makes for a fine club in a pinch.

And 100% legal in your car, wich my quarter staff is not... lol

Alex