Hi,
I recently bought a torque wrench off of tirerack.com

If i'm not mistaken, the correct torque is 85lbs for the lugs on a 3rd generation.
I set the handle for 85lbs. however, when i tried to torque me the lugs, the lugs dont really seem to be all that tight before i hear the torque wrench click.

Is that correct? I'm used to torqueing lugs much tighter when i do it by hand. I've just never used a torque wrench before.

Am i doing it right? I just dont want the wheels flying off when i'm doing 70 on the highway.

thanks for the input.

 

how big is your torque wrench? the bigger ones are easier to move since they have a longer handle, feels like less work to tighten the nuts

 

That is the idea of using a torque wrench, you see just how little force is actually needed to torque down a lug/tire properly instead of just impacting it on or tightening the lug until it won't budge...

85-86 on alloys...
108 or so on steelies...

And yes, using a torque wrench makes it seem like you aren't tightening them enough if you are used to putting the lugs on until you can't budge them on or off...

A torque wrench is your friend!

 

there right, i thought the same thing when i first used one

 

Make sure your torque wrench is a Foot pound torque wrench and not inch pounds...

85 takes a bit of force, and should be somewhere close to where you were tightening them before.

Steve

 

Well... it's considerably longer than the lug nut wrench that came with the truck to put on the spare. It feels like a LOT less. I was REALLY surprised that the torque wrench clicked with so little effort. (Dont get me wrong, i still put in a little effort, just not as much as with the lug wrench). That really does show you how much impact wrenches can waaaaay overtighten lugs.

I just measured, and the torque wrench is just under 1.5 feet long.
then, i double checked and it's lb/ft.

 

It doesn't take much to tighten to 85 Lbs. I realized that when I torqued my alloy lug nuts. Just be sure you are grasping the torque wrench completely on the handle and not on the end of the wrench handle.

They don't have to be on there so tight you have to stand on the lug wrench to get them off. That's how the tire places like to tighten them.

 

One more thing i meant to ask some of the 3rd generation people. Yesterday i adjusted my rear drums too tight and i managed to get the wheels turning again (thanks to some board members).
I was sort of nervous readjusting the drums back a tad tighter. If i just leave my drum brakes as is, will the automatic adjuster kick in and adjust the drums accordingly? I checked before i reassembled the drum and there was no gunk on the autoadjuter. I even cleaned it with brake cleaner.

thanks

 

you know that a ford festiva has a lug torque of 45 foot pounds... i did that by hand .... when i put the lug wrench on it clicked before i even moved it....

 

If you have them so they are just barely touching, they should be OK. If you want to tweak them a bit, read this thread:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...1&page=1&pp=25

 

I believe this can lead you to believe that you're not tightening the lugs as tight as you used to, also. IF the handles on both your old wrench and the torque wrench are the same (and I'll put $$ on the torque wrench handle being longer), then I'd be concerned. Read up on moment arm of force...

 

Nah.. th e torque wrench is much longer. The torque wrench is almost 1.5 feet long. The lug wrench that came with the truck was maybe 1 foot at best.

 

I think you might have something wrong with your torque wrench man - or maybe the lugnut was caught up on something....... A torque wrench that is only 1 inch long would have to apply 640 pounds at the end of the wrench to effectively torque a measured 45ft/lbs. With the 1 inch comparison I was talking about your fingers...... 45x12=640

A torque wrench with a force applied 1.5 feet from the axis should require: 85/1.5 = 56.66 lbs of force. Does it feel like you are picking up 56 pounds? When in doubt, hang an appropriately weighted object on the handle to see if it clicks. Dont forget to adjust the weight for the length of the handle..

 

Does it actually matter where you hold the torque wrench? For example, your torque may be off if if you grab the very end of the handle, instead of having your hand on the handle?

I was under the impression that a torque wrench uses the mechanism to detect torque? I also thought that the mechanism was near the top of the torque wrench near the tip.

I guess i need some edumacation on how a torque wrench actually works.

 

The wrench wont care where you hold the handle. If you are trying to check the wrench for accuracy then its critical. The above calculations are right on so if your wrench is exactly 1.5 feet long from the center of the socket to the end of the handle then you need 56.6 lbs of weight on the wrench when it clicks. Torque wrenches are not perfect though but as long as you under stand the principal you should be able to estimate if its working correctly.

1 ft/lb is 1lb with 1ft of leverage
85 ft/lbs can be seen as 85 lbs applied to a 1ft bar or 1lb applied to an 85ft bar (providing the bar weighs nothing).

using that theory its easy to take the 85 ft/lbs and figure that if I get a 2ft bar and push down with 42.5 lbs of force I will have 85 ft/lbs

or using the 1.5 ft bar and 56.6 lbs you can get 85 ft/lbs
or heck get a 1ft long 1/2 drive retchet and put 85 lbs of force on it.

Its all the same just manipulate the numbers.

Keep in mind that wrenches like this use springs to sense torque and when they are not in use you should relieve all the spring tension by setting the wrench back to zero. Tire shops fail to do this so with time the wrench gradually gets farther out of calibration. This would be one reason you are thinking that the wrench is not bringing the lug up to torque when it clicks.

Most wrenches have a calibration adjustment in the base of the handle. The only catch is that you need a known torque source to set it.

Here is a quick and dirty trick to see how close and even adjust your wrenches calibration.... I usually run down to sears (good return policy) and buy a new torque wrench (same range and drive size as what Im trying to check) then carefully take it out of the package. I use a socket that will allow me to hook the 2 wrenches together. Set the new wrench to a setting some where in the middle of its range then set the old wrench to the same ft/lb setting. lay the new wrench down on the table on its side and have the old one laying the opposite direction but not flat on the table it needs to have the end of the handle elevated a little (4-5" usually). The idea is that you hold the new one down as a base setting then apply pressure to the old one till it clicks (pushing it towards the table) . It will most certainly click way before the new one and you will probably need to tighten the spring a little at a time on the old one till you get them both to click at the same time or as close as possible. If you have them both set to say 75 ft/lbs and you get them both clicking at almost the same time then you are darn close to what the new one is calibrated at (hopefully its right). I usually check my wrenches at the lower 1/3rd of the scale and then again at the upper 1/3rd of the scale or where ever I use the wrench most. When Im all done I just take the new torque wrench back to sears for a refund

If you had a place that would calibrate them that would be good to but I dont

 

I got another torque wrench and i set that one to 85 lbs as well. Then i stuck both of them onto a wheel lug and tried to pull up with my right arm. They both felt about the same amount of pressure before they clicked.

 

As long as its close thats good enough for the girls I date

 

Just a tip here .A couple of days after tightenning the nuts .Check them again .Aluminum wheel nuts have a tendancy to loosen sometimes .

 

the auto adjusters will only push the shoes closer to the drum, they won't pull them back if they're too close. the only way to fix that is either through the access hole on the back of the backing plate or take off the wheel/drum and spin the adjuster back by hand.

 

You applied "pressure" to a torque wrench? You mean force. haha.