Last month I rotated the wheels on the '06 Camry, from front
to back. Yesterday I re-torqued them after 350 miles of driving
and five weeks.

All the lug nuts on the two rear wheels did not turn even
a bit; they were perfectly torqued. But 4 out of 5 lug nuts on
the passenger-side front wheel turned a little bit, less than a
quarter turn--probably about an eighth of a turn (1/8 turn).

On the driver-side front wheel, 2 out of 5 lug nuts also turned
about 1/8 of a turn when I re-torqued them.

I know these 6 loosened lug nuts on the two front wheels
lost more than 5 foot-pounds of their original 76 foot-pound
torque setting because yesterday to re-torque them, I set my
torque wrench at 71 foot-pounds, which is 5 less than the
76 foot-pounds I torqued them to last month during the
5,000-mile wheel rotation.

Is this greater-than-5-foot-pound loosening of some of the
lug nuts on the front wheels something to be concerned
about? I'd like to wait until the next 5,000-mile wheel rotation
before re-torquing the wheels again. Is this advisable, or should
I check and re-torque the wheels more often?

Built_Well wrote:
Torque them as many times as you feel like.
Was the temperature of the wheels and hubs identical from front to back?
Are the mating surfaces clean?

Paul wrote:

Well, on that particular day, yesterday, the temperature of
the wheels and hubs was much warmer on the front wheels than
the rear wheels, because the sun was hitting only the front
half of the car. The rear half was in the shade. I happened
to notice a temperature difference between the front wheels and
rear wheels when I touched them during the re-torquing.

Yep, the mating surfaces were all clean. I cleaned them
really well last month with a soft shop rag during the rotation.

On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:57:34 -0700 (PDT), Built_Well
<Built_Well_Toyota@hotmail.com> wrote:

I hate to say it but it sounds like you didn't torque the front wheels
properly. Did you come up on the proper torque in stages using a
criss-cross pattern? After you torqued the nuts to 76 ft/lbs did you
back them off, one at a time, and re-torque to 76 again?

If you didn't use a criss-cross pattern, it's possible that you got a
bit of a warp in the wheel or the rotor which worked itself out as you
drove the car. Backing off and re-torquing makes sure that your lug
nut is seated against the wheel properly.

Jack

Retired VIP wrote:

Yes, I used a criss-cross or star pattern, and torqued
each set of lug nuts gradually, first to 40, then to 60,
then 76.

I also re-torqued everything last month during the rotation, but
what do you mean by "back them off, one at a time, and re-torque
to 76 again."

"Built_Well" <Built_Well_Toyota@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:522a3c99-060e-4cf4-9c71-efb0234ebd7a@f36g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...

I would not worry about it. Retorque them and worry that your beer is
getting warm.

The rear tires merely carry the car's ass around. The front tires handle
drive and steering inputs, and greater than half of the braking duties.

Somebody asked about the heat, and you noted that one end of the car was in
the shade -- that's not the kind of heat he was talking about. He was trying
to get you to look at operational heat caused by the braking balance causing
the front brakes to work harder than the rear, therefore generating more
heat.

Built_Well wrote:
I rotate aluminum alloy wheels at 5K and re torque them cold the
following morning.
They always move a bit more, after using staged torque, three passes,
final 82 ft. lbs.
After checking the torque again following morning, I check again 30
days laters and they're always fine.

No, you should torque them all properly the FIRST time. ;)

"Built_Well" <Built_Well_Toyota@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:522a3c99-060e-4cf4-9c71-efb0234ebd7a@f36g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...

On Jul 17, 11:57 am, Built_Well <Built_Well_Toy...@hotmail.com> wrote:

I have noticed alloy wheels with moderate amounts of corrosion on the
mounting face do tend to loosen up a bit.


Dave

Were the wheels off the ground, or at least only lightly loaded to
prevent turning, when you torqued them? Embedded dirt too was my first
suspect of properly torqued lugs coming loose. Also, the stud threads
should NOT be lubed.

When you tighten from 60 to 76 lb/ft, the lug nut was turning, right?
(Otherwise you may be near 60 lb/ft instead of 76 lb/ft). That's why I
use 25, 50, 76 lb/ft.



On Jul 17, 11:57*am, Built_Well <Built_Well_Toy...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Yeah, that's similar to embedded dirt that loosen the lug nuts. I also
have no problems with Costco hand-torqued. It's cheap shops (dealer or
independent) using impact wrenches that cause problems.



On Jul 17, 3:55*pm, spamTHIS...@yahoo.com wrote:

When was the last time you had your torque wrench calibrated?


"Built_Well" <Built_Well_Toyota@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:522a3c99-060e-4cf4-9c71-efb0234ebd7a@f36g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...

Art wrote:

Doesn't calibrating a torque wrench cost as much as buying
a new one?

This Sears Craftsman's cost $80, which is about the
price of calibration, I think.

"Built_Well" <Built_Well_Toyota@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:522a3c99-060e-4cf4-9c71-efb0234ebd7a@f36g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
Yes, becuase the lug nuts were not torqued properly the first time.

I'd like to wait until the next 5,000-mile wheel rotation
Once you get the knack of properly tightening lug nuts, they should stay
tight until you remove them.

Does your Camry have alloy wheels or steel wheels?

Were the wheel on the ground when you did the final tightening?

Was the wheel properly seated before lowering the vehicle to the ground?
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

johngd...@hotmail.com wrote:

JohnGdole, yes, I torqued the rear wheels while the car was still on
stands since the parking brake was on and holding the rear wheels
tightly. Since the front wheels moved
freely, I torqued them after lowering the vehicle unitl the wheels
barely touched the ground enough to prevent the front wheels from
moving.

After lowering the car completely, I re-torqued everything again.

Judging from the replies, I guess it's normal for some lug nuts to
loosen a little bit due to metallic elongation and other factors.
Even Sears tells its cutomers to re-torque the wheels after driving
100 miles.

"Built_Well" <Built_Well_Toyota@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:6426ccc2-3e59-4975-a409-2c7fd1ceb204@m73g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
johngd...@hotmail.com wrote:

JohnGdole, yes, I torqued the rear wheels while the car was still on
stands since the parking brake was on and holding the rear wheels
tightly. Since the front wheels moved
freely, I torqued them after lowering the vehicle unitl the wheels
barely touched the ground enough to prevent the front wheels from
moving.

After lowering the car completely, I re-torqued everything again.

Judging from the replies, I guess it's normal for some lug nuts to
loosen a little bit due to metallic elongation and other factors.
Even Sears tells its cutomers to re-torque the wheels after driving
100 miles.
*********************
You need to make sure that the wheels and lug nuts are seated and as tight
as you can get them before you lower the vehicle to the ground, then
tighten to the specified torque. If you lower the vehicle before the
wheels and lug nuts are seated, they might seem tight until the vehicle is
driven, then loosen up.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:23:00 -0400, "Art"
<begunaNOSPAMPLEASE@mindspring.com> wrote:

I was just going to say, is it the same torque wrench ? Has it been
properly stored ? Used a lot in between ?

RT wrote:

Yep, it's the same torque wrench, stored with the numerical
torque selector at the lowest setting, as Tegger
recommended, contrary to the Sears salesman who recommended
storing at 20 foot-pounds. IIRC the salesman said there was
some memo floating around recommending that the Craftsman torque
wrenches be stored at 20 foot-pounds to prevent damage to the
mechanism, but I think Tegger is probably right, and have
stored my wrench at zero Newton-meters ever since.

It is interesting, though, that almost all the torque wrenches
I've seen at Sears (and the Huskys at Home Depot and the Kobalts
at Lowe's) have all been set to a torque of between 20 and 30
foot-pounds while they're sitting on the shelf waiting to
be bought.

But I have faith in Tegger, and store my wrench at zero.

On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:57:23 -0700 (PDT), Built_Well
<Built_Well_Toyota@hotmail.com> wrote:

You need to be sure that the shoulder of the nut is seated properly
into the counter-sunk lug hole of the wheel. A fast way to do this is
to bring the lug nuts up to the proper torque in steps. Then loosen
each nut a bit and retorque it to the proper torque. Don't loosen and
retorque all the nuts at the same time, do them one at a time.

Jack

On 7/18/08 10:44 AM, in article
81b8786d-92f6-4e56-87bc-d712c650b609...oglegroups.com,
"Built_Well" <Built_Well_Toyota@hotmail.com> wrote:

The users manual that came with my Home Depot wrench specifically said to
store it set to 25 foot-pounds and specifically warned against storing it at
zero.