Hi all,

This weekend I’m planning to take the ‘steelies’ off and put me enormous new (13" ) alloys on.

Question is, how important is it (or isn’t it) to use a proper torque wrench to do this?

I’m working on the logic that when Fiat design the wheel brace and tool kit ‘jobby’ for changing spare wheels etc that they calculate the length of the brace to give something ‘like’ the correct pressure when its fully tightened by hand and produce it accordingly?

Obviously this assumption could be a big mistake!

What do/would you guys do?

ian grant said:

Hi all,

This weekend I’m planning to take the ‘steelies’ off and put me enormous new (13" ) alloys on.

Question is, how important is it (or isn’t it) to use a proper torque wrench to do this?

I’m working on the logic that when Fiat design the wheel brace and tool kit ‘jobby’ for changing spare wheels etc that they calculate the length of the brace to give something ‘like’ the correct pressure when its fully tightened by hand and produce it accordingly?

Obviously this assumption could be a big mistake!

What do/would you guys do?

Click to expand...

Always have used a torque spanner, can't be a mistake.

Never used a torque wrench, and never had a wheel fall off, and never had a wheel nut snap.

Recommended torque is from new and doesn't take into account rust on threads, grease/oil on threads.

I'd recommend using one if you have one (it's not a life or death decision if you don't ) as the torque value is decided on for a reason. You will get close to it with the supplied brace, but if you have superhuman strength like me then you can seriously overtighten them which can also damage the alloys.

While you have the wheel off, it's also worth putting some copper slip on the face as alloys have a habit of binding. Copper slip will mean when you have a puncture you can get the wheel off without resorting to a hammer

Chris

While the 100hp was having it's tyres done a couple of weeks ago....A guy came in with a Toyota RAV4 or something....

Anyway the mechanic undid the bolts, jacked it up, removed the bolts and....Nothing....Wheel was stuck fast....

So he got a big mallet and gave it a few taps....Then a few thumps....Then a few kicks!....

When he finally got it off, the wheel left a fair bit of alloy 'welded' to the brake hub....He had to get a hammer and chisel to it to get the wheel back on!

The guy said it had never been off-road...(there's a surprise!)

At the end of the day whoever is driving the car may have to take a wheel off so it makes sense to have them tight enough not to fall off but not so tight they cant be removed with the car puncture kit. Simple really.

I would not want to drive a car if the wheels have not been torqued up correctly.

If I did have a blow out and put on the spare at the absolute earliest opportunity i would ensure they are torqued up properly.

I honestly think its madness not to torque your wheels properly.

Always use a torque wrench myself. If one wasn't required there wouldn't be a recommended torque for the bolts. Makes getting them undone much easier and reduces the chance of the rim 'welding' itself to the hub as they won't be pressed together so tight.

Once you've done wheel nuts up too tight and stretched the threads you'll always have to do them up FT from that point on. On some wheel carrier/brake designs over tightening the wheel bolts will interfere with the disc - although it's not so common these days.

Also, the recommended torque (90nm for the 100HP) is also much looser than you might think, so IMO I'd say it's very easy to over tighten the nuts, even with the crappy wrench in the boot.

Ben

ThisBitterPill said:

While the 100hp was having it's tyres done a couple of weeks ago....A guy came in with a Toyota RAV4 or something....

Anyway the mechanic undid the bolts, jacked it up, removed the bolts and....Nothing....Wheel was stuck fast....

So he got a big mallet and gave it a few taps....Then a few thumps....Then a few kicks!....

When he finally got it off, the wheel left a fair bit of alloy 'welded' to the brake hub....He had to get a hammer and chisel to it to get the wheel back on!

The guy said it had never been off-road...(there's a surprise!)

Click to expand...

It was a similar case when I changed the tyres on my Toyota Surf, again that well known mechanics tool otherwise known as the boot was required.

I have to say I do miss one big feature of the Surf, the spare wheel on the boot (NOT in) is much easier to get at / change, especially when it's a cold rainy night you don't need to turf everything out of the boot just to get to the ruddy spacesaver

Thanks for all the replies - looks like I should be using one after all.

Anyone have any idea as to the correct setting for the Mjet?

How much are torque wrenches - is it a Halfrauds job?

Thanks all

ian grant said:

Thanks for all the replies - looks like I should be using one after all.

Anyone have any idea as to the correct setting for the Mjet?

How much are torque wrenches - is it a Halfrauds job?

Thanks all

Click to expand...

£12.99 at lidls

I guess once you've been doing this a while - you know when they're tight enough.

Hellcat said:

I guess once you've been doing this a while - you know when they're tight enough.

Click to expand...

:yeahthat:

Jai said:

£12.99 at lidls

Click to expand...

Hellcat said:

I guess once you've been doing this a while - you know when they're tight enough.

Click to expand...

I have been doing it by hand since 1989 but decided to treat myself from Lidls last week - so it will be interesting to see the difference once torqued up properly.

Thaks guys, Lidl it is then.

Does anyone know if they are still available - dont some of these retailers oly have things for a short time?

£12.99 sounds just the job if I can get fixed up.

ian grant said:

Thaks guys, Lidl it is then.

Click to expand...

You may be too late:

https://www.fiatforum.com/leisure-l...rsday-6-11-08-winter-car-care-accessorys.html

they do tend to go quick, so may have to try a few stores, or wait till it comes back, i think someone mentioned ebay has them from reputable sellers for a decent price too

I got this one....

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/18289/Hand-Tools/Spanners-Wrenches/Wrenches/Torque-Wrench

Chris

Cheers Scooby, theres an ENORMOUS Screwfix place a couple of miles away from where i live, might even be a bit closer than the nearest Lidl actually - so I'll try there first.

Is the 1/2" one the best one to go for - Ive some that are 3/8"??

Thanks all again for the help - Ive got a couple of options to work on now

Torque wrench is a good idea, but as you have said the "kit" one ought to do the job.. but in reality quite often you wont undo anyhting without putting your foot on the end of it...

A slight "smear" of copperslip on the threads is a good move and to avoid the "rav4 rotten/welded wheel problem" a smear of copper slip on the back face of the wheel surface that contacts the disc/drum is a good idea too..

Oh.. never let the "highly skilled YTS youth" changing tyres do the nutsup with the air gun.. those things will go like 200ftlbs+, most alloys dont need more than 70ftlbs... Ive seen them razz them up wit the gun and then get a torque wrench out and "check" them... of course it'll "click" straight off