Wheel torque

[Anonymous Poster]

I was checking the torque on the wheels of my bx-22
for the proper tightness, I thought it said rear 120 ft lbs but was only 96 ft lbs, Will over torquing by 24 pounds hurt anything here. I backed it off to the proper 96 ft lbs, 120 for the front.

 

[cheekme]

How did you measure the 120 ft-lb? Did you torque it until it broke free in the tightening direction? The only way to accurately measure the tightness of your rim bolt is to mark it than loosen it and retorque to the mark.

Torque is not a good measure of the true clamp load on your rim nut. Friction plays a huge role in the value your torque wrench reads. For example if you torque a dry thread vs a lubricated thread to the same torque, the lubricated thread will have much higher clamp loading and could yield (stretch) the stud (bolt) if torqued too high. Your higher torque could have been due to corrosion and not clamp load so I wouldn't worry too much about the high value. Unless you had gross overload you should be O.K. with the retorque.

 

[Chief]

As a precaution, I would go back and re-check the torque 5 to 10 hours later to see if anything has backed off. My speculation is that you should be fine. At least you are checking the torque. Alot of people never do this until the lug loosens, and then it is too late.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks for the replys guys, Should I lube the bolts before
tightening, or is it good to have that friction?

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I usually use a very small amount of anti-sieze lube on the threads only. <font color="red">Caution: don't lube the taper or allow any to get on the taper when running it on the threads. </font> You need the friction between the taper and wheel to keep things tight. You should also use a torque wrench to tighten the lugs. Be sure to tighten them according to the recommended pattern.