Soft Nuts??

[BlastfromPast]

Do I have soft nuts? Both of our SSRs and Melinda's 2008 Equinox have the same OEM lug nuts on them, and I routinely damage (strip) the threads from 2 or 3 lug nuts on every tire rotation or removal/install of the wheels. I use a quality torque wrench (originally at 100 ft/lbs and now at 95 ft/lbs) and hand tighten them as far as they will go.

*They are not cross-threaded.
*No wheel stud has ever been harmed in the making of this story.
*The OEM lug nuts only have about 5/16" of threads in them.
*My torque wrench (digital) has never been calibrated since new (about 10 years).
*The lug nuts operate as designed until close to the final torque is applied, than the threads on the nut gives up.
*I have switched out the lug nuts on one SSR with aftermarket lug nuts (Gorilla brand) that are fully threaded and no problems at all with those nuts.

So, what do you think the deal is??

1) I have soft nuts (apparently by design). Anybody else have soft nuts??
2) My torque wrench is out of calibration.
3) Another possibility I'm too ignorant to come up with?

Please let me know what you think of my nuts.

THANKS!

Blast

[pdmracing]

TQ out of calibration,
I had simular issue with a brand new wrench it was 15 lbs over

[xoxoxoBruce]

Could be the wrench, as pdmracing said, but it sounds strange to strip that many. I've had other vehicles (not SSR) come back from tire changes, or state inspection, with the lugs so tight I had to use a three foot pipe to break them loose, without stripping them.
I wonder if this was a design feature to protect the aluminum wheels or the hubs?

[poppa]

Have you tried using Never-Sieze to lube the wheel studs

[YellowDZH]

Bob maybe the nuts were not properly heat treated from there supplier.

[abadssr]

Originally Posted by YellowDZH

Bob maybe the nuts were not properly heat treated from there supplier.

Should only use calibrated torque wrenches

[BlastfromPast]

Thank you all for the input so far. It seems like this is not a universal issue on the SSRs and sure sounds like I am over-torqueing the nuts. Better get a new torque wrench before I cause myself some grief on sensitive assemblies.

Blast

[Dragon2U]

Originally Posted by BlastfromPast

Thank you all for the input so far. It seems like this is not a universal issue on the SSRs and sure sounds like I am over-torqueing the nuts. Better get a new torque wrench before I cause myself some grief on sensitive assemblies.

Blast

When you get the new one it would be a good experiment to use a mid level "safe" torque range with the new one and then use the old one at the same setting to see how much more it tightens the bolt. Not scientific but you would see how much it was off.

[Tom Savini]

I've seen a lot of the tool trucks that come around have a tester mounted inside the trucks to check your torque values.

[abadssr]

Don't be fooled a new torque wrench could be off to test it or calibrate it

[coltfanatic]

The above posts are very interesting, how do you check the torque wrench? thanks

[BlastfromPast]

Originally Posted by Tom Savini

I've seen a lot of the tool trucks that come around have a tester mounted inside the trucks to check your torque values.

That's a great idea! I will take my wrench to work and check with some of the tool guys.

Blast

[Kruser]

I made a double ended nut and pulled two torque wrenches against each other to see if there was a big difference between them. Kruser

[Doug Allen]

It must be a huge relief to know your nuts have not gone soft.....

[Dragon2U]

Originally Posted by Doug Allen

It must be a huge relief to know your nuts have not gone soft.....

From the sounds of it I guess it depends on how often you use tools on them and the quality of the tool

[abadssr]

We use a calibrated digital torque meter to check ours and we have all toque wrenches calibrated yearly.

[MnMsToy]

Originally Posted by Doug Allen

It must be a huge relief to know your nuts have not gone soft.....

even if he busted one,

[Beach potato]

Originally Posted by Doug Allen

It must be a huge relief to know your nuts have not gone soft.....

Originally Posted by Dragon2U

From the sounds of it I guess it depends on how often you use tools on them and the quality of the tool

Originally Posted by MnMsToy

even if he busted one,

[BlastfromPast]

Originally Posted by Doug Allen

It must be a huge relief to know your nuts have not gone soft.....

You are sooo right! At my age you must prepare for the worst, all the while hoping that your nuts are OK.

Bob

[BlastfromPast]

Originally Posted by Dragon2U

From the sounds of it I guess it depends on how often you use tools on them and the quality of the tool

I've been told that it is not the "quality" of the tool that matters, it's the size! (And as I mentioned earlier, I have a "quality" tool)

Blast

[Mike in AZ]

If you put a little bit of lube on your nuts, they won't have the tendency to gall when getting pulled tight.

The nuts are always softer material than the studs, so that when a failure occurs, it is the nut that gives up the threaded area and you don't need to pull in fresh studs.

Regards

[Doug Allen]

Originally Posted by Mike in AZ

If you put a little bit of lube on your nuts, they won't have the tendency to gall when getting pulled tight.

The nuts are always softer material than the studs, so that when a failure occurs, it is the nut that gives up the threaded area and you don't need to pull in fresh studs.

Regards

Now, re-read what you just wrote Mikey.....

[flynSS/R]

Remember the torque wrench is for torque. I see a lot of people who use the torque wrench for removal of nuts instead of getting a breaker bar.

You invest a lot of money for a good torque wrench and you need to show it repsect and to use the tool for what it was intended to be used for.

Just like from time to time I use my BFH to adjust my calibrated gauges. The proper tool for the proper job.

[Shadowman]

Originally Posted by Doug Allen

Now, re-read what you just wrote Mikey.....

I never lube my nuts and even when pulled tight, still no gall!!

[Mike in AZ]

Originally Posted by Doug Allen

Now, re-read what you just wrote Mikey.....

I know EXACTLY what I wrote....

The thing that is really good for them is to put a little lube on the stud and then spin your nuts on by hand. If all is good, there should be a really smooth feel. If you have a bad nut, it won't spin easily..........

Mikey

[xoxoxoBruce]

But doesn't the lube require a change in the torque spec?

[yellow bear]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

But doesn't the lube require a change in the torque spec?

NO.... Any sort of LUBE will cancel All Torque Specs. The Specs are written for "DRY"......

[Topspin]

The torque of fasteners is a very complex subject. There's three things that combine to lead to a properly torqued fastener. There's the friction in the threads, the friction at the fastener face, and the actual stretch of the fastener. Dry assembly of fasteners is always somewhat of a risk, especially as fasteners get re-used and their original coatings degrade. Yep, the coatings act as an lubricant when new. Concerning wheel studs and nuts that get repetitive use, the coatings will wear off over time.

Personally, I always use a very light amount of anti-seize on lugs for long term usage. What's important is to keep the lubricant off the hub to wheel interface and the torque surface of the lug, meaning the conical area. Really focus on cleaning the mating surface of the wheel with the hub, as transverse movement is what can cause lugs to loosen over time. The process I normally use, is to put a little lube on all the studs, with the wheel off, then run the lugs on the studs to spread the lube around. Remove the lugs and wipe off any excess lube and clean the face of the nut, then install the wheel and torque the lugs. With lube 10/15% less torque is required, so the range is 88 - 93 #. What's real important, with alloy wheels, is to go back and re-check the torque after 50 miles of driving. I usually wait for the wheels to cool and get back to ambient temperature before re-torquing.

To Blasts original question, I think your torque wrench is way out of spec.

[poppa]

Something that hasn't been mentioned is that some air guns will run a nut too fast when there is no load causing the threads to gall if not lubed lightly.