“Why do wheels need to be re-torqued?”

Re-torquing wheels after vehicle servicing

When you bring your vehicle to our repair shop, if we have had your wheels off of the vehicle, we will ask you to return so we can re-torque the wheels. Your invoice will also have a statement on it advising that the wheels need to be re-torqued. You can do this yourself if you like, but if we were the ones to work on the car we do this at no charge to you. We always use a torque wrench to tighten your wheels when we re-install them. This is more of a safety concern now than it was 20 years ago. Vehicles are much more reliable today, but they are made with lighter materials and some of these are very fussy about how they are put together. Even a slight decrease or increase in the tightness of bolts and nuts can have adverse affects, in that they can loosen or they can break. 

Occasionally a customer will come into our auto repair shop with a concern of a noise; once in a while we find loose lug nuts that hold the tires and rims tight to the car. This usually happens shortly after they have had the vehicle in for servicing somewhere and the wheels were off or they have taken the wheel off themselves. Most automotive shops will use a torque wrench to tighten the wheel and this is the best way to make sure the nuts are tight but not so tight that the wheel studs break from too much pressure on them. Some vehicles are more prone to having the lug nuts loosen and will need multiple re-torquing to make sure they stay tight.

Loose wheels don’t happen often, but to be safe, have your wheels re-torqued within the first 100 KM after they have been put on. It is the responsibility of the vehicle owner/driver that this is done. Loose wheels can cause a lot of damage to your car and potential injury to you and others. It doesn't take long to re-torque wheels and could save you a repair bill and a big headache.

www.crestviewautoservice.ca
(306) 244-6522