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

#lugnuts #tires #wheels #torque #safety

The winner of this Crestview Duffle Bag and washer fluid was Jesse Martin! 

Congratulations to Jesse! She had the #bestguess in our Lug Nut contest with a guess of 111! There were numerous guesses with a range of 123, however, no one guessed the correct number of 110. We thank all who participated and encourage you to keep watching our Facebook page for future contests. 

#Contest #Saskatoon #WasherFluid #CarRepair #Facebook

Facebook Contest

Can you GUESS how many LUG NUTS are in the jar? 

Be sure to like our Facebook page and submit your guess in the comments below the contest post. The correct answer will win a prize on June 9th. Good Luck!

To be entered for a second prized draw, simply share the contest Facebook post with friends and family and include the hashtag ‪#‎CrestviewContest‬. 

www.facebook.com/CrestviewAutoService

“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

Hidden dangers in one-piece hubs

Another day, another brake job . . . but not so fast!

Take a look at this rear hub/brake assembly. It's a pretty typical worn out pad and rotor picture, one that we've addressed with a cleanup and new brake parts a thousand times before.  This one turned out different.

Thanks to Land Rover master technician Paul Ferreira for spotting a very subtle flaw.  Once the brake rotor had been removed, Paul noticed the wheel studs were not quite the same length. Take a look at what he saw, and see if you pick it up.  It's a small enough thing that I'll bet 99% of technicians would not give this a second glance.

Knowing that something was wrong, he looked a little harder.  Here's what he found.  I've put arrows and text on the photo to point the problem out:

It's kind of scary to think that the heads were popped off of three of five wheel studs on the right rear of this 2002 Range Rover.  Why did that happen? I have no idea, other than accumulated stress.  Why this wheel and not the others?  I don't know that either, maybe just luck.

The studs must have been broken for a while, because the lugs were all tight even though some were pulled halfway through the hub.  Presumably they pulled a little farther every time a wheel was torqued into place, and they would have eventually gotten to the point where they'd have given way, perhaps suddenly.

The moral of this story - check the wheel studs whenever they are exposed for service.  Sometimes part like this - bits we think of as permanent - really aren't.

(c) 2014 John Elder Robison

John Elder Robison is the general manager of J E Robison Service Company, independent Land Rover restoration and repair specialists in Springfield, Massachusetts.  John is a longtime technical consultant to the Land Rover, Mercedes, BMW, Porsche and Rolls Royce Owner's Clubs, and he’s owned and restored many of these fine vehicles.  Find him online at www.robisonservice.com or in the real world at 413-785-1665