ramenth
Well-Known Member
You've heard it discussed, maybe even talked about it with your buddies.
Tire shops give you a receipt with a disclaimer on it saying your wheels must be re-torqued after so many miles, if you fail to do so, and the wheel falls off it's not their fault.
Once upon a time I had to take some training through TIA (Tire Industry of America) and had a boss who was absolutely fanatical about following all the guidelines. Now that I'm my own boss (again) I'm pretty fanatical about it, too. Taking the time to follow these simple steps will save me a headache in liability later on.
So, what's the deal with re-torquing anyway? Put aluminum against steel and what have you got? One simple word: corrosion. That corrosion acts like a sponge. You get the wheel torqued down to spec only to have it wobble loose a little while later, that's because the corrosion has absorbed your torque values and actually kept the lugs from tightening properly. Because the corrosion isn't a true mating surface, either, the wheel isn't seating flat on the facing of the rotor or drum, allowing your torque values to be all over the place.
I was doing a tire rotation on an '04 Jag the other day and decided to take these pics as a PSA.
The first two pics are of the corrosion:
I like to use something soft, to clean the surfaces, like a 3M Roloc Clean and Strip disk on the wheel and this little jewel on the rotor:
The above tool can be chucked in an air grinder or drill and slips over the lug studs to clean around 'em.
My former boss used to keep a cupped wire wheel on a large electric grinder for the wheel and the hub surface.
This pic is cleaning the corrosion off the wheel for comparison's sake:
These are of the mating surfaces all cleaned up and ready to go.
If you've got drums the process is even easier. You can pop the drum off and you don't have to work around the lugs studs.
Remember, too, folks that the torque on the wheels needs to be a dry torque. Anti-seize isn't recommended on the mating surfaces by TIA, as the anti-seize can be just like the corrosion.
For suspenders and belts sake, if you're really wanting to go the next step, hand torque everything. I personally use torque sticks, but I have a big impact and a compressor that can back it up.
Tire shops give you a receipt with a disclaimer on it saying your wheels must be re-torqued after so many miles, if you fail to do so, and the wheel falls off it's not their fault.
Once upon a time I had to take some training through TIA (Tire Industry of America) and had a boss who was absolutely fanatical about following all the guidelines. Now that I'm my own boss (again) I'm pretty fanatical about it, too. Taking the time to follow these simple steps will save me a headache in liability later on.
So, what's the deal with re-torquing anyway? Put aluminum against steel and what have you got? One simple word: corrosion. That corrosion acts like a sponge. You get the wheel torqued down to spec only to have it wobble loose a little while later, that's because the corrosion has absorbed your torque values and actually kept the lugs from tightening properly. Because the corrosion isn't a true mating surface, either, the wheel isn't seating flat on the facing of the rotor or drum, allowing your torque values to be all over the place.
I was doing a tire rotation on an '04 Jag the other day and decided to take these pics as a PSA.
The first two pics are of the corrosion:
I like to use something soft, to clean the surfaces, like a 3M Roloc Clean and Strip disk on the wheel and this little jewel on the rotor:
The above tool can be chucked in an air grinder or drill and slips over the lug studs to clean around 'em.
My former boss used to keep a cupped wire wheel on a large electric grinder for the wheel and the hub surface.
This pic is cleaning the corrosion off the wheel for comparison's sake:
These are of the mating surfaces all cleaned up and ready to go.
If you've got drums the process is even easier. You can pop the drum off and you don't have to work around the lugs studs.
Remember, too, folks that the torque on the wheels needs to be a dry torque. Anti-seize isn't recommended on the mating surfaces by TIA, as the anti-seize can be just like the corrosion.
For suspenders and belts sake, if you're really wanting to go the next step, hand torque everything. I personally use torque sticks, but I have a big impact and a compressor that can back it up.
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