wrote:
> I recently bought a torque wrench - the modern shaft collar design, 20-150ft lb torque,
> and the appropriate size six point sockets for the lugnuts on mine and my wife's cars.
>
> I recently loosened and re-torqued my wife's wheel lugnuts to spec, or maybe 1lb over,
> but what was really scary was how tight they were on, initially. Of course I used her
> tire iron, and not my new wrench! to loosen the lugs at each wheel, and for most of them,
> I was able to STAND ON THE TIRE IRON and ride it down to loosen those nuts! I'm
> guessing whoever last tightened them must have been to 100 or even 200 ft/lbs. WTH?!
>
> The torque spec for her car's wheel lugnuts is 76 ft/lbs, so I set the wrench to about 77,
> retorqued each wheel, then moved on to the next one: Loosen, retorque, 5X.
>
> My question: After having been on her car at such overtorque for so long, is there any
> risk of some of her lugnuts loosening, now that they are all within 1 pound of where they
> should be?
>
> I also waited almost two hours after she drove home from work before loosen & retorque.
>
>

When you'd been fiddling like that, you're supposed to
drive 50 miles, then recheck them. Apply torque wrench
and see if any have come loose.

If they're fine after the 50 miles, and nothing seems
to have moved, enjoy until the next wheel rotation
comes along.

I have the whole outfit, floor jack, two jack stands,
torque wrench, and go though this "fun" twice a year,
as I wouldn't drive without snow tires here. I tried
driving all season radials once, and in a light storm,
my car was snaking all over the road, and I couldn't
keep up to the posted limit. That's when I decided that
it was time to get some real-winters on there. The
best winter tires (in terms of mileage rather than
grip), were some Michelin tires. On my last car,
I bought some Toyo, and they were only 3 out of 5
in terms of "being a winter tire".

One other thing, if I was torquing to 85, when I'm finished
with the wrench, I turn it down to 25 to 35 or so. That's
so the torque wrench doesn't develop any bad habits in
the off season.

And I store the floor jack where it's dry. And so far, it's
not mis-behaved like some of the stories I hear about them.
Take care of your equipment and it'll take care of you.

Paul