Wheel Nut Indicators

[inside]

What's people's thoughts on these? I'm starting to think for my use they could bring some piece of mind. My 110 isn't a daily driver, and it's use will likely be short to long trips over varying terrain with often a long time between trips. These indicators should cost less than $20.

It makes me wonder why tourers and hard off roaders aren't using them more. Maybe because they don't look cool?

Below some info I've gathered:

Nissan Patrol Y61 Alloy Wheel Fitment Service Campaign | Australian 4WD Action (http://www.4wdaction.com.au/news/43484-nissan-patrol-y61-alloy-wheel-fitment-service-campaign)
Checkpoint Safety - Australia - Checkpoint (http://www.cpsafety.com.au/products_checkpoint.html)
Watch the video here Wheel Check | Loose Wheel Nut Indicator, Wheel Safety Indicators (http://www.wheel-check.com/)

[PAT303]

Buy a torque wrench and torque them to the correct amount. Pat

[Sprint]

speaking for myself, with the number of them up here, i take great delight in occasionally moving one around a notch or two when i see them on the mining vehicles up here

as for the OP...... people survived for long enough without them..... i'm sure you will prove no exception

[JDNSW]

Loose wheel nuts on Defenders are quite uncommon (due to the large PCD and large wheel stud diameter), and are invariably due to incorrect tightening or tightening with dirt between the wheel and hub. While a torque wrench is the ideal way of tightening them, this is not really necessary; if tightened correctly they do not come loose - ever. (In fifty years of driving Series Landrovers and 110s I have had exactly one case of a loose wheel, due to my failing to remember the final tightening after lowering the jack on a front wheel.

Consequently, I would regard them as complete waste of money. They are perhaps more useful on those vehicles with smaller studs and smaller PCD - I have had problems with persistent loosening of wheel nuts on some other vehicles in the past, especially IH 120/1200.

A more common problem is overtightening by tyre service places, and it is just possible that they may deter them!

John

[Blknight.aus]

match mark them with a paint pen after you tighten them up with a torque wrench.

paint pens are about $8 and do a whole lot more besides and the marks dont fall off or get moved.

[p38arover]

paint pens are about $8 and do a whole lot more besides and the marks dont fall off or get moved.

..... nor stolen. I've had valve dust caps stolen so I reckon these would go, too (as would the new tyre pressure monitors attached to valve stems).

[Ausfree]

I drive buses for a large bus company in the Hunter Region and after a wheel fell off a school bus a few years back caused by loose wheel nuts, Wheel Nut Indicators are now used on all buses in the fleet. It makes it easier for the driver when he is doing his vehicle check before driving the bus, to notice if a wheel nut has moved. I believe they should be used on all heavy vehicles.
Having read the above posts I think it is a personal descision to use them on light vehicles though!!!:):)

[Tank]

I don't believe large studs or large PCD has anything to do with greater safety or less chance of losing a wheel through wheel nuts coming off as stated by JDNSW, if you look at the majority of wheel losses, most of them are on trucks with enormous studs and PCD.
However I do believe dirt, corrosion and crap (JDNSW) behind and between wheels is a major cause of wheel nuts ending up loose.
My Son lost a wheel on his 94 Disco returning from Bendethra, with some spare nuts he refitted the wheel and drove home, not telling me of this incident resulted in the same wheel coming off while I was driving it.
The cause was alloy corrosion on the back face of the alloy rim and rust explosion on the hub.
I actually needed a disc grinder to remove all the crap and a file to touch up some areas, so I pulled all of the wheels and it was only the one that came off that had the buildup of corrosion.
I reckon what happens is that the wheel nuts tighten the rim to the hub with a pile of crap between and a few miles down the road the crap either compresses further or is vibrated out from between the rim and hub, leaving the nuts loose, leading to the wheel eventually coming off, Regards Frank.

[CraigE]

They have their pros and cons. We have them on our emergency vehicles, but it all comes back to pre start checks and if they are done correctly. The biggest problem people are just lazy and dont do pre starts properly. It would depend on cost wether they are worth while for general use.
A friend has a late model Nissan and Nissan has mandated they be fitted as he has had several issues of the wheel nuts coming loose, after servicing.
These may not fit alloy wheels either.

[zulu Delta 534]

Way back in the dim dark past of my coach operational days, we were unfortunate enough to lose a set of duals from the rear of a 1625 Mercedes Benz coach and these wheels jumped over the coach (according to an eye witness following the coach at the time), bounced twice then one rolled off into the wilderness and the other continued on to demolish a small motor car heading in the opposite direction. It collected the oncoming car just behind the "B" pillar and totally wrecked the rear right hand side of the vehicle. The car was occupied by a youngish mother in the front seat and two smallish children in the back, who luckily were breaking the law of the land and NOT wearing seat belts and both leaning over the rear of the front seat on the passengers side talking to Mum at the time of the impact. Neither was even touched!
The driver of the coach (a coach owner himself) had checked the wheel nut tensions at the last stop (Midday) and adjusted the tension on one of the wheels.
One and a half hours later the left hand rear wheels came off!
In this particular case those wheel tensioner check doohickeys would have been absolutely useless as they would have shown correctly at the last check.
(All our drivers were under instructions to check wheel nuts every morning before a shift and again at lunch break, but in the particular case mentioned above, even this wasn't enough.)
Lack of tension can be your enemy.
Too much tension can have the same result by stretching studs.
Dirty threads and wheels is a major problem, and the list goes on.
Read you handbook and comply with the instructions and don't put your faith in gizmos!

Regards
Glen

[BigJon]

They are very common (often mandatory) on mine sites and I am pretty sure that they were thought of by another useless OHS person trying to fill in their day.

The ones that we have fitted to our work vehicles have a warning on the packet that they are not to be used to replace regular wheel nut tension checks. To my mind it makes them less than useless.

[PAT303]

Kinda like airbags,reflective tape on everything,GPS tracking,the stupid electronic tages BHP mandate etc etc. Pat

[Homestar]

speaking for myself, with the number of them up here, i take great delight in occasionally moving one around a notch or two when i see them on the mining vehicles up here




:Rolling::Rolling::Rolling:Boy am I gunna do that next time I'm up at the mines for work...

[Blknight.aus]

or pulling them all off and putting them back on in different but logical patterns...

[harry]

don't you just hate the work place health and safety poofters.
they don't know how to do something, so they regulate their inability onto those that know what they are doing,
in the name of safety....

like hello,
the wheel nuts will fall off if you don't do them up.. stop, fact.

god will not help you, no matter which god you believe in,
[mine is still allowing massive killing in iraq and many other places,
not doing much in the cancer subject either, and seems totally ignorant of the schoolies problem, but their mothers should know, woops, he missed out training them also].

he doesn't know how to warn you of loose wheel nuts, or of no water in the radiator either.

just do the nuts up, ok.

[CraigE]

Kinda like airbags,reflective tape on everything,GPS tracking,the stupid electronic tages BHP mandate etc etc. Pat

Pat, you are having a lend.
Airbags save lives, reflective tape in low viz and dust can be a god send (ask a few that Have had near misses, try and see a vehicle in dust or covered in mud from a Haulpack or a 996). The GPS tracking is a great idea for accidents and locating, what I dont like it for is for speed tracking especially the minor stuff or checking if people have ducked home or to the shop, however it does seem to have slowed people up a bit and stopped a large proportion of speeding. Know a few people that have been caught doing what they should not (speeding big time and vehicle used inappropriately).
Yes a lot has gone overboard, but it is usually brought about by incidents and people stuffing around. Have been involved in many ICAMS and observed coroners inquiries. I have many friends that are in OHS and most of them do not sit around trying to think of things to **** us off, but some do and that can be quite apparent at times. My opinion has nothing to do with the fact that I am doing my OHS diploma.:p
I am still a bit undecided on the wheel nut indicators, but they can serve a purpose I suppose.
Aside form that thinking of going out to Weeli Wolli next Friday, you interested.

[CraigE]

They are very common (often mandatory) on mine sites and I am pretty sure that they were thought of by another useless OHS person trying to fill in their day.

The ones that we have fitted to our work vehicles have a warning on the packet that they are not to be used to replace regular wheel nut tension checks. To my mind it makes them less than useless.

Actually that is not quite right, yes their use would have been brought up by someone, but most likely by someone on the work floor as part of a toolbox meeting or risk assessment. Most ideas like this actually come from the workshop staff, not OHS personnel.
They certainly were not invented for or by the mining industry. On the contrary they were invented for the transport industry and there seems to be a fair bit of use in both industries. I personally dont believe that they are really required and should never replace adequate inspections. However on high mileage vehicles or vehicles used in rough conditions for extended use they may have some merit.
Not all our vehicles run them, yet. Mainly the heavy vehicles.
Nissan are fitting them due to a large number of complaints form owners re loose and lost wheels, so maybe we could blame the Nissan drivers.:angel::wasntme::angel:

[LOVEMYRANGIE]

I put this on the same shelf as "Should I fit an exhaust brake to my Defender......"

Why???????????????????????

If you have a problem with wheel nuts getting loose or coming off, you have a problem, fix it......

[Blknight.aus]

not the same league.

if you tow lots or run heavily loaded then yes an exhaust brake is an excellent Idea. Its a brake that never wears out or overheats and fades.