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Fred Nerk
22nd April 2013, 06:52 AM
I have recently replaced all the tyres on my D4. Perhaps, I should say the tyre dealer did that for me.

I checked the nuts after a few local drives. I have a torque wrench which according to the D3 manual needs to be set for 98 ft lb.

Two nuts tightened a few degrees, the rest were tight and did not shift.

I know the fitters often over tighten the nuts with their "rattle guns". Is over-tight a bad thing? I know it can make the nuts hard to get off on the road (track) side when they are very tight. Apart from that problem, is it advisable to loosen all the nuts and reset the torque accurately?

[This is perhaps a question for all car owners, but I was not sure which other part of the forum I should pose this question in. Please move the thread if necessary.]

TDV6
22nd April 2013, 07:12 AM
I always reset the nuts with a torque wrench after a visit to the tyre dealers, The last time I visited a Bob J outlet they used a torque wrench not a rattle gun to tighten the nuts and were spot on.

Next time I will still recheck the torque.

Ryall

alpick
22nd April 2013, 09:46 AM
i always ask for fitting wheelnuts manually via a brace then re do them at home.

why? after one outlet used "big bertha" to tighten them, and even standing and jumping in the extended wheel nut spanner would not shift it, just bent the spanner.

they did replace the spanner and undid the nuts/retorqued correctly but what if i had been remote?

jon3950
22nd April 2013, 03:12 PM
Yes you should. Overtightening wheel nuts can stretch the stud and lead to failure.

When torquing nuts you should also make sure the threads are clean and ideally lightly oiled to make sure they don't bind on the thread.

Cheers,
Jon

scarry
22nd April 2013, 07:28 PM
Over torquing a D4 wheel nut will cause the nut to pull apart.

Don't ask how,but i know...:mad:

They are nowhere as big and robust as say a D1/D2 nut.

Ok,the story goes like this,the tyre fitter had the torque wrench set on 140ft/lbs,not 100ft/lbs.

I think he was confused as 100ft/lbs is approx 140n/m.

So the bottom line is,it is easy to wreck D4 wheel nuts,so be extra careful.

Plane Fixer
23rd April 2013, 12:23 PM
When I got my car I took each wheel nut off in turn and put a small (match head size) anti seize on the stud and torqued it up. Copper, nickel or moly anti seize is OK. Do not oil them. This prevents any binding on the thread and gives a correct torque
I then re-torqued them to the correct tension.
I always re-torque them after service for peace of mind, as it is vital all alloy wheel nuts are properly torqued due to the different expansion rate of alloy versus steel.
This was the reason the Patrols were popping studs when they switched from steel to alloy wheels; once people started torquing the nuts properly the problem was solved.

discojools
23rd April 2013, 06:19 PM
Over torquing a D4 wheel nut will cause the nut to pull apart.

Don't ask how,but i know...:mad:

They are nowhere as big and robust as say a D1/D2 nut.

Ok,the story goes like this,the tyre fitter had the torque wrench set on 140ft/lbs,not 100ft/lbs.

I think he was confused as 100ft/lbs is approx 140n/m.

So the bottom line is,it is easy to wreck D4 wheel nuts,so be extra careful.
Yeah thats exactly what happened when me and DoctorJ swapped tyres at the local tyre fitters. They were convinced that 140ft/lb was correct and that I was mad to do my own torquing of the wheel nuts at the correct 100ft/lb, they tought it was very dangerous.And then they tried to send me off with nearly 50psi in the tyres.. So all in all a great job not!

Fred Nerk
24th April 2013, 05:36 PM
Thanks to you all. I reckon I'll re-torque all the nuts and employ a drop of anti-seize too.

Cheers

whitedisco
24th April 2013, 09:12 PM
Hi All - great advice above
In my semi-retirement I drive freelance for a largish coach company. About 100km after wheels are changed at the workshop the driver must check the wheel nuts. We use the standard wheel brace on the coach - about a metre long. Usually nothing moves but sometimes they tighten up a bit. They use a torque wrench at the workshop. We have to sign off that the check has been done.

The idea is that the first 100km will allow the wheel to settle and the check will pick-up looseness before it gets dangerous. Probably not as important now with nice clean aluminium wheels on the coaches than it used to be with layers of paint on steel wheels but we still do it.

Apparently it has been very worthwhile over many years.
I do the same on my cars, trailers and the van - with a torque wrench.
cheers Peter

fonfe
27th April 2013, 07:32 PM
You really don't need to bother with any anti sieze on the reads at all unless you using your vehicle for wading often or beach use.
By all means if you want to then do but don't use oil.
A far more important use of anti sieze however is on the hub mating face.
This is where the wheel and hub corrode being steel and alloy. It is a service procedure that is often not done but should be done during every service. Even on defenders with steel wheels. Had to use my big boy lever bar (over 1m long) many a time to get a seized wheel off during servicing.

Also i torque up as per workshop manual and never had a problem in the thousands of wheels I've taken off and fitted, nor do I put anything on the threads.....if its not in LR instructions I don't do it....last thing I want is to end up in court due to a moving wheel nut without a leg to stand on because LR haven't said specifically to do it!