What's 133NM feel like?

[irondoc]

I just did a wheel rotation and haven't had alloy wheels before. The manual says 133NM i think. They didn't feel that tight when i took them off..... any ideas on how to gauge tightness?

I know, i know, i should go to a tyre place........

[isuzurover]

I just did a wheel rotation and haven't had alloy wheels before. The manual says 133NM i think. They didn't feel that tight when i took them off..... any ideas on how to gauge tightness?

I know, i know, i should go to a tyre place........

How long was the breaker bar you were using to remove them and how much force (in kg or lb) do you think you were exerting on the end of the bar?

[tomalophicon]

It feels a bit tighter than 130nm.

You could try a tourque wrench.

[rufusking]

Simple physics really. A one kilogram object under the force of gravity requires 9.81 Newton to hold it up (Gravity 9.81m/s2 x 1 kilogram = 9.81 Newton, for simplicity we round this to 10N). So a rotational force of 133Nm requires 13.3kg applied at the end of a 1 metre lever arm. It's nice and linear so it is the same as 26.6kg on a half metre lever arm. Hopefully this will give you some idea of how much force to apply to achieve the desired torque.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

I just did a wheel rotation and haven't had alloy wheels before. The manual says 133NM i think. They didn't feel that tight when i took them off..... any ideas on how to gauge tightness?

I know, i know, i should go to a tyre place........

98 foot lbs - use a torque wrench

[Fred Nerk]

I bought a torque wrench a few months ago because I too was not certain how tight the wheel nuts were after just guessing.

I discovered that I was over tightening. That extra tweak "to be sure" was not needed. I'm not aware what the risk of overtight wheel nuts might be. I just feel more comfortable knowing that they are correct.

[Yorkie]

so does everyone carry a torque wrench in the car for when you get a flat?

i just do wheel nuts up as tight as possible with a 0.5m breaker bar, nothing come undone,,,, yet!

[Fred Nerk]

I have the wrench in the bag of tools I carry when going on a trip. If I get a flat around home I would use the standard tools and then check when I got home. It always check the nuts after driving a changed wheel. Just in case the dirt (that wasn't noticed) between the wheel ant the hub falls out and the wheel becomes loose.

That said, I've not suffered a flat around home since I bought the wrench. Off road is a different story.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

I do mine up as tight as I can using the wheel brace that came with the car.
If I have to jump on it with my foot to undo,, its a touch overtight.

These (D2) are big nuts on steel threads, I doubt you could strip them with the original brace.

Have they downsized in the D3/4's?

[MR LR]

I do mine up as tight as I can using the wheel brace that came with the car.
If I have to jump on it with my foot to undo,, its a touch overtight.

These (D2) are big nuts on steel threads, I doubt you could strip them with the original brace.

Have they downsized in the D3/4's?

D3/4's have the same size thread, but a smaller nut.

Personally i just stand on the standard wheelbrace, thats 65kg, on a 0.4m bar, bit over 133Nm, but i don't jump, just let gravity do it, but if you can't undo it by hand they're basically too tight.

I've never torqued wheel nuts though, apart from on the trucks and tractors, and never have i or anyone i know who does that lost a wheel, not saying it's good practice, just never seen the point, and i've never had one come loose or buggered a thread.

However i have needed a bit of pipe on a breaker bar to get wheel nuts off after a tyre place has rattled the crap out of them when having tyres done, bent the wheelbrace first so that's when the breaker bar came out.

Cheers
Will