My 1994 owner's manual says 108 ft-lbs with factory alloy wheels
Correct lugnut torque
- Thread starter FJ809496TLC
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This is a problem in every shop of every kind. I worked in some very honest and conscientious shops over the years. Yet, in few of them did anyone torque wheels right. For a lot of cars, this isn't a problem. But for a Toyota with the shanked wheel nut as found on '96-'97 LC, and a lot of other Toyotas, it is bad. I cannot count the number of wheels that I have had to file out because of over-torqueing. When a shanked nut is overtightened, it "mushrooms" the hole in the wheel, causing the nut to bind in the hole. The damage is done and the only way to save the wheel is to take a round file and clean out the hole by hand. It is never quite the same.
A second issue that matters to me is lubing of wheel stud threads. Every wheel stud should be lubed with anti-seize lube. There is nothing worse than finding a stuck stud on a trail 20 miles from nowhere!
I have dealt with several shops as a customer, and hundreds more as a professional, and NONE of them lube wheel stud threads. They take a dry thread wheel nut and turn it onto a dry stud. Then they zip it on with a gun to 30 or 40 ft-lbs. After that, they tighten it with a torque wrench. The torque wrench turns the nut onto galded threads to the desired torque without ever really tightening the wheel. Then when you need to take off the wheel in the middle of nowhere, you have to break the stud to get it off, if you are lucky. This is not good. After my truck has seen a tire shop, I take off every nut and lube the stud. Then I torque them right.
The one time, as a customer or as a pro, that I ever saw a set of wheels mounted right was on my old Montero. I dropped it off and returned in time to watch thru the window as the guys mounted the wheels back on my truck. They went all the way around the truck and put anti-seize on all 24 wheel studs. I saw them reduce the pressure on the impact gun, and heard the slow gun put the nuts on. Then they sprayed soap on the wheels and wiped off the spattered lube from the wheels & tires. One guy got into the truck and stood on the brake while the other tightened the wheels, while the truck was off of the floor with no weight on the wheels. I watched the nut turn down to the correct torque as they used a clicker wrench to tighten the wheels. I was amazed! I had never seen a production shop do the job the right way.
I have dealt with Goodyear shops, Firestone dealers, every kind of tire dealer on a professional level where I was privy to the internal practices, and I had never seen this done right.
I had to look around me. I needed to remind myself that I was still at Walmart, the only place, other than my own service bay, where I have ever seen wheel mounting done the right way, the only time that I didn't have to go home and do it over again. I was amazed!
To do it right, you have to lube the threads and bring the nuts to the correct torque with the wheels off the ground. I had rarely seen it done right before. It is a shame that they won't sell tires big enough for my 80!
A second issue that matters to me is lubing of wheel stud threads. Every wheel stud should be lubed with anti-seize lube. There is nothing worse than finding a stuck stud on a trail 20 miles from nowhere!
I have dealt with several shops as a customer, and hundreds more as a professional, and NONE of them lube wheel stud threads. They take a dry thread wheel nut and turn it onto a dry stud. Then they zip it on with a gun to 30 or 40 ft-lbs. After that, they tighten it with a torque wrench. The torque wrench turns the nut onto galded threads to the desired torque without ever really tightening the wheel. Then when you need to take off the wheel in the middle of nowhere, you have to break the stud to get it off, if you are lucky. This is not good. After my truck has seen a tire shop, I take off every nut and lube the stud. Then I torque them right.
The one time, as a customer or as a pro, that I ever saw a set of wheels mounted right was on my old Montero. I dropped it off and returned in time to watch thru the window as the guys mounted the wheels back on my truck. They went all the way around the truck and put anti-seize on all 24 wheel studs. I saw them reduce the pressure on the impact gun, and heard the slow gun put the nuts on. Then they sprayed soap on the wheels and wiped off the spattered lube from the wheels & tires. One guy got into the truck and stood on the brake while the other tightened the wheels, while the truck was off of the floor with no weight on the wheels. I watched the nut turn down to the correct torque as they used a clicker wrench to tighten the wheels. I was amazed! I had never seen a production shop do the job the right way.
I have dealt with Goodyear shops, Firestone dealers, every kind of tire dealer on a professional level where I was privy to the internal practices, and I had never seen this done right.
I had to look around me. I needed to remind myself that I was still at Walmart, the only place, other than my own service bay, where I have ever seen wheel mounting done the right way, the only time that I didn't have to go home and do it over again. I was amazed!
To do it right, you have to lube the threads and bring the nuts to the correct torque with the wheels off the ground. I had rarely seen it done right before. It is a shame that they won't sell tires big enough for my 80!
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