Loose lug nuts on aluminum wheels?

I recently bought 4 of the FJ Aluminum wheels on CL.

Seller was a squared away guy and he gave me the correct (washer style) lug nuts.

I had the tires remounted on the FJ wheels, and 100 miles later I re torqued the lug nuts to 83 f/lb (with a borrowed wrench). All were maybe 1/8 turn loose at that time.

No big deal, I figured that was it.

I've been checking them once a week for the past month and every time, at least 4 of the 6 nuts on each wheel are loose, always about the same 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn. This is after only about 200 - 500 miles each time.

The lugs are the correct length (I can get a nut 10 full turns before it begins to tighten against the wheel) and the nuts are correct for the wheels (I think, from the research I did). There is no damage to the wheels that I can see and no excessive dirt or corrosion that would impair the ability of the wheels to correctly seat.

Is this normal for these style wheels, or is this a problem? I've never had steel wheels loosen except maybe the first time, after that, the lug nuts never budge. It's getting annoying and I wonder how they will hold up when I go out west this coming year, thousands of miles.

 

i always torque aluminum to bout 110 or so
i feel like anything under a 100 is asking for issues

 

I wouldn't call it abnormal, I have alloys with the washered acorn nuts, whenever I do my rotations every 5 to 7,000, there always seems to be a slightly looser nut here and there..I have recently got to checking the nuts occassionaly, especially if I am taking a long trip....

having it come loose every 500 miles, that is extreme...as the previous poster stated more torque will help I usually do 95fp, I don't want to stress the aluminum alloy, it has its limitations....

how about a picture of one of the nuts and a pic of the wheel hole, just for reference purposes...maybe some steelie nuts where used accidently at one time, might have done a slight bevel or ridge to da hole...

 

Mine are torqued to 115.
The torque spec for my civic wheels is 89, and it's a smaller stud.

 

more torque than recommended is NOT the way to go

-all new Toyota OEM nuts- throw old ones away they have been abused

remove wheels

clean stud threads with wire brush and alcohol, dry it

torque to 85 foot lbs using new 24 new lug nuts

problem solved

 

Agreed. Over torque can cause vibration problems or other grief. Costco over torqued the crap out of my wheels recently and I shook on the way home. Before I took it back for a re-balance, I checked the torque and it was way off. I re torqued to spec and it was all good.

 

Finally someone posted logical info. MY goodness why are people torque aluminum rims to 100 ft-lbs? Torque then to factory specs in a torque sequence. More isn't better.

 

You should torque them in a cross pattern in stages.

First torque go half the torque, cross pattern.
Second stage go the full torque, cross pattern.
Then on the final torque go in a circular pattern to full torque.

 

I will post pics tomorrow. Thanks for the responses.

 

Lock tight.

 

All these guys are giving advice that should be followed.

 

Maybe try indexing all the lug nuts on one wheel with crayon or white out.
That way you can tell if the lug nuts are actually turning loose or something else is going on.

 

Here's a picture of the lug nut and the stud and surrounding wheel.

Thanks for the advice.

I believe my first move will be to buy a torque wrench (I can't believe I've put off doing that for....mmm...20 years...?). Retorque one wheel and mark the lugs, recheck in a week. If it doesn't move then I'll just retorque the others; if it does move I'll buy new OEM lug nuts, dismount, and clean the mating surfaces and studs.

Any other thoughts from the photos?

 

"I believe my first move will be to buy a torque wrench"

OMG...

Your wheels look fine, clean everything, reassemble, and wait on the lug nut replacement, your nuts look OK, LOL, can't believe I said that...

Good grief on the torque wrench, okay not to have with steelies, but mandatory with alloys...

 

What the hell. It's not a frikken scientific experiment. You think that some Toyota engineer is watching this thread and thinking, "Gee I hope these guys figure out how to mount a wheel. We can't figure it out." There is a proper procedure with the proper tools and parts.

Is this thread going to turn out like that one zillion page thread about a vibration?

 

You need a torque wrench - plain & simple. I've torqued my lugs at 100ft lbs on all my vehicles and never had any issues. I also use anti-seize.

You inherited USED lug nuts. I would highly recommend buying NEW lug nuts and go from there..... If you're still having problems, I would inspect the lugs themselves. If the threads (on lugs or lug nuts) are worn, they won't hold.

Over torquing lug nuts can cause your rotors to warp and probably not good on the lugs/threads either.

 

Torque wrench, and new lug nuts you can get off Amazon for cheap. Otherwise you're going to be fighting a never ending battle.


You have our advice, it's up to you what to do with it.

 

Torque Values are an engineered figure for a reason
There is probably, considerable leeway, over/under, to a limit.
Correct lug Torque keeps your wheels on your vehicle, thus your vehicle on the road (ask how I know).
Under-torque can result in loosening, over-torque can result in failure, as in pic below.
Any lube on the threads also changes (lowers) the engineered torque value. Yes, even anti-seize.
Once again, not a drastic change, but over-torquing a lubed thread a 100 times, can have a cumulative effect.
One of the results can be degrading of the threads on the bolt, nut or both and possible bolt failure.
Have to agree with janster and others above,
Inspect lug threads, replace if worn, new lug nuts and get a good torque wrench.
The pic below came from here with a little discussion about lubed threads, if interested.
I'm not a pro, but have had this discussion with a few.
The fact that I'm not a pro, makes me torque everything to spec (Except Tacoma's Leaf Spring U-Bolts, another discussion).
I just throw it out there, so those that haven't thought about it, might.
Good luck with your lug issues






CC

 

I would order a new set of lug nuts, I got some dormans of that style from Rock Auto for $1.17 each when I mounted some used aluminum 17" sport rims I got last summer.

And make sure the back of the rims, and the hub mating surface are clean and FLAT.

I would use anti-seize on lug nuts only with a 20% lowering of torque values and a torque wrench really helps.

Let us know how you make out.

Howard

Howard