Lug torque and warped rotors

I have always wondered how important the proper torque on your wheels is to the life and performance of your rotors. Most tire shops will just put an impact wrench on it and let it go. I have been considering purchasing a nice torque wrench for this purpose but wanted opinions on how important it is.

 

Yup, what Chris said. I've had warped rotors when the gorillas at a tire shop just went to town on the lugs with an impact wrench. BTW, the correct torque is supposed to be 84 ft/lbs.

 

yeap,they also make these.torque sticks.they work well to.

 

thank you for posting that pic of torque sticks that is just what we use
iam so tired of tire shops doing it the wrong way
you ALWAYS here about the shops doing it the wrong way you never here
about the shops that are following the rules or doing it right we spend
so much time and $$ each year on training its not funny and then try
to keep the cost down on parts and labor and yet there are shops out there that will get away with this every time OK iam done sorry saw this
and it got to me

 

i got a nice lightly used snap on torque wrench off ebay for that exact reason

 

Fanatic method is to:
Wire brush threads first
Hand tighten nuts
Torque to ~25%
Lower vehicle until tire just touches ground (keep wheel from spinning while torquing)
Torque to rated value
While tightening - use criss-cross pattern, not the next nut in the circle.
Go back after a drive, and re-check

problem with over tensioning the nut, is to stretch the stud. weakens it, and can snap off while you're driving, or next time you tighten. never grease the threads....oh, ask me how I know.... you won't get an accurate torque reading .. ie you'll keep tightening, waiting for the click, and the stud will turn to butter and separate)

I'm not sold on stud torque and rotor warping being related. The studs go through holes in the rotor. The rotor is sandwiched between the hub and wheel. The portion of the rotor that warps is the area wiped by the pads.

I'm more concerned with keeping the integrity of the stud's strength. To a lesser extent, ensuring the wheel remains lug centric as the nuts are tightened, so there is uniform pressure on all areas of the wheel where the nuts secure it.



Hope this helps....

 

^ so is the correct torque 84ft/lb?

I just had my tires rotated today and he torqued them at 60?

Is that a problem?

-TV

 

83-84 ft lbs is fine.

 

I've always done 80 ft/lbs. I've found it more important with my new wheels relying solely on the lugs to stay centered (the center bore is different so it does nothing to keep the wheel centered on the hub) to do the gradual criss crossing tightening.