So as I said in my other thread, I installed my H&R DRM wheels spacers. While the car looks 100 times better, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't paranoid about them loosening and my wheels flying off while I'm driving. I tightened them as much as I could...I was literally worn out after installing them from tightening them so much lol

For those of you that have/had wheels spacers, how long after you installed them did you go back and re-tighten them?

 

You need a torque wrench and torque them to 80ft lbs. I tightened them as much as I could and thought they were fine, but brought it to sears (I didn't have a torque wrench) cause I was paranoid. They torqued them all for $15, and as I watched, I was amazed to see how loose they were.

Once they wre torqued, you shouldn't have to worry about it. It's been about a month and theyre fine for me.

If you don't have a torque wrench, I would suggest you bring it somewhere to get them torqued. They should only charge you for a tire rotation fee, and it should be relatively cheap.

 

^^^ Same here. The instructions that came with the spacers state they should be re-torqued at 60 or 90 miles, can't remember right now which one. I had mine re-torqued at 100 miles when my tires where re-balanced. I'm thinking about getting a torque wrench and check myself every now and then.

So far, I've driven at least 200 miles after the re-torque, and have had no vibration issues at all.

 

Thanks for the tip...I'll definitely do that. I don't have a torque wrench so I just used a regular wrench and went as tight as I could. Do you think I should bring them to somebody (Sears, auto shop, etc.) to have them checked and torqued now, and then have them re-torqued in about a month...or should I just wait a little?

 

Do it soon. Sears charged me $15 to remove the wheels, torque the spacers, and replace the wheels. Then you can go back and get your rims retorqued in a week or 2 for free at sears too.

I wouldn't wait. It only takes about 20 minutes.

 

Be careful not to over torque the nuts which could cause stud damage and you'll end up having more problems. I torque my wheels to 90 ft lbs, which is not that much. General rule of thumb is to re-torque after 60-80 miles of driving. Which means you'll have to install your spacers then your wheels, drive around for 60-80 miles, re-torque your spacers, drive for another 60-80 miles then re-torque your wheels. You'll find sometimes they'll loosen up and sometimes they're fine.

You can get a cheaper 1/2" torque wrench from Harbor Freight with a coupon for $20. A 3/8" torque wrench with coupon goes for $10 at HF. They're cheap worthwhile tools to have around and it would pay for themselves after two trips to a tire shop. Plus, the time saved and you never know when the monkeys will ding up your wheels while re-torquing your lugs.

 

I would recommend checking on them during every oil change. Always better to be careful when it comes to wheels,tyres,brakes and suspension.

 

Only 90ft lbs?? Really??? Oh I definitely torqued the spacers and wheels more than that...oops!

I've seen this kind of torque wrench at Autozone...good/accurate enough?

 

I thought I tightened them more than that as well....and I was way off.

Unless you tightened them with a breaker bar, I highly doubt you came close to 80ft lbs.

And if you use the above torque wrench properly, then yes...however in my expierence, the clicking kind are more accurate...and I have had a ton of expierence with them when I was a crew chief in the military.

 

Clicking kind are nice as you get the nice feel and sound of when to stop. The one pictured are a little harder to use because you don't have anything to tell you when to stop other than the gauge.

Here is the torque wrench I was talking about:1/2" Torque Wrench

HF always has coupons and they have stores across the country so stop at one and save money on shipping. There are nicer ones out there that are much more expensive but this works for me.

 

Tire Rack Adjustable Torque Wrench (Light Duty for Home Use)

I have one of those. Highly recommend it. It works like a charm.

 

The solution to this is a simple breaker bar that you can get at HF for $10.... With a 2ft long breaker bar, you only need 40lbs of force to tighten your lugnuts to 80lb-ft. I'm fairly confident most of you can apply 40lbs of force lulz

 

The problem with a breaker bar is the opposite - too much torque. This is well known to cause more damage than a few ft-lbs less torque than the specs call for. I'm pretty confident than you can easily apply more than 40 pounds of force to the end of the breaker bar accidentally. Ooops. Well, it is your car......






.

 

You're right, you can do damage with a breaker bar. Yes, a tq wrench is a good tool to have. No, I have never met anyone who torques their lug nuts to spec. I'm sure most lug nuts out there are over-torqued anyway because they're tightened with impact wrenches.

 

I don't know about you but I pull out my torque wrench each time I torque my lug nuts. Impact wrenches have their uses but you should tell those people that tightening lug nuts is not one of them. I would not recommend the use of a breaker bar. If anything, use a tire iron (one of the cross shaped ones)