What lug nut torque have you settled on?

[Dana Pants]

Hi everyone,

Since day 1, 150 ft*lb felt bad and I reduced to 140 ft*lb when attaching my wheels.

40k miles, lots of motorsports, and many tire changes later a stud broke on the only wheel bearing I haven’t had to replace.

I guess I’ll go for 130 ft*lb now and hope for the best.

Interestingly, if the factory studs are grade 8.8, then 120 ft*lb would make sense, and if they are grade 10.9, they should take 173 ft*lb. I therefore suspect they aren’t 10.9.

Some might argue that wheel studs are a wear item, but this is the first time in my life I had one break including several cars with 300k+ miles and lives just as hard.

So the questions:
Has anyone encountered an adverse effect due to lowering the wheel tightening torque? If so, what?

How low have you gone in lug nut torque?

P.S. I hate doing rear wheel bearings.

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[Bikeman315]

Hi everyone,

Since day 1, 150 ft*lb felt bad and I reduced to 140 ft*lb when attaching my wheels.

40k miles, lots of motorsports, and many tire changes later a stud broke on the only wheel bearing I haven’t had to replace.

I guess I’ll go for 130 ft*lb now and hope for the best.

Interestingly, if the factory studs are grade 8.8, then 120 ft*lb would make sense, and if they are grade 10.9, they should take 173 ft*lb. I therefore suspect they aren’t 10.9.

Some might argue that wheel studs are a wear item, but this is the first time in my life I had one break including several cars with 300k+ miles and lives just as hard.

So the questions:
Has anyone encountered an adverse effect due to lowering the wheel tightening torque? If so, what?

How low have you gone in lug nut torque?

P.S. I hate doing rear wheel bearings.

So many threads over the years on this topic. Although some would disagree the majority weighs in at 150 as per Ford‘s recommendation.

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/wheel-torque-question.170859/#post-3469715

 

[TrackMustang]

When I picked up my aftermarket wheels the stock lugs didn’t fit anymore. The wheel manufacturer gave me a set of lug nuts and said the torque spec was 105ft/lbs. I’ve been using that torque since with no issues.

 

[MAGS1]

150 ft/lbs. all day, every day no issues. On stock wheels for winter and SVE CFX for spring, summer and fall. I had aftermarket wheels on my 2016 as well and was at 150 with no issues.

 

[Cory S]

I use 127-130lb-ft and use a micro film of antisense every few rotations. Stud threads never gall and never loosen.

 

[LOL WUT]

150 as ford recommends…

 

[Vlad Soare]

With OEM wheels, 150 lb-ft.
If an OEM stud breaks at 150 lb-ft, then your torque wrench is out of calibration.

 

[Biggsy]

I use 150 on track and street. ARP studs on front. Will upgrade the rear during the winter to GT4 studs. Less chance of them breaking

 

[Skye]

150 lb-ft, per Ford and SVE.

 

[Cory S]

FWIW, my buddy was still putting his lug nuts on an 800whp 2018 GT with 100lb-ft. I mentioned the “spec” was 150, and he was like “WTF”…. He’s probably swapped wheels off and on at least 30 times in the last 3 years. He’s never had one come loose. He’s been doing them like mine now at 130.

 

[Biggsy]

Also you never want to torque them while they are hot. I know a few people in the track group have suffered broken studs because they take their wheels off soon as they come into the paddock from the track .

 

[DougS550]

Hi everyone,

Since day 1, 150 ft*lb felt bad and I reduced to 140 ft*lb when attaching my wheels.

40k miles, lots of motorsports, and many tire changes later a stud broke on the only wheel bearing I haven’t had to replace.

I guess I’ll go for 130 ft*lb now and hope for the best.

Interestingly, if the factory studs are grade 8.8, then 120 ft*lb would make sense, and if they are grade 10.9, they should take 173 ft*lb. I therefore suspect they aren’t 10.9.

Some might argue that wheel studs are a wear item, but this is the first time in my life I had one break including several cars with 300k+ miles and lives just as hard.

So the questions:
Has anyone encountered an adverse effect due to lowering the wheel tightening torque? If so, what?

How low have you gone in lug nut torque?

P.S. I hate doing rear wheel bearings.

150 lbs as recommended by my 19 Ford service manual.

 

[boB]

There is plenty of data to show that bolts/studs that are undertorqued are likely to fail much sooner than those that are torqued properly.

 

[Gnatsum21]

120

 

[Cory S]

There is plenty of data to show that bolts/studs that are undertorqued are likely to fail much sooner than those that are torqued properly.

Define “under torqued”. That could mean 60lb-ft, 75lb-ft, 100lb-ft, 130lb-ft.

Define “fail”.

I’ve seen more failures of lug nut/studs in my 35 years from over tightening (or even torquing to “spec”) than under torquing. Obviously I don’t mean just forgetting to tighten the lug nuts. That’s going to happen eventually to people who aren’t thorough anyway.

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