Matthew

So I broke out the trusty torque wrench and jack stands to rotate my wheels today (I am doing them myself every 10,000 mi and I just hit 20,000) and I thought, 'what the hell, I'll check my RSB.'

So after I had the rear wheels off, I torqued up the wrench for 32 ft/lbs and tested all the nuts, and sure enough, about half of them were loose. All still attached, but definitely needed tightening...

I figure since I put it on in the summer when it was 104 degrees in Dallas and it is now regularly in the teens and twenties at night in big D, combine that temp change w/ some sprited driving in the past 6 months worked some of the nuts loose.

Holy Cow! Once I got everything torqued back up and went out for a spin, it was like the difference I felt the first day I put it on! If its been a while and you have had some cold weather to shrink up your bolts a lil' I recommend you give yours a little elbow grease, you won't regret it!

clipse

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for the helpful tip. BTW.Do you rotate the tires in a criss cross pattern or do you rotate them front to back??? Is 10,000 miles the recommended time to rotate your tires???....

Matthew

...I always rotate front to back only, I have been hearing from the pros not to cross rotate ever, even if you have AWD you are supposed to go clockwise supposedly. But others may have diff. opinions on this. As for the mileage to rotate, Nissan recommends every 7,500 miles but unless you are a real rubber shredder 10,000 should be more than adequate if you stick to it on a regular basis.

Peace...

clipse

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for the helpful info Matthew.

02'maxed-out

iTrader: (2)

good looking out Matthew, I got 7,500 on my rsb... I going to tighten them tommorow...

Matthew

Just as a footnote I also checked the 30 ft/lbs of torque on the FSTB, which has only been on about 7,000 miles but is still as tight as the day I put it on, I think it just doesn't undergo as much strain and stress as the RSB does, plus the heat from the engine bay keeps the metal hot and expanded and helps prevent the nuts from working themselves loose. Just my theory...

Quicksilver

iTrader: (1)

What is the reccommended TQ for the wheel lugs/nuts? If not the reccommended, then what do you guys/gals use?

Matthew

HIGHLY Recommended torque levels (by Nissan for wheels, Maxima.org for rest):

Wheels - 80-85 ft./lbs. torque per lug
RSB - 30-35 ft./lbs. torque per nut
FSTB - 30 ft./lbs. torque per nut

Hope that helps... On the FSTB anything higher can damage the strut towers... Be careful!

spta97

iTrader: (1)

Hmmm...where did you find the RSB torque specs? Every post I looked at said "Tighten the $hit out of them!". I'm waaaaay over 35lbs on all the bolts for the RSB (I didn't use a torque wrench, but compared to 80lbs of ME force on the wheels they must be at least 130!).

Am I causing harm or is the 35lbs the reason yours are loose?

Matthew

...I really mean this in the nicest way possible and I am not calling you weak but if you didn't use a torque wrench then you really have no way of knowing how tight they are. If you could even humanly get 130ft./lbs. of muscle on those suckers they would break. Pure and simple. And even if they didn't break, to get to 130 you would have to be a world class weightlifter, most automotive torque wrenches don't even go that high, and they are 18" long (give or take) to give maximum leverage. If you just used a socket wrench 6" to 8" long there is NO WAY you tightened those suckers any tighter than 50 or 60 with only 6" of leverage.

As for whether or not you are causing damage to tighten them over 30, probably not, but the threads on your nuts/bolts may strip...

Peace...

MaximusMorpheus

iTrader: (3)

Good info when I get RSB.....

spta97

iTrader: (1)

Hmmmm...well I do have super human strength but I was comparing it to torqueing the tires at 80ft/lbs. Now granted, I was standing and using a 1/2 drive wrench and the RSB install was done on jack stand with me lying on the floor with a 3/8" drive so I see your point.

Actually, my friend's Porsche Turbo requires the lugs to be 150ft/lbs or something crazy high like that. His cousin (who does all his car work) struggles with each lug...and he out weighs me by about 100 lbs! When I asked "Why do the lugs have to be so tight?" my friend's reply was "Well, I guess when you're doing 191 MPH, you don't want your wheels to fall off!"

Hey, is there any such thing as a torque meter? Something that can be used to calibrate a torque wrench and test your strength?

Matthew

...I dunno about a torque meter, but torque wrenches make a 'clik' when they reach whatever torque you dialed it to... But think about the physics of it:

If you are using a 12" long wrench bar, 130 torque would mean that you had to put 130 pounds of hanging or pushing weight on the end of that bar to get to 130 torque.

If you were using a 6" bar you would have to put 260! Because it is only half a foot. Can you arm curl 260 even with two arms? I don't think anyone outside of extreme bodybuilders can!

That is why 18" torque wrenches are so long, it cuts way down on the force you have to apply to get to the 80-100 torque you need on your lugs... I don't know the exaxt number, but I don't even think I can dial up torque on my wrench higher than 120, and it is a full on 18" automotive torque wrench. So you can see I wasn't being rude, but physics are physics...

Matthew

...I dunno about a torque meter, but torque wrenches make a 'clik' when they reach whatever torque you dialed it to... But think about the physics of it:

If you are using a 12" long wrench bar, 130 torque would mean that you had to put 130 pounds of hanging or pushing weight on the end of that bar to get to 130 torque.

If you were using a 6" bar you would have to put 260! Because it is only half a foot. Can you arm curl 260 even with two arms? I don't think anyone outside of extreme bodybuilders can!

That is why 18" torque wrenches are so long, it cuts way down on the force you have to apply to get to the 80-100 torque you need on your lugs... I don't know the exaxt number, but I don't even think I can dial up torque on my wrench higher than 120, and it is a full on 18" automotive torque wrench. So you can see I wasn't being rude, but physics are physics...

saxdogg

I think the recommended interval is 7,500mi. and the pattern is front tires straight back (same side) and criss-cross the rears to the front. I could be wrong...


ARFF