Check Your Lug Nuts!

[Rocket Man]

I approve of this thread.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I had a feeling you would.

 

[Fireman591]

Thanks for the heads up. I checked mine a few minutes ago and 10 of the 24 lug nuts were less than 140 foot pounds. They were not super loose but I am guessing they were around 100-120 foot pounds.

 

[Jason in DLH]

Last year I was a witness to someone losing their wheel while they were driving. The tire bounced down the road. Not a pretty sight!

Definitely keep both the 18’s and 22’s torqued to 140 ft lbs. And always double check them after 100 miles after removing them.

 

[kentman]

Where did you come up with 115 ft/lbs?

I stand corrected. My bad. I just checked the owner's manual, and it surely is 140 ft*lbs as you stated. I have been udertorquing my wheels by 25 ft*lbs for years, apparently. Thank you for setting me straight on that one.

Never had an issue using 115 ft*lbs, but I will be sure to go home and retorque them tonight and every time going forward.

I started torquing at that wrong magnitude many years ago. At this point, I have no idea where that wrong number came from, but it stuck in my head. My sedan is 80 ft*lbs. The Yukon calls for almost double? That seems like too much to me.

I worry about excessive torque on the rotors. I have installed zinc-coated, aftermarket slotted and drilled rotors. I would hate to warp them prematurely. They wear out fast enough already. I am getting about 50K to 60K miles of wear out of them. The slots and the chamfers on the drilled holes begin to disappear pretty quickly. I have had distinct rapid warping issues on my prior Jeeps.

 

[kentman]

as an engineer

I too am an engineer (Licensed Professional Engineer / Mechanical). I find that GM engineers do a miserable job often. I second guess their engineers all the time. They are pushing cost-out and cheap parts from overseas or Mexico to improve profits. I have had at least one GM product in my garage continuously for the last 28 years. Build quality is very suspect, and that gets back to engineers and sourcing.

The Yukon will probably be my last GM purchase. I have already spent over $2500 in three separate visits to the dealer on A/C issues. Both of my fancy LED tail lights had stopped working properly within five years. I just had the vacuum pump replaced under the new extended safety recall warranty. These things should not happen within five years on a $70K ride.

I grew up in Michigan, and everyone around me worked for and bought Big 3 products. I worked in fuel pump manufacturing during college in the summers. My allegiances to domestic auto makers have died. I want to love them, but they just continue to let me down.

 

[Rocket Man]

I stand corrected. My bad. I just checked the owner's manual, and it surely is 140 ft*lbs as you stated. I have been udertorquing my wheels by 25 ft*lbs for years, apparently. Thank you for setting me straight on that one.

Never had an issue using 115 ft*lbs, but I will be sure to go home and retorque them tonight and every time going forward.

I started torquing at that wrong magnitude many years ago. At this point, I have no idea where that wrong number came from, but it stuck in my head. My sedan is 80 ft*lbs. The Yukon calls for almost double? That seems like too much to me.

I worry about excessive torque on the rotors. I have installed zinc-coated, aftermarket slotted and drilled rotors. I would hate to warp them prematurely. They wear out fast enough already. I am getting about 50K to 60K miles of wear out of them. The slots and the chamfers on the drilled holes begin to disappear pretty quickly. I have had distinct rapid warping issues on my prior Jeeps.

As far as warping rotors, just don’t use an impact gun and go in a circle with it. Use a torque wrench and tighten in a cross pattern.

 

[Holy Roller]

I too am an engineer (Licensed Professional Engineer / Mechanical). I find that GM engineers do a miserable job often. I second guess their engineers all the time. They are pushing cost-out and cheap parts from overseas or Mexico to improve profits. I have had at least one GM product in my garage continuously for the last 28 years. Build quality is very suspect, and that gets back to engineers and sourcing.

The Yukon will probably be my last GM purchase. I have already spent over $2500 in three separate visits to the dealer on A/C issues. Both of my fancy LED tail lights had stopped working properly within five years. I just had the vacuum pump replaced under the new extended safety recall warranty. These things should not happen within five years on a $70K ride.

I grew up in Michigan, and everyone around me worked for and bought Big 3 products. I worked in fuel pump manufacturing during college in the summers. My allegiances to domestic auto makers have died. I want to love them, but they just continue to let me down.

Curious to know what you end up with next - and if the ownership experience truly works out for the better?

 

[YukonRog]

I had the opposite happen. A discount tire shop (non big name) installed new tires and their monkey hammered away with his air impact gun. Stripped a couple studs and nuts. I discovered this when I went to rotate the wheels myself. Took a 4 ft pipe with my 230 lbs jumping on it to break them loose. I would have been in big trouble if I was in the woods without a pipe or reception.

 

[Fless]

Had mine rotated and balanced a few weeks ago. Got home, broke 'em loose, and re-torqued them to 140 lb-ft. They were pretty close, but I never trust them to be right. I'm about due to check them since I have put maybe 100 or so miles on it since.

 

[YukonRog]

I've also found the lug nuts loose on my aluminum 20's. Ever since I tell the tire guys "I want to see you hand torque them with your torque wrench".

 

[wjburken]

Just had new tires put on my sons car at a local Farm and Fleet. I was standing at the window watching the guy work and he walked into the waiting room with the torque wrench and showed me what it was set at. First time that’s happened.

 

[Fless]

Just had new tires put on my sons car at a local Farm and Fleet. I was standing at the window watching the guy work and he walked into the waiting room with the torque wrench and showed me what it was set at. First time that’s happened.

Used to buy a lot of stuff at Farm & Fleet in Ottawa, Illinois, when I worked near there as a cable tech. Tires and batteries for the car, and every payday I'd go get a few more tools to fill the toolbox. When we'd visit my mom and sister in Peoria we'd visit the one in Morton.

 

[kentman]

Curious to know what you end up with next - and if the ownership experience truly works out for the better?

Since the Yukon purchase, I have bought two new Honda sedans new off the lot. We have got an '18 Accord in '18, and a '22 Civic EX in '21, both North American car of the year from NACTOY in 2018 and 2022. They are both an amazing value.

No issues on either ride really worth noting thus far.

I will note that the windshield is not thick enough on the Accord. I have had insurance replace two of them already along with camera recalibrations. These type of chips would have not ruined the window on the Yukon or my prior Jeeps, but they kill the Accord windows.

Because insurance has covered the windows, I do not really worry about those. My deductible was $100 on each. I have since dropped the deductible to $0 after the second windshield.

The ride, handling, build quality, fuel efficiency, etc. is a much better proposition with Honda.

I am going to try to stay out of the near three ton SUV market in the future. That will continue to allow me to go with others like Honda. I will try to carry the Yukon over 200K miles if it will make it without too much repair costs. After that, I am team Japan or maybe South Korea or Germany. No electrics for me.

 

[olyelr]

We bought our Tahoe a month ago this Thurs. It’s a Premier with the 22” wheels. We bought it with 5 miles on the clock and now have a little over 500. I walked out of a store tonight and noticed a lug nut missing from the passenger side rear wheel. I got the truck home and found another 4 on different wheels all loose to different degrees. I’ve bought a lot of new cars and never had an issue like this.

My wifes high country came with 22” wheels that have covers over the lug nuts. We swapped out the rubber at discount tire as soon as she bought it. A day or two later she said i am hearing some very loud noises, sounds like its coming from the rear end. She called the dealer and they told her not to drive it and get it towed in. As soon as she backed down in the driveway i was like it sounds like you have a lug nut off behind the cover. Sure as shit. One had completely fallen off and was bouncing around, making a very obnoxious noise at times when it became dislodged between the other lug nuts. I of course popped off the other 3 covers to check the rest of the lug nuts…found a few more that were very loose.

I guess the point of my story is just because you take it to a shop you think should be completely capable of torquing down the lug nuts properly, it is not a bad idea to double check. I guess the same goes with a brand new rig off the lot.

 

[slupie]

My wifes high country came with 22” wheels that have covers over the lug nuts. We swapped out the rubber at discount tire as soon as she bought it. A day or two later she said i am hearing some very loud noises, sounds like its coming from the rear end. She called the dealer and they told her not to drive it and get it towed in. As soon as she backed down in the driveway i was like it sounds like you have a lug nut off behind the cover. Sure as shit. One had completely fallen off and was bouncing around, making a very obnoxious noise at times when it became dislodged between the other lug nuts. I of course popped off the other 3 covers to check the rest of the lug nuts…found a few more that were very loose.

I guess the point of my story is just because you take it to a shop you think should be completely capable of torquing down the lug nuts properly, it is not a bad idea to double check. I guess the same goes with a brand new rig off the lot.

Michigan Court Rules Tire Rotation Does Not Include Tightening Lug Nuts

This is a wild case out of Michigan. If you’re a resident, turns out, a Michigan appeals court has decided a tire rotation service does not include tightening the lug nuts. Not only is that i...

www.powernationtv.com

 

[Rocket Man]

Michigan Court Rules Tire Rotation Does Not Include Tightening Lug Nuts

This is a wild case out of Michigan. If you’re a resident, turns out, a Michigan appeals court has decided a tire rotation service does not include tightening the lug nuts. Not only is that i...

www.powernationtv.com

Stupid attorney used an old and unnecessary (for the case) law. He could have gone about that many other ways to prove negligence. Any jury would have agreed.

 

[BADRIDES]

I torque mine at 120

 

[swathdiver]

I torque mine at 120

140 foot pounds is the torque spec.

 

[swathdiver]

Since the Yukon purchase, I have bought two new Honda sedans new off the lot. We have got an '18 Accord in '18, and a '22 Civic EX in '21, both North American car of the year from NACTOY in 2018 and 2022. They are both an amazing value.

No issues on either ride really worth noting thus far.

I will note that the windshield is not thick enough on the Accord. I have had insurance replace two of them already along with camera recalibrations. These type of chips would have not ruined the window on the Yukon or my prior Jeeps, but they kill the Accord windows.

Because insurance has covered the windows, I do not really worry about those. My deductible was $100 on each. I have since dropped the deductible to $0 after the second windshield.

The ride, handling, build quality, fuel efficiency, etc. is a much better proposition with Honda.

I am going to try to stay out of the near three ton SUV market in the future. That will continue to allow me to go with others like Honda. I will try to carry the Yukon over 200K miles if it will make it without too much repair costs. After that, I am team Japan or maybe South Korea or Germany. No electrics for me.

Consider that you are giving up a level of safety by daily driving those little cars. Before they re-arranged their website, the IIHS showed that my 2009 Yukon XL has ZERO fatalities after all these years. Now they lump it in with other years but the number is still very low, they are very safe vehicles compared to those little roller skates.

 

[Rocket Man]

I torque mine at 120

Why? It’s not correct.