Check your nuts

[Apu]

I'm not talking about one on the left, one on the right, one bigger, one smaller.

I'm talking about your wheel nuts.

I had an embarrassing situation at Circuit Club today. I do normally check my wheel nuts every couple of sessions, but for some reason today, I got distracted and did not check all 4 wheels.

Partway through one of the sessions, klunk klunk klunk...a couple of nuts on the front left wheel came loose.

Moral of the story...check your nuts, don't get distracted, and I'm going back to steel nuts.

[rookie]

Hope your car and yourself are alright. Steel nuts for the win.

[Oz Striker]

So you guys have had a few issues with racing nuts? Just thinking whether I should go back to steel as well

[cartoon]

I have had the same issue with both steel and aluminum. I check them with out even thinking after my warm up laps before going all out

[Apu]

It's good practice to check your nuts, steel or otherwise.

Quite a few reasons for me to go back to steel nuts, mainly durability and aluminium nuts really don't offer any benefit to a weekend racer like me.

A couple of guys got the Works Engineering ones at Honda Nats for similar reasons - track wheels going on/off, durability, different heating/expansion rates (any metallurgist around here?), etc

I put the aluminium ones on as I liked the look, but can't stand it when they get scratched.

[T-BaGGeR]

Do you guys torque the nuts when the wheels are on the ground or off?

[Apu]

On the ground.

[T-BaGGeR]

This might be the problem then. When you put the wheels on in the air and hand tighten, the mating surface of the wheels might not be flush with the hub.

So when you go to torque the nuts on the ground, it will torque to the correct figures but because the weight of the car is on the lip of the hub, the wheel won't want to get tighter to the hub.

Probably even more so with aftermarket wheels that don't have hub centric rings. The wheels are just sitting on the lug and don't have anything to locate to

I've never had a problem with my nuts coming loose (although I have never double checked them after any sessions) but this us what I do.

Jack the car from one side, remove the 2 wheels, put the wheels on and hand tighten with a socket in a star shape (opppsite lug to the previous one). Bang the wheel around so it's not binding on anything and then get the wrench and tighten (star shape) so its pretty snug. The wheel will get closer to the hub. Get the torque wrench and again in a star shape, torque to setting. Visually inspect that the mating surface is flush with the hub then ill give the nuts some extra "love" and nip it a little more in a circle shape, not star. Repeat for other side.

I jack the car from the side because the front wheel won't spin while torquing. If you jack it up from the front, the wheels will spin even if its in gear so you will have to get someone to stand on the brakes.

This is how I do up my wheels. Not saying its correct but I haven't had an issue yet with my nuts coming loose

[tinkerbell]

This is how I do up my wheels. Not saying its correct but I haven't had an issue yet with my nuts coming loose

you do a great description!

i do it slightly different as i jiggle my nuts into their seats - never ever ever had an issue with loose nuts...

jiggle with the tips of my knees actually, then rotate 90 degres, then jiggle, then tighten, then rotate then jiggle then tighten, tetc etc.. until i am sure the nuts are all fully seated (i.e. cant be tigtened any further by hand holding a deep socket).

then u use a breaker bar to nip them up in criss-cross pattern and then gently lower teh car to do the final torque (~80ft-lbs)

i cringe when i see guys do wheel nuts up hand tight once then drop the car on the ground and tighten them...

[Apu]

OK I get what you both mean. I do tighten them up with the wheels up (and jiggle-tighten as well, haha!) but do it again on the ground.

I've never had the nuts come loose before, but I've also always checked. This particular occassion, we had two drivers going out one after the other...and I failed to check.

[xenox]

Do wheel nuts normally comes off? :/ haven't checked mine in a year

[tinkerbell]

Do wheel nuts normally comes off?

wheel nuts normally come off if they are not put on properly...

[Karl]

How many poeple torque there bolts? Isnt tight good enough?

[T-BaGGeR]

I never did torque them with a torque wrench. I just guessed. Its only recently that i got the torque wrench out on them.

Wheels don't need much to tighten and you shouldn't "Ronnie Coleman" them.
Just do them snug and then give it a little nip.

[tinkerbell]

How many poeple torque there bolts? Isnt tight good enough?

because i change my wheels so often, i have been using a torque wrench for wheel nuts for over 3 years...

and no - tight is not 'good enough' as it may be 'too tight' which is almost as bad as loose...