Due to a couple of recent "incedents" in the ORR community there have been some changes as far as tech inspections. I never thought that valve stems could be a big deal. Well they will be checking every single car to see what type of valve stem you are using. And if it isnt what they reccomend....no racey. So I will be running a BBS, very short, outside locking, rubber sealed valve stem.

But the main reason for the post is they will also be checking your torque on your wheel lugs. What kind of torque are you guys running your lugs to? I have always gone to 100lb/ft. does that sound about right? as far as I knew, there wasnt a "mandated" torque spec in any form of racing. You were just expected to have it on there with enough to hold it there.

I've always used the factory recommendation of 100 ft/lbs

Matt

I always do 100 ft/lbs then check them when the hubs are warm.

Shouldn't it vary with the size of the wheel stud? I mean, shouldn't a 5/8" wheel stud be torqued tighter than a 12mm? I realize there are other factors to consider such as the thickness of the wheel and wheel flange: too tight an the lug nuts has been known to warp rotors.

Tony

If you are talking factory 4th gen wheels then 100ft-lbs is what it says in the factory manual. I was using this on my 3rd gen factory GTA wheels and they were getting damaged. I use 85ft-lbs on them now and that works well. If you are using aftermarket alloys then get the specs from the manufacturer.

I have seen a lot of abuse of torque wrenches in the paddock; folks banging them around, using them to tighten their lugs all the way instead of the doing the last little bit. I have also seen folks take off lug nuts with torque wrenches! This is a precise instrument that needs to be kept level, not banged and used for the purpose it was intended. Your safety and that of others depends on it!

You should check your lug nuts after the brake/wheel components have a chance to cool, this is when they loosen up. Check them before you go out every ORR session.

Keep in mind when checking torque is that you can't check it in a static manner. If you take a tightened lug and wrench against it until you get the click or right reading, but the nut never moves, you didn't measure it correctly.

Torque specs are against dynamic friction, not static. If you want to check nuts already mounted, you need to back them off at least a quarter turn, and then measure while re-tightening.

And if you're using crow's feet on something, remember the foot must be at 90* to the wrench handle, not sticking out in front or behind.

I work at Raytheon Missile Systems, and they actually offer classes to the production workers on how to properly use all the different torque measurement devices, as well as following proper procedures (wet vs dry installs, bolt patterns, etc). When I saw a 4 hour class titled "Advanced Fastener Installation", I was like until I looked at all the stuff they cover.

/lecture off

-Jeff