question Loose CCKW Wheel Nuts

[Vulture]

Chaps

 

Out in the truck today I picked up on a strange noise which on stopping I tracked drown to the front os wheel nuts which had loosened themselves :shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked:. :shocking:

 

Anyone else had this, and any thoughts on how to prevent this ? :n00b:.

 

I see that commercial vehicles use these:

https://www.shop.fta.co.uk/p-761-checkpoint-wheel-nut-indicator.aspx

 

Kind regards to all

 

Vulture

Edited August 2, 2013 by Vulture

[raeme 21]

Ian I have heard that the cap nuts are no good for the front because of other people having the same problem. I replaced the cap nuts with normal wheel nuts and have had no problem. We did have problems in the Army with this.

raeme 21.

[Degsy]

Hi Ian, loose wheel nuts on commercial trucks has been a common problem for many years, I used to check wheel nuts daily and was very wary especially after a wheel had been off for any reason as I had seen too many instances of trucks losing wheels. Obviously with the limited milage we do with vehicles daily checks are not necessary but they still require a regular check and if a wheel has been off will need re-tightening after say 50 miles and I would recommend checking again several times until you are happy that they are not loosening. GMC wheels are of course different to normal in having two nuts on each stud, and it is the square inner nut which holds on the front wheel, the hexagon outer nut is used when fitting dual wheels. Because there are two nuts I found that quite often the two nuts would lock together and when unscrewed would come off bringing the wheel stud with them. It is not good practice to just screw the stud back in with the nuts attached, they need to be removed from the stud and refitted separately. Don't forget that the N/S wheel studs should be L/H thread.

Hope this helps.

[shopnut]

Just to add to Degsy reply, its important when installing wheels to ensure mating faces are clean, free from dirt and paint, painting the mating faces is a big no no in the commercial vehicle industry, due to wheels becoming loose/coming off soon after a new truck was delivered.

Would always recommend a walk round check prior to taking vehicle on the road.

[Tony B]

And worth using on any wheel nuts a proper torque wrench! also worth adding a set of tell tales. on the wheel nuts. Eithe rpointer or palstic zig zags. If one is missing or moved it is very obvious.

[Vulture]

Tony B, Degsy, Shopnut and Raeme 21

 

Thanks for your thoughts guys. The way ahead is no doubt to get a socket and torque wrench man enough for the job. Currently I don't have either, so I have added them to the long list of stuff I want to pick up when time and finances permit. In the meantime I've added some discrete marks to the nuts and wheel which I will check as part of walk-round inspection I undertake before each journey.

 

Kind regards to all

 

Vulture

[N.O.S.]

Have you come across the boxed Bud Nut impact driver sets currently available from several european mv parts dealers? £25 - £50 will buy you one. Very useful - contains socket, extension bar with square female end for inner nuts, impact hammer (rotary action), torque reaction arm to allow removal of the outer nuts from the inner nuts.

 

Highly recommended!

 

p.s. I tighten nuts up until just before the moment they go 'bang'! :cool2:

[Tony B]

I have a nice 12 volt torque wrench picked up off Amazon for about £20. Very useful bit of kit.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=12%20volt%20torque%20wrench

 

Some good d eals at the moment.

[R Cubed]

Have you come across the boxed Bud Nut impact driver sets currently available from several european mv parts dealers? £25 - £50 will buy you one. Very useful - contains socket, extension bar with square female end for inner nuts, impact hammer (rotary action), torque reaction arm to allow removal of the outer nuts from the inner nuts.

 

Highly recommended!

 

p.s. I tighten nuts up until just before the moment they go 'bang'! :cool2:

 

I have one of these I picked it up from W and P several years ago best bit of kit I got for the wheel nuts. just use the shock wrench to do up the nuts as tight as this will do them and you should have no problems, If you use a long bar instead to make it easier to do them up you can over tighten them and also it can force the socket off the nuts as you are putting a sideways force on them when you push down on the long bar. Using a shock wrench is like the old fashioned wheel brace in the shape of a cross except the ends of the bits you hold are weighted so this gives the impact to do up or undo the nuts.

[cosrec]

Basically if you are caught with loose wheel nuts hgv you are in mega S**T as an owner check them regularally