Ferret wheel nut torque

[teletech]

I broke down a wheel to change a tyre, but don't know the correct torque to put it back together.  The Ferret manual I have says it's a maintenance-section job so doesn't list the torque for anything other than fitting the wheel back to the vehicle.

Also, when reassembling a wheel for a Ferret, do you use anything to prevent the studs from rusting/seizing?  I know there are those who would worry about them working off but I've read that the whole pint of the nut socket and not the job of the stud.  Just looking to preserve the wheels for another generation and make my life easy when next I need to replace a tube.

[Richard Farrant]

It depends on whether you have alloy wheels or steel wheels:

Steel - 160-170 lbs/ft

Alloy - 140-150 lbs/ft

[David Herbert]

My personal opinion is that wheel nuts should be lubricated so that the tightening force is used to clamp the wheel onto the hub, not to twist the stud. I have never had a greased nut come loose but have had rusted ones which had worn the countersink in the wheel because they could not be tightened into it properly. On any vehicle I always put a smear of grease on both the thread and the contact surface on the back of the nut and then tighten them good and tight by hand. Richard has provided torque figures but these are meaningless if the threads are rusted.

I agree that if the threads are rusty the nuts won't actually undo but that doesn't mean that the wheel is being clamped against the hub properly.

David

[Richard Farrant]

David, good reply. When applying grease to the threads, it is best to put it in the nut and not on the stud. There was a mechanic working  at workshops who consistently put grease on the studs, it then was pushed into the brake drum when tightened. He could not understand why the brakes were poor, on removing the drums the grease had entered the drum and on to the shoes. This happened on a Foden Recovery and a Land Rover as I recall. It only needs a smear of grease on the thread anyway.

[teletech]

42 minutes ago, Richard Farrant said:

It depends on whether you have alloy wheels or steel wheels:

Steel - 160-170 lbs/ft

Alloy - 140-150 lbs/ft

Are those the the fasteners to hold the two halves together or the ones to hold the wheels to the vehicle?

[teletech]

24 minutes ago, Richard Farrant said:

David, good reply. When applying grease to the threads, it is best to put it in the nut and not on the stud. There was a mechanic working  at workshops who consistently put grease on the studs, it then was pushed into the brake drum when tightened. He could not understand why the brakes were poor, on removing the drums the grease had entered the drum and on to the shoes. This happened on a Foden Recovery and a Land Rover as I recall. It only needs a smear of grease on the thread anyway.

Interesting point about pressing the grease into the drums, but not relevant in this case since it's the two wheel halves I'm joining.

It is true though, torque values for most fasteners are very different for dry or wet application, by something in the order of 20-30%typically.  I've run a die over the threads so I won't have false readings due to the friction of rusty studs.

[Richard Farrant]

I thought you wanted torques for the wheel studs to hub, not the divided wheel. Those figures are for wheel to hub

[tankdiver]

I have always used copper grease on wheels , slit rims brake levers and anything that I will strip or the next person strips.

I use high temperature  spray oil on exhausts  . Lubrication make life easier.  

[teletech]

29 minutes ago, Richard Farrant said:

I thought you wanted torques for the wheel studs to hub, not the divided wheel. Those figures are for wheel to hub

I need the divided wheel values, harder to find it seems.

[Richard Farrant]

No torque listed in the EMER's for rim clamping

[teletech]

Seems odd they didn't have an opinion.  I guess it's important to have enough torque to hold the wheel from rubbing, but anything more than that just robs the fasteners of strength to resist the air pressure forcing the wheel apart.

I went with 60ft/lb as a value that seemed sufficient.