[Corey]

I am certain there are those who know more about this than I know but the torque wrench is useless considering the power of the air torque wrenches used on larger vehicles. The tire companies have a 250 pound torque capacity and they simply make them as tight as possible.

That is my thought. I do not believe a man torquing a wrench could budge a 250 # air wrench.

When we have our tires changed at the local Michelin dealer, they have the heavy duty wrench set at a very high level and we never separately torque them.

I can be wrong but I believe that is common.

I look forward to other answers.

Pres

[Reagan]

Most places that do tire service on trucks and heavy equipment use 1″ air guns that are set for the proper torque. You can request that it be checked w/ wrench. I would always have it re-checked after a mobile service call. Geo.

[Archived]

Any shop worth it’s weight in gold will use a air impact gun then a torque wrench and they should be at 450 to 500 foot pounds of torque ,if they don’t torque them ask them to if they won’t never go back period , any shop that does not torque them is not worth going to, if prevost does them they will always use a torque wrench after the air impact gun to get them all the same

[Dick]

Two things, Peter is correct and an alternative to a torque wrench is a torque stick. Regardless of how the correct torque is determined it has to be a part of mounting any wheel.

If your tires were replaced it is customary to also replace valve stems. Anyone considering new tires needs to be aware of that.

[joel]

There are many torque wrenches that will do the required 450-500. I have one sitting in my garage. Any tire shop that only wants to use a torque stick is one I would never go back to. The torque sticks are junk. They *may* get close, but they are not reliable enough to trust. I found out that one of my shop employess had bought some to use without asking me about it. I told him they were junk and not to use them. He disagreed so we did some tests and found that they were not accurate, and in many cases, not even repeatable from one lug to the next.

Use of a torque wrench, especially for aluminum wheels, is in my opinion a must.

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1999 XLV X-6872,  liberty #440

[Reagan]

I will chime in since I’m today and tomorrow putting new steers on. I agree with everyone else that the bottom line is the wheels should be tightened to spec torque. How we get there is my thoughts. Not saying it is the correct way and not recommending it to anyone.

I find it pretty easy to change these big tires, so I have always done the procedure myself, at least for the calorie burn. After jacking and blocking the body and axle seperately, I use a IR2145 3/4 inch impact that is rated at 1000 to 1350 foot pounds to remove. Then I use an IR2135 1/2 inch impact to install that is rated up to 600 foot pounds but is adjustable. So I set it down to the spec torque, and do not follow with a torque wrench. I find the four foot 600 foot pound capacity torque wrench to be too cumbersome for one person to work with. And the wheel needs to be prevented from turning when using a torque wrench. The Porsche also takes 450 foot pounds on it’s center lock nut, so I bought a torque multiplier which has a planetary gear set that yields 3:1 ratio. It’s actually 3.3:1, but there is a 10% mechanical loss. With this, one can use a 1/2 inch torque wrench about twenty inches long set at 150 foot pounds.

As Charlie Daniels would say “that’s how we do it.”

[Dan]

Everytime I have had tire service at a shop that handles large tires the gun has been within 25# of the req. 450#. On my race car the electric gun is within 5#.. Geo.

[Archived]

I really learned something here… I also found out that the company I use does indeed torque wrench the final tightening.

Totally makes sense.

Pres