Hi All,

This is a strange issue that started happening recently. My lug nuts on my tires are loosening even after I properly torque the tire. At first I was thinking that my torque wrench was out of calibration. I tried my other one and that seemed to work. After I got the car back this past week from replacing the alternator I noticed a noise which was the same as before when the lug nuts were loose. The dealer does the car inspection every time you bring the car in so I am guessing they removed the tires to do the brake inspection. I went outside to tighten them and sure enough they were not to spec.

The issue appears to be happening on the front tires. Has anyone heard of the nuts actually failing like this and it is just to replace them, or is it a matter of not applying the proper torque? I will keep an eye out on this as the last time I used my other torque wrench I didn't have this issue.

Nick

 

Are your wheels OE? I had this problem with a couple of sets of Sport Edition wheels (one particular whee lmodel), but never with the OE wheels.

 

I would think shops that use impact wrenches might have applied too much TQ. This might cause the lug nut to stretch the bolt part enough to stretch and shrink the diameter by a hair.

 

That is scary as hell.

Take the car to a dealership maybe and tell them the issue you are having and that you want them to tighten them to spec.

If they still get loose I would buy new lug nuts ASAP.

 

Here is a link of what might happen if you over tq lug nuts:The Importance of Torquing Lug Nuts / Lug Bolts

 

Thanks for the replies. Yes these are OE rims and lug nuts. For the most part the car has been maintained by myself so they are torqued each time to spec. The dealer would be the only other place that would have tightened them.

I have had this odd noise coming from the front right which sounds like a hollow noise. I am wondering if this issue is somehow related to that as well.

 

I had one lug come loose (rear) one time a few years ago. It made a real strange hollow noise. I pulled over and tightened it "gutentight" with the spare tire wrench and continued to drive to work -- no more noise.
There's a chance you have grease/grime/dirt in the lug nuts AND on the threads of the lugs. I would take each wheel off and clean the lugs and nuts thoroughly with brake cleaner spray and even compressed air (wear goggles!)

 

Thanks I will try that out and see if it helps.

Nick

 

Any chance you're overtorquing and yielding studs? Never heard of properly torqued nuts loosening w/o reason.

good luck

 

I guess anything is possible if my torque wrench is out of calibration. I have been changing the tires on many Hondas for a while and when I get them back from a dealer inspection they are almost always on way tighter compared to when I tighten them. I usually have to put a lot more force to loosen them.

 

Torque spec is 80 ft-lbs. You should be pulling 50 lbs or more to achieve this torque.

I've checked my torque wrench by standing on a scale w/ 1/2" drive end clamped in vise. Push down until wrench clicks noting weight reduction on scale. Measure moment arm (usually about 16 inch) and calculate measured torque and compare to setting. Repeat 2-3 times to get a feel for measurement error.

Only other source of lugs loosening is possibility of partially seated studs that were not pulled all the way in when installed. They might loosen by seating further w/ applied load and heat from tire.

good luck

 

I could be the lug nuts and/or studs causing the problem. Have you tried switching the lugs to the another tire to see if the problem stays with the tire or follows the lugs? I can see an Acura tech realizing s/he was using too much tq on one tire and turning down the wrench tq on the others. My MDX take 94 lb/ft while my RDX/TSX is 80 lb/ft. I can see an Acura tech being a little lazy and doing things by feel.

 

This is an excellent idea. I am going to clean both parts and move the lug nuts to the rear tire on one side and see if it follows it this weekend. I hope it's the nuts and not the studs as I really don't want to take off the knuckle to fix this, especially with the cold weather we are getting lately.