Prius Wheel Lock Torque

Wrong! 100 ft. lbs. is too tight.

70-75 is correct.

 

70-75 ft. lbs. is OEM torque....Need I say more?

 

76 FT-LBs to be exact cited by the repair manual.

Locks are torqued the same; except they should be the last one torqued down and first one removed, in the set of five.

 

Most all torque wrenches at plus or minus 3-4% error range.

So 70-75 is a good value.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, with bolts and torques, a few pounds less is better than too much.

For those who are novices with torque wrenches, the bolt or nut must be moving dial or the click of the wrench reaches the desired value.

It is "dynamic" torque, not inertial, break free or "static" torque.

Any good experienced mechanic can get within 10-15 or the desired torque without using a torque wrench.

I don't recall the last time that I've snapped or broken a bolt when tightening one.

Rustproofing has the added benefit of allowing bolts to be removed without snapping them off, but that's another story.

 

I certainly do not think 100 would damage anything but it is the best to aim for what the engineer prescribed.

Your nuts would get abused by tire shops / dealers way more. I have witnessed they use an impact wrench set to high and over torque the lugs. Then go back and click the torque wrench at the prescribed settings.

 

100 is too tight. There is no way to determine that the studs have been damaged. The hub or brake disk may have been warped. Most tire shops and Toyota dealers service centers use a torque limiting extension with air lug wrenches.

Reusing a removed bolt or nut on certain parts of an airplane is an FAA inspection failure, because you NEVER know if some Yahoo over tightened.

I bolt is a "tension" unit like a rubber band. A lot of high tech engines are built with tension bolts that stretch when installed. A used bolt is longer than a NEW unused one.

These tension bolts often used on cylinder heads are thrown away, when they are removed.

 

Unless the lug nuts grossly under tightened, the torque wrench will NOT move the lug nut at 76 ft. lbs. or even 100 ft. lbs. It will just click.

The wrench needs to "click" while it is moving to reach the correct torque. It is NOT moving when it clicks, the lug nut has not been tightened enough or, it has been already tightened to the correct torque or higher.

You need to loosen the lug nuts and start over.

 

I know how it works. They do not and do it perfunctorily. I do not see a torque stick used with the impact. All they are making sure is that the nuts are not under torqued. My point is, if your car gets serviced commercially, it gets abused. Cars are very forgiving or we all will be dead by now.

Like millions of cars use the cheaply built Fram oil filters, how many engines get blown up?

 

That's why I do my own service.

When I checked the free Toyota service I got, the lug nuts were tightened less than the specified 75 ft. lbs. That was OK with me.

 

I just had my free tire rotation done at Mavis Discount Tire. They used an 80 ft lb torque stick when tightening the lug nuts and then a click-type torque wrench to double-check. Although 76 ft lbs is the right spec, I don't think 80 ft lbs is overkill.

 

I guess I haven't explained it in simple enough terms.

There is NO WAY to verify correct torque on a bolt or nit that has already been tightened.

If the torque wrench is NOT moving the bolt or nut when it clicks, it could be that the unit has been tightened to only 55 ft. lbs., even when the wrench is not damaged and set at 80 ft. lbs.

 

Dealership torque the lug nuts to 80 ft. lbs.

and all torque sticks are at 80 lbs. There isn't 70-75lbs torque stick, so just stick to even number 80 ft. lbs. Easier to remember, and all sedan vehicles are torque at 80ft lbs., pick up trucks and bigger SUV's are torque at 100 ft. lbs. - 120 ft. lbs. depending on vehicles. GOOD LUCK