Wheelnut torque

[philthehill]

Whether you have radial or cross ply types the wheel nut torque will remain the same.

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

It is very easy to strip the thread of the tiny wheel nuts and leave a spiral of metal on the stud. They don’t need doing up with any great force. The threads should be cleaned from time to time.

[myoldjalopy]

But should you oil the threads? (See 'bmcecosse's 2012 comment earlier in this thread).

[philthehill]

The BMC wheel nut torque is for dry non lubricated threads.
If you lubricate the threads you have to reduce the torque setting accordingly.

[svenedin]

It is very easy to strip the thread of the tiny wheel nuts and leave a spiral of metal on the stud. They don’t need doing up with any great force. The threads should be cleaned from time to time.

I can attest to that. When I was a kid my Scoutmaster decided it was a good idea that we should learn how to change a wheel. After 6 patrols had changed a wheel on his Morris Minor Traveller, the threads were stripped and the poor man couldn’t drive his car home!

[myoldjalopy]

Whilst torque ratings are given, I'll wager that the vast majority of Minor drivers back in the day just did them up with a wheel brace/spider when they had to change a wheel, without giving the torque rating a single thought. I never torque them, just nip them up tight. Some people seem to like to unneccessarily over-tighten things for some reason. Having said all that, I did once strip the thread - but only once in 37 years of driving Morris Minors.

[Bill_qaz]

Over tightening can also cause studs to snap, you have over stretched them, then the additional load when driving can result in snapping later on the road and not always visible behind hub caps. If you are unsure alway check the torque.
PS Always wind of your torque wrench to zero before putting it away to help keep it accurate.

[philthehill]

Torque settings and torque wrenches are a necessity for persons tightening nuts who have no idea of what the correct tightness feels like and are so are unable to repeat that correct tightening over and over again without having much variance.
With a torque setting any person skilled or not can correctly tighten a nut.
Before torque wrenches became universal; socket spanners with a tommy bar designed to give the recommended maximum torque to the cylinder head studs with normal hand pressure were used. The Series MM used Cylinder head nut spanner Pt No: 18G330.
I would suggest that the Minor wheel brace is designed to give the recommended maximum torque to the wheel nut with normal hand pressure.

[Bill_qaz]

Torque settings and torque wrenches are a necessity for persons tightening nuts who have no idea of what the correct tightness feels like and are so are unable to repeat that correct tightening over and over again without having much variance.
With a torque setting any person skilled or not can correctly tighten a nut.
Before torque wrenches became universal; socket spanners with a tommy bar designed to give the recommended maximum torque to the cylinder head studs with normal hand pressure were used. The Series MM used Cylinder head nut spanner Pt No: 18G330.
I would suggest that the Minor wheel brace is designed to give the recommended maximum torque to the wheel nut with normal hand pressure.

Fully agree Phil, once had to stop a technician tightening an injector with a torque wrench as appeared too much pull. I checked the torque wrench to find it was jammed and would never have clicked. If your experienced you can know by the feel but if not it's easy to get it wrong Even torque wrenches need regular checking and as most DIY don't have access to test equipment, testing one against another at least highlights an issue.

[oliver90owner]

Fully agree Phil, once had to stop a technician tightening an injector with a torque wrench as appeared too much pull. I checked the torque wrench to find it was jammed and would never have clicked. If your experienced you can know by the feel but if not it's easy to get it wrong Even torque wrenches need regular checking and as most DIY don't have access to test equipment, testing one against another at least highlights an issue.

A lack of thought inside, or outside, the box? A free-running pulley and some weights, plus a bit of set-up and measuring, should check out any torque wrench?

I’ve always checked my torque wrenches by comparison - from my original lbs inch to my 600Nm Britool examples. None have needed recalibration, IMO. I would never countenance using a ‘mickey mouse’ variety.