Wheel Nuts

[tech71]

90Nm here also, my torque wrench only shows Nm and Kp.

Bought it at  Lidyl in Deutschland 

[Son of Marty]

Max torque on a 8.8 x 12mm bolt is 99.8 ft/lb. and I'm pretty sure the studs grade higher than that. I have seen wheels (non BMW) that have had the lug nuts pulled partly through the seat undaughterly the product of a air gun but it can happen.

[visionaut]

4 hours ago, Preyupy said:

If you are just looking at the tensile strength of the threaded fastener  you are correct.   You must also consider the material you are clamping as well.  If you don't stretch the bolt but you do deform the wheel you have gone too far.  The lug nuts (bolts) only need to be tight enough to hold the wheel firmly to the hub and NOT back off!  Any more than that is un-necessary.   I have used 65-70 ft/lbs on all 4 and 5 lug BMW wheels, both steel and alloy, for over 45 years and have never had one come loose (even on race cars)   

Byron, I’ m referring to this commonly found chart.  Surely not exact (it doesn’t cite thread pitch) but shows generally what I was referring to.

 

I wasn’t talking ultimate or tensile strengths, but the lug bolt tightening torque (as you aptly described ‘to not come off’).  They typically don’t vary much from this table regardless of wheel (or lug nut) material being Al alloy or Steel. As for ‘stretch’, for conical nuts/bolts, the key indicator is the wear on the cone of nut/bolt.

 

The 14x1.25mm wheel bolts on my 435 are torqued to-spec to 140Nm (103 ft-lbs). It may not come off at 70, but I don’t want to try…

 

Tom-too

[TobyB]

9 hours ago, Lorin said:

Whatever you do, do not lubricate the taper/seat of the lug nut. 

 

oops.

 

t

hasn't died- yet.

[ray_]

11 hours ago, Stevenc22 said:

Related I just order two boxes (10/box) of lugs nuts from Partsgeek and they shipped me two single lug nuts. Awesome!

BMW 2002 1802 tii E9 E30 E28 E24 E34 Coupe Lug Nuts for Alloy Wheels 12x1.5 NEW

WWW.EBAY.COM

---

12x1.5 thread pitch just like your existing nuts. Fits a 2002, Coupe, E9, and every BMW with 12mm x 1.5 studs so there are no problems. Are your lug nuts rounded off, rusty, or just plain ugly?. The photo shows 20 nuts from varying views.

 

[tech71]

Alloy nuts! Steely nuts! Aftermarket nuts oh my!

Is there really a difference?

The angle on all are 60 degrees and tapered end diameters are all the same however, the length of the shoulder area differs between  OE alloy and OE  steely nuts by a lot. Looks like a lot more surface area contact is happening on alloy wheels. That makes sense.

Conclusion?

Any of the nuts pictured below should be fine on a steel  wheel
The OE steely nuts are not a good idea on alloys of any pedigree due to the limited contact area.... Right??
The OE steely nuts (#2) are stupid expensive at $100 for 16

 

Edited July 9, 2022 by tech71

[adawil2002]

Alpina lug nuts are the most aesthetically pleasing of the exposed lug nuts. 

[SydneyTii]

I thought this was a post about a few of us with this fetish?

[visionaut]

3 hours ago, adawil2002 said:

Alpina lug nuts are the most aesthetically pleasing of the exposed lug nuts. 

Deez nuts… are surely a timeless design, Andrew.  Thought they looked familiar…lol

 

edit: forgot to note my rotors are 1.5” larger diameter than your sweet alloys…

 

Edited July 10, 2022 by visionaut
:)

[Chris_B]

I have been using the following process for the last 40 years without any kind of failure. Snug up the bolts or nuts with a reasonable push on your arm with a breaker bar, using a cross hatch pattern (presumably, with the wheel still in the air). When the car is on the ground, tighten up with a further push torquing the bolts/nuts about 15-20 degrees more, whatever will move without huge pressure on the bar.

 

I have verified the above with a torque wrench on different wheels showing 55-65 ft/lbs.

 

Is the precision of using a torque wrench really necessary? I guess it is not really that much more work to use a torque wrench, but I don't see the value.

[TobyB]

I only use the torque wrench at the track, just because I'm more paranoid there.

 

And on the pickup, just because the lugs are so much huger, I don't trust myself

to get to the 6 trillion fordpounds they say they have to be torqued to.

 

t

 

[Hans]

On 7/9/2022 at 4:15 PM, tech71 said:

Alloy nuts! Steely nuts! Aftermarket nuts oh my!

Is there really a difference?

The angle on all are 60 degrees and tapered end diameters are all the same however, the length of the shoulder area differs between  OE alloy and OE  steely nuts by a lot. Looks like a lot more surface area contact is happening on alloy wheels. That makes sense.

Conclusion?

Any of the nuts pictured below should be fine on a steel  wheel
The OE steely nuts are not a good idea on alloys of any pedigree due to the limited contact area.... Right??
The OE steely nuts (#2) are stupid expensive at $100 for 16

 

Which nuts do you use for alloy?

[tech71]

3 hours ago, Hans said:

Which nuts do you use for alloy?

Same ones I’m using on my steelies:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09V78Z217?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

#3 in the above line up

Edited July 11, 2022 by tech71