Rear Wheel Lug Bolts
07-07-2013, 12:10 PM
#21
One would think a hyper-analytical engineer would torque things properly. 
And would stop using 3/8" sockets on things with high torque values.
Just out of curiosity, how many of the wheel studs you've broken were with the cheaper lug nuts you were running at one point, and how many were with the Spline Drives? Years ago, I broke I think 3 or 4 stock wheel studs over the course of 18-24 months on my Subaru while running generic chrome lug nuts. Since switching to quality lug nuts (Spline Drives and RAYS duraluminum) about 9 years ago, I haven't broken a single wheel stud, despite countless wheel changes for brake work, auto-x events, track events, winter/summer swaps, etc. I didn't change anything about my technique for installing the lug nuts (always done by hand with a ratchet and torqued to spec), and the hubs still have stock wheel studs, so the only variable that changed was the quality of the lug nuts.
And would stop using 3/8" sockets on things with high torque values.Just out of curiosity, how many of the wheel studs you've broken were with the cheaper lug nuts you were running at one point, and how many were with the Spline Drives? Years ago, I broke I think 3 or 4 stock wheel studs over the course of 18-24 months on my Subaru while running generic chrome lug nuts. Since switching to quality lug nuts (Spline Drives and RAYS duraluminum) about 9 years ago, I haven't broken a single wheel stud, despite countless wheel changes for brake work, auto-x events, track events, winter/summer swaps, etc. I didn't change anything about my technique for installing the lug nuts (always done by hand with a ratchet and torqued to spec), and the hubs still have stock wheel studs, so the only variable that changed was the quality of the lug nuts.
All of the wheel studs, except the one that I *just* broke, were with cheaper lug nuts. The damage was probably done a long time ago. Not to sound like a broken record, but the spline drives are excellent--I inherently don't feel the need to apply as much torque to keep them seated, and they come off a lot easier. Plus their finish is much thicker and harder, so you don't have to baby them quite as badly.
Out of curiosity, what IS the torque spec on our lug nuts? The "quick and dirty torque spec" page on the Cadillac FAQ isn't much help there. All I know is that, in general, lug torque specs are in the 85-110 ft-lbs range. And the wheel stud that broke on Friday broke at less than 75 ft-lbs.
Last edited by FuzzyLog1c; 07-07-2013 at 12:17 PM.
