I own a shop, and see lug nuts over tightened all the time. Some we can’t get off with an impact wrench without breaking them. So… I would think too many people tighten them too much. I don’t believe the industry standard is 100 ft. lbs. either. Most all owners manuals will tell you anywhere from 70-90 ft. lbs. is the correct torque. What I do is put a lug bolt in my vise with a nut on it, and tighten it to what I think is right, and then check it with my torque wrench. This will teach you real quick just how wrong you can be with a lug wrench. Set a torque wrench to 100 ft. lbs, and torque a bolt to this. Now, try to break it lose with a lug wrench. This will teach you again just how off you can be. I don’t think most women could tighten a lug nut to 100 ft. lbs. with the lug wrench supplied with a car, much less get one off. This can become a joke if we think about it enough. The best thing to do is; go by what is in your owners manual, apply anti-seize to the lugs, and torque them equally in a cris-cross pattern, and don’t give it that extra jerk at the end for good measure, as this is what breaks bolts. Just remember; a woman may have to get those lugs off one day, so don’t tighten them that tight, they don’t need it.Part 2:The year & make of a vehicle has nothing to do with the torque. What does; is the bolt itself. I know all bolts have a symbol on them that indicates the torque it can stand, but lug nuts doesn’t. Almost every vehicle out there has a different torque number in the owners manual. I think they should give a maximum & minimum specification. Torque is based on the amount of stretch a bolt encounters at X amount of force applied to tighten it, so in reality one should replace each stud everytime they are removed, or the torque can be off by a wide margin from lug nut to lug nut. Nobody is going to do that, but cleaning the threads, and adding an anti-seize agent can mean the difference between a warped rotor, or a busted nut. A good rule to follow is; If one can’t run the nut all the way on & off by hand, then the spec’s will be off when torque is applied. Oh.. then you have the rust factor. Torque them at no less than 70 ft. lbs. and there should be no problems as long as they are in good condition, and are tightened in a pattern that exerts equal pressure from side to side.Glad to help out, Good Luck!!!...
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