How many ft/lbs do you keep your lug nuts at. Just curious. I'm thinking about starting to rotate my own tires wal-mart has an electric impact wrench up to 135lbs for $66.00.

PS will that electric wrench even work for this application?

Thanks Jamie

 

nothin beats hand torque!!!!!
don't waste your money on that electric impact gun,buy a torque wrench, many more uses, and you will get a proper torque on your wheels.
not sure what they call for on the torque, but i torque mine to 120lbs, and never click twice, once is all you need, and keeps the wrench accurate.clicking more then once can change the calibration of the wrench.
food for though

 

Never use, or allow the use of, any kind of impact wrench on your lug nuts. I have had trouble with my lug nuts with tire shops using a air wrench to put the lug nuts back on. On one of my vehicles, I had to replace all the studs and lug nuts because, through the use of an air wrench, the studs were stretched.

The manual, for my vehicle, calls for 135 foot/lbs of torgue. I follow the pattern and hand torgue them in degrees. First to 90, then to 120 and then finally to 135. Never had any problems with stretched lug nuts since I started hand torgueing them.

If I have to take one of my vehicles to a tire shop, I insist that they hand torgue the lug nuts back on, and I will keep my eye on them to make sure that they do.

I don't mind the use of an air wrench to take the lug nuts off. However, if the lug nuts and studs are in good shape, it is usually just as fast to just break them loose and spin them off by hand.

DMH

 

I use an impact wrench to remove the lugnuts when I rotate the tires. My impact wrench has three torque settings for reinstalling the lugs. I spin them on with the impact at the lowest torque setting and then torque them by hand. I run them to 100 ft-lbs and then again to spec'd torque.

An impact wrench is not a reliable guage for torque.

I am also guessing that if max torque on that impact wrench is only 135 ft-lbs, it won't even be able to break loose those lugnuts.

You can't beat the speed an ease of use of a decent quality air impact.

 

I use an air impact wrench most of the time when rotating my tires on the truck. With a little practice, you can time when you take your finger off the trigger so the wrench coasts the lug nuts into a hand tight condition. Then you can torque wrench them to proper tightness.

I also have an electric impact wrench, that was a gift. I used it when pulling the axles out from under my 5er, and even though those only torque to 100 ft lbs, it struggles a bit to loosen them. Still, it was handier and faster than carting an air compressor out to where I was working, or spinning all those lug nuts on and off by hand.

Anyhow, though your typical el-cheap-o electric impact wrench may be rated at 135 ft/lbs, I think you would find it would struggle for a while before spinning a lugnut off your Dodge. If you break the lugs loose by hand before jacking up, though, the electric impact gun could work well and save time.

Like someone else said, the torque settings on the impact gun are just a general ball park, and always tighten lugnuts with a quality torque wrench. Too tight or too loose can warp rotors, mess up wheels, stretch lugnuts...

Since I'm a little picky about stuff like that, I usually torque wheels in stages...

 

I just did mine the other day Torgued to 135 ft/lbs

 

tighten them till they don't tighten anymore and then they will be good enough

 

I do have a good Sears Craftsman torque wrench, and will use it properly now thanks. I just priced at Harber Freight a 21 gallon air compressor for $179, mabey in a month or so...

thanks all, Jamie

 

Book says 120 to 150 with 135 being median. I use 125.

Pete

 

i use my hand and when i cant push the wrench with my hands anymore, ill put my foot on it and add a little more pressure and call it done. always works for me