Wheel bolt torque

[ljnelson109]

I was re-arranging the tires on my car after finally getting all 4 flat-spotted tires replaced so I had my first reason to lookup the torque spec for our wheels. I can honestly say I have never been offered "options" by an OEM. Am I the only one that thinks it is off to be offered a 15 lb range of torque specification?

 

[fc528e]

I think for a lower amount of torque (like my plastic oil filter housing on my G70), being precise is very important and it's a much tighter window of 23-28. When you're getting to high double digits and into triple for lb. ft. measurements, it's more important to hit the minimum and note you're dealing with parts that can generally handle even higher than the upper quite well.

That being said, I always set my torque wrenches to the mid point of the manufacturer's range and I've never had a problem in ~10 years working on my own cars.

 

[ljnelson109]

I think for a lower amount of torque (like my plastic oil filter housing on my G70), being precise is very important and it's a much tighter window of 23-28. When you're getting to high double digits and into triple for lb. ft. measurements, it's more important to hit the minimum and note you're dealing with parts that can generally handle even higher than the upper quite well.

That being said, I always set my torque wrenches to the mid point of the manufacturer's range and I've never had a problem in ~10 years working on my own cars.

I agree with your logic on the lighter torque specs. I have just never seen the "range". There is always enough of a range in accuracy of the torque wrench and proper use of the tools. Adding a range in the spec seems like a bad call. To that end, I did set mine to a mid-point spec when I did it.

 

[fc528e]

I agree with your logic on the lighter torque specs. I have just never seen the "range". There is always enough of a range in accuracy of the torque wrench and proper use of the tools. Adding a range in the spec seems like a bad call. To that end, I did set mine to a mid-point spec when I did it.

I agree, it's somewhat weird in the car world. I wonder if it's Kia/Hyundai/Genesis's way of accounting for improperly calibrated torque wrenches.