correct lug nut torque?

[sundaydriver]

Looking for the correct lug nut torque, aluminum rims, Mazda3 - 2012.
The manual says 65-87 ft-lb. One dealer says 85, another says 100.
Anyone has an definitive number here?
Doing the end of winter tire changeover - need to know.

[miako]

I torque mine to 85

[ottoyu34]

Yup I usually set it at 85 and recheck after a few drives.

[hex]

I do mine to 90. I know jimmy from street performance does 100-110 for all cars. I asked him why, and it was just to protect his ass in case he doesn't torque it enough. I also asked of he's ever had problems. Never once.

[Flagrum_3]

80 lbs. no more no less. ;-)

[DLYDRVN]

85ft/lb here on all my mazdas. Never had an issue, and all my wheels and straight!

[roachkillah]

i torque mine to 100 as well
my brother always tells me i'm nuts

[zzz3]

80ft lbs as per spec. Anything more and good luck changing a tire on the side of the road.

[mParsonz]

Dealership probably said 100 because they most likely all use torque sticks on their guns, which just doesn't allow the impact to torque more than 100 ft/lbs ( not very accurate though ) but 100 is fine, and if you can't get it off on the side of the road go to the gym or something, 100 shouldnt be hard to get off at all :P

[Kiyomi]

i do mine 100.

[greyseason]

I do 85-90.

Whats the limit before you snap a bolt? Because i snaped 2 studs on my spacers, set no more than 90 ( to my knowledge) and snapped a few

[Flagrum_3]

I do 85-90.

What's the limit before you snap a bolt? Because i snaped 2 studs on my spacers, set no more than 90 ( to my knowledge) and snapped a few

5% above spec. So in this case 91.5 if I remember correctly, and could possibly cause damage.

In my training to get my Ministry of Transportation Wheel &Tire Certificate, and all my training before that, it was always stressed that when you have a variance in a torque tolerance, that you always stay within the center of the variance. In this case it would be 77 ft./lbs....I just rounded it to 80 ft. lbs. so it was easier to remember and safely far from the upper limit. Anything above that has absolutely NO benefits and several detriments....clear and simple.


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[SonicBoy]

Average it out to 76 (as per Mazda 65-87 ft-lb). LOL

80 is about right. Just using a Torque wrench helps out a lot. I'd keep it under a 100.

[mazdasport]

I have also always torqued my wheels to 100 on any car i have owned and never had an issue

[Flagrum_3]

Average it out to 76 (as per Mazda 65-87 ft-lb). LOL80 is about right. Just using a Torque wrench helps out a lot. I'd keep it under a 100.

Thanks for the correction, but you get the point right?



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[sundaydriver]

85ft/lb here on all my mazdas. Never had an issue, and all my wheels and straight!


Thank you all for your input. I counted thirteen replies (just in one day), enough to draw a conclusion and here are the results:

80 - 4
85 - 4
90 - 1
100 - 4

I phoned 2 dealers. one was at 85 the other at 100,
changed to my all sesaons this afternoon and torqued them at 85.
I'll check the torque again in a few days.

[sudz]

well, add my vote to 85 pounds. Brother in law works at a tire shop, where they actually torque to spec. Some are as low as 75, some are upwards of 90. most Mazda's are 85.

Bottom line. Torque it EVENLY all around. Check torque a few decent drives later. Clearly if there was something drastically wrong with 85 OR 100, there'd be a lot of related threads of doom on here, which we rarely see.

Edit:

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/infoCenter/infoWheelTorque.html

[Flagrum_3]

well, add my vote to 85 pounds. Brother in law works at a tire shop, where they actually torque to spec. Some are as low as 75, some are upwards of 90. most Mazda's are 85.

Bottom line. Torque it EVENLY all around. Check torque a few decent drives later. Clearly if there was something drastically wrong with 85 OR 100, there'd be a lot of related threads of doom on here, which we rarely see.
Edit:

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/infoCenter/infoWheelTorque.html

Seriously how can you make that statement? Issues caused by over torqueing may not show up over night and may take a while, and all kinds of issues, which many may have had but never have been diagnosed properly too over-torqueing.

Another thing; Torqueing to the upper limit of 87 or even 90 is fine why? because that is within the manufacturer's stated range. WhyTF would anyone want to go above the STATED upper limit to start with?...Sorry but to me that's just plain stupid.



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[silverstarmazda]

IMO it also depends on the type of lug nut used. the aluminum lug nuts tend to strip more easily easily than the steel ones. i do about 85 on aluminum and about 95 on steels. rechecking after a short drive around, and again after a day worth of driving. its also good practice to clean up the threads of the stud and lug nuts often.

[midnightfxgt]

IMO it also depends on the type of lug nut used. the aluminum lug nuts tend to strip more easily easily than the steel ones. i do about 85 on aluminum and about 95 on steels. rechecking after a short drive around, and again after a day worth of driving. its also good practice to clean up the threads of the stud and lug nuts often.

They do strip more easily, but it's not from the torque. If you use an impact gun to tighten them, you have a better chance, and if you cross thread. Properly threading an aluminum lugnut to 80 or 100ft lbs is not going to strip it.

[Mingo85]

80 is good. Always leave a little room from the upper limit listed in the manual as sometimes the calibration in the wrench could give you 5% error.