When should you torque wheelnuts?

[wilde1]

I’ve just started with Hanson Building Products and been supplied with a new FH13 Drawbar, which I’m very happy with.

As is usual there is lots of daily and weekly checks and the paperwork that goes with it. We’ve been told to torque the wheelnuts every week and fill out a form and sign that we’ve done it. It seems a bit over the top to me (six axles ) , I thought the usual way was to have torque markers which are checked daily and only torque them if they have moved or after 100km if the wheel has been off.

I’m curious how often other drivers have to torque the wheelnuts on their trucks.

Thanks

CW

[wheel_nut]

Checking wheelnuts is always a drivers responsibility but using a torque wrench is not.

Its a piece of precise measuring equipment that doesn’t take kindly to being abused.

The torque wrench should be calibrated regularly and not just thrown on the shed floor under the fuel pump.

If wheels are removed the wheels need to be torqued up and redone after 50 or 100 miles.

If you try to torque wheelnuts when they are already tight you will get a false reading because the wrench will crack / break before the nut moves.

I believe the only safe way is to loosen the wheel nuts and retorque them each week.

We used to use a 4 foot scaffold tube and jump on it till the threads stretched

[pop_larkin]

I had new tyres fitted to the back of a 12 ton Merc on baby wheels a few years back. They were torqued up by the tyre place and I went on to do the drop.
On the way back I called in as I was passing and had plenty of time to have them retorqued.
I’d done about 80 miles and it was scary seeing the nuts on the near side needed a full turn to torque them up tight again.

[Lucy]

If you’re going on and off building sites or other rough ground on a daily basis, you do need to retorque your wheelnuts weekly, as they will shift far more regularly than when on road work only. I thought it was daft when I first went on General and Ag, but soon saw the sense in it when I saw how much they’d moved by Friday - and that was on an artic, so even more wheels to go around.

I also know of a now former tipper driver who also thought it was daft, and ended up with a very irate boss when they discovered that all his wheels and hubs needed replacing at the next inspection because his wheels had bounced around loose and damaged them (I forget the details now, this was years ago).

Better a sore arm from re-torquing than a death on your conscience if a wheel comes off.

[chrisy_boy]

In the pub after a skinfull of cold carling!

[coffeeholic]

chrisy boy:
In the pub after a skinfull of cold carling!

No, that’s talking a different kind of nuts.

[kenny1975]

Remember working as an agency driver in a large company.

Another agency driver got in a unit and a note saying tyre placed, torque after 100 miles or something just before he was about to undertake a trip to manchester and back frm glasgow. He asked the guy in charge he says oh dont bother with that and threw the note away ! The guy took the truck out away down to manchester and back doubt it was ever re-torqued.

Inspired me with confidence with the truck i was driving.

[wilde1]

I think you’ve got a fair point Lucy, I will be visiting lots of building sites. So its going to be a pain in the backside, but I couldn’t bear the thought of losing a wheel on the road.

CW

[krankee]

I can remember a presentation given by a member of the technical team from one of the truck manufacturers.

They had received a complaint from a customer concerning a disproportionate numbers of stud failures on their fleet of vehicles, and therefore went to the premises for a visit. The usual checks explained which included weekly ‘torquing’ of the nuts, they asked a driver to demonstrate how he carried this out.

The driver duly fitted the torque wrench, ‘cracked it’, and then gave it another hefty shove. When asked for an explanation of the additional loading, the driver replied, “Just for luck.”

The visiting engineer then used a bit of kit to check the loading on the wheel nut, (I presume something like a reverse torque wrench), and whilst I can’t remember the actual figure, it was astronomic compared with the ‘recommended’ loading.

Hence the stud fractures.

The IRTE do a guide to Wheel Loss, or rather the avoidance of it, but as it is in their secure area, I can’t post a link.

However, the main points are:=

Establish causes of wear and damage on
loose nuts before re-tightening.

Keep mating surfaces clean and preferably
free of paint. If paint is used it should be no
thicker than 25 microns.

Ensure studs and nuts comply with BS AU 50
Part 2: Section 3: 1994.

Ensure that nuts run freely over the whole
length of the stud thread by hand action
only.

Provide appropriate lubrication to threads
and interfaces.

Use a calibrated torque wrench for final
tightening and set it to the vehicle
manufacturer’s torque value. Check
calibration regularly.

Avoid using power-operated tools and
extensions to wheel braces for final
tightening.

Re-check all wheel nuts for tightness after
30 minutes whether the vehicle has moved
or not OR after the vehicle has travelled
between 40 to 80 kms (25 to 50 miles). This
is critical.

Simply tighten nuts to the recommended
torque when re-torqueing. Do not slacken
and re-tighten

Ensure drivers inspect tyres and wheels at
the start of each shift for signs of: damage,
under inflation, cracked or distorted wheel
rims, broken or loose fixings, signs of wheel
looseness (bright metal or rust marks
around the nuts or captive washer seatings).

Ensure drivers check for loose nuts with a
socket and a bar no longer than 500mm
(20in) to avoid overtightening.

Make sure that jobs are always carried out
by correctly trained persons and that
comprehensive maintenance records are
kept.

[wheel_nut]

Simply tighten nuts to the recommended
torque when re-torqueing. Do not slacken
and re-tighten

I agree with all Krankees post except this one. I remember the very detailed instructions I got from Jaguar about retorquing cylinder head bolts.

Basically the same clamping forces are required and simply rechecking the torque will give a false reading so the studs had to be released slightly in the same order that they will be tightened.

Ok A cylinder head flying off an S Type Jag will not do the same damage as a truck wheel at 56mph but the principles are the same.

All these studies of wheel loss have been going on for years and wheels still coming off is an all too regular occurence. I reckon the safest way would be that the wheel studs and nuts be replaced each time the wheels are removed. Of course this will never happen.

Maybe it is time to investigate Trilex wheels again, they seem to work and can be easily changed

[krankee]

Different engineering configurations.

A cylinder head has a compressible interface, the head gasket, and, in the short term, reaches higher temperatures which will destroy the properties of any lubricants. Hence, ‘backing off’ the nuts will confirm ‘free movement’.

The interface between a wheel and a hub is essentially dirt. Rust flakes, corroded paint, and general crap.

Microns as opposed to Millimetres.

[driveroneuk]

Has anybody seen a truck lose a wheel?

I think the plastic yellow position markers are an excellent idea.

[coffeeholic]

Driveroneuk:
Has anybody seen a truck lose a wheel?

Not seen one actually lose a wheel but seen a few after the incident, including one a couple of years ago sitting on the hard shoulder while one of his trailer wheels was a few hundred yards further down the road in the central reservation.

[driveroneuk]

A friend lost both his nearside rear tractor unit wheels (4x2) going round the M25 one night. Found them, in the dark, a bit back & down a banking. Had to end over end them back up. Had just got them both back to the truck & got the jack out when plod pulled up.
“are you alright driver”?
“Yeah, just got a bit of a puncture like”
“Do you need any help”
“No, i’ve got all the gear, i can manage thank you”
Oh, okay we’ll be on our way then."

Amazingly, many of the nuts had lodged in the rim lip of the outer wheel, and he scavenged the rest from other wheels. … then carried on to Italy!

His main concern was that plod would look at the tax disc… £100 (or thereabouts then) “private”

This in the early 80’s

[kenny1975]

Driveroneuk:
Has anybody seen a truck lose a wheel?

I think the plastic yellow position markers are an excellent idea.

Never seen it but heard about it from another agency driver.

Was over in Italy picking up a rollercoaster with two other drivers. The italians provided the trailers, put new tyres etc… on them made sure they were road worthy, but forgot to properly tighten up the wheel nuts.

The truck in front of him lost a wheel off the middle axel on the trailer hit a car !

[jase]

When i was on the spanner’s i used to torque all the wheel nut’s up,but some of the old hands would use a small hammer to “sound them”.
When i questioned them about it they would say"whaen it go’s for mot how many testers check wheelnuts with a torque wrench or a bar,none of them ,they all use what we call a “toffeee hammer” to sound the nut’s.
Me i visually check the nut’s for sign’s of rust running out of the threads a sure sign of loosenuts and without fail they go in for service every 6 weeks to Keltruck Willenhall,but apart from that i never bar them or anything.

[hammer]

Driveroneuk:
Has anybody seen a truck lose a wheel?

I think the plastic yellow position markers are an excellent idea.

I agree, I use the yellow plastic markers too. I check them before I start in the morning and again after lunch. I rarely need to re-torque them cos’ they don’t seem to move much (so, far - I;ll probably lose about 3 this weeks! )

I’m on tipper work (not overly arduous) but I’ve never heard of daily/weekly re-torquing. It seems too much too me.

I’ve never seen a wagon lose a wheel but I know of a local operator and his driver who did time after a wheel came off on an M-Way, crossed the central reservation and killed a woman coming the other way.

It doesn’t take long to do and it can save so much hassle it has to be worth doing.

[mixer-driver01]

A company I worked for asked us to check them daily drivers caught not doing so would loose their bonus for 3 months

Im on at Hanson with Frenchise tipper, ill start checking mine once or twice a week, should be enough

[oddsodz]

let the fitters do the re-torqueing or the tyre company…then they have the responsibility of them coming of…that is why they put the stickers or label in the cab,cus if you dont have them done it is YOUR responsiblity if they come of…

It’s a fitters job,

[wildgoose]

just a note about torque wrenches, i spent some years in the Navy as an aircraft mech, torque is taken very seriously. Wrenches are checked for accurate calibration before every use, under supervision. Emphasis is made on the way you treat the equipment, and the way you hold it whilst using it i.e. a pull 90 degrees to the body of the torque wrench

we were shown the difference to applied torque pulling the wrench at an angle can make, its quite something, these are very sensitive pieces of equipment.

the way you see mechanics, fitters (including those are big name tyre franchises) and drivers chuck the wrenches about, use them as hammer etc, its a wonder if they would be registering anywhere near the recommended ranges. You can also damage the internals of the tool, by not winding them off to zero after use, you can also damage them by winding them off to beyond the zero position.

Believe it or not, there is a level or training appropriate to using such a tool correctly and safely, and I think placing this on the driver is taking the proverbial a bit. We already have enough to take responsibility for, a good visual check of the wheels, nuts, threads, and tyres including position markers should be sufficient for our level.

If there is a concern over wheel nut torque then the company should arrange for regular inspections by the fitters or contractors.