Over Torque - Just Curious

[dmk]

I just finished mounting new tires and reinstalled my wheels (1st time myself). I torqued the wheels to the specifications and they really seemed to be light specs to me. What is the downside of giving the lug nuts an extra turn for insurance? Sorry in advance for the stupid question, but I've always used the "tighter the better" theory when it comes to wheels.

[Phang]

Not my wheel bolt but from a guy who read the wrong scale on his torque wrench. He torqued it to 105lb/ft (142Nm) instead of 105Nm. So the 35% of extra torque has sent the bolt beyond its yield point (somewhere between 105Nm - 142Nm) and elongated it.



Personally, when I torque my R1150R wheel bolts, I can feel the bolts are stretching before my torque wrench is about to click. I am quite comfortable with 105Nm and will stick to that

[jas]

I torque my dry bolts to spec and then leave it alone. You can always test the torque after a few miles / rides.

[CycleRob]

"What is the downside of giving the lug nuts an extra turn for insurance?"

[Sunbeemer]

Rear wheel lug bolts should be torqued when clean and dry in two stages: First, preload torque all 4 bolts to 37 ft-lbs (50N-m) in a criss-cross pattern, then finally tighten them all to 77 ft-lbs (105N-m) using a criss-cross pattern.

[Arbreacames]

the specifications ... really seemed to be light specs to me.

105 Nm is rougly the weight of a full suitcase at the end of your torque wrench. That's a good effort if you are only using your arm strength. Are you that strong or are you stepping on the wrench to apply the torque? On the other hand, I have committed (once) a far greater sin: I failed to torque the studs properly and nearly lost the wheel!