Torque problems on the Big Sky wheels

[rldriver]

I went out to check the torque on the lug nuts on the new Big Sky's aluminum wheels and found that all the lug nuts felt loose like they have a plastic sleeve over the nuts that rattled. I called the dealer and he said he torqued them with a torque wrench before I picked it up, no sleeve and all went well with him. When I try to torque them the 3/4" socket feels like it's turning on the nuts and I had to take a pair of vice grips to get the socket off as it was jammed on the nut.

Any thoughts as to what I am doing wrong? Should I use a 6 point rather than a 12 point socket? I am trying to get to 120 foot pounds of torque and can't get there as the socket will slip.

Could they be metric?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as we are going to take her on her maiden voyage tomorrow.

[bsmeaton]

Dick,

I know you have different wheels, but sounds like maybe they have a decorative cover, or they are wrapped in stainless like my replacements on my old wheels were. If it's a decorative cover, it may have to be pulled off. If they are wrapped in stainless, it stays on and will feel loose. I would use a 6-pt socket.

Mine take a huge socket - 15/16" I believe. I haven't got it right yet after 3 new sockets. Keep forgeting by the time I get to the store .

[SlickWillie]

Metric perhaps? And I must agree, I wouldn't use anything but a 6 point socket.

[Emmel]

rldriver, unless Keystone has made a drastic change on the Big Sky, they are all 13/16 socket and NEVER torque any 6 point nut over 50ft. lbs with a 12 point socket.
The 12 point socket grips only on a very little edge of the socket where the 6 point grips the flats also.
12 point sockets should only be used on 12 point bolts, which by the way, I would like to have a dollar for every aircraft bolt I've torqued in my 38 years of assembling aircraft brakes at BFG.
On a click torque wrench, never jerk to torque, always apply pressure smoothly till you hear (and feel) the click!
If you are ever present when a mechanic torques the lugnuts, make sure the nut turns a little when he does this, proving the nuts were not over torqued when installed with the air gun.

[William H. Collier]

I just checked mine a few days ago, they are 3/4 and appear to have stainless or chrome cover on them but the covers, if that is what they are, are not loose. I use a 6 point hardened socket disigned for an air wrench, it does not slip.
Bill

[old turbo]

I find it strange that when all the rv's came with steel wheels, lug nut torque was not a problem. Now we have these aluminum wheels and the torque post is ever present. When I get my new rig I am going to take my steel wheels off my old rig and put them on the new 5vr if it has the aluminum rims. I may come from the old school but I beleive the only thing that should be made from aluminum are beer cans!

[Wrenchtraveller]

The lug nut torque on my Aluminum wheels has not changed in the last 4000 miles but I still check them before heading out.
Whenever you remove a wheel, this is when they are prone to backing off and I had removed and balanced all four wheels so on my first trip it did take several re-torque sessions before they stayed tight but now they are fine.
It is the tapered lug nuts that cause this problem with aluminum wheels and the aluminum wheels on Ford Superduties get their fit on the hub and the lug nuts are not tapered but have a free turning washer attached to them so they do not have this problem.
For me the looks of the aluminum wheels is worth the little bit of extra work when you have to change them. Once they are set, they are no different than steel wheels and both should be checked at the beginning of a traveling day. I can do my torque check on all 4 wheels in under 60 seconds.
No big deal.

[Delaine and Lindy]

We had the Aluminum wheels (Tredit) that came on the Cambridge. After have two of them crack and loose Air. We replaced them all with Alcoa Aluminum and of course have had no problems with them.

I believe the torq issure is from Tredit because they have had so many problems with the Steel and the Aluminum. The first Cambridge build had Steel wheels? They were all replaced with Steel wheel except the spare. We never had a Torq problem with none of the Aluminum wheels, to include the Alcoa's. I do check Torq prior to moving. And we run the Pressure Pro system on all 10 wheels.

We also run the Alcoa's on our TV and have no issure with torq. They require 400 lbs of torq. GBY.........

[Wrenchtraveller]

The refiner housing bolts I torque at work require 450 ft pounds of torque using a 2 5/8" socket with a 36"long torque wrench.
That is some TV you have!!

[Garin1]

A little metallurgy for Old Turbo. Steel wheels have a certain amount of tension in the steel and do a better job of maintaining the torque values. Aluminum on the other hand is also known as "dead metal" in that it has no spring effect in it.This is why most manufacturers make "MAG" wheels (magnesium/aluminum). When you compress aluminum it does not spring back like steel. Therefore it is more likely to cause the lugs to loosen. I learned this Little metallurgical tid-bit while training as an electrician thirty years ago and dealing with the hazards of aluminum electrical wiring. One other note. If you ever have a brake fire DO NOT spray water on the MAG wheels.Burning Magnesium reacts violently with water. Use dry chemical.

[Wrenchtraveller]

All fasteners are slightly stretched when torqued properly and that is true of the steel studs used to hold our Aluminum wheels on our Montanas. That is why the Aluminum wheels can stay tight once they are set. Trailer wheels are much more subject to side loading and you only have to watch your fiver wheels when you are into a hard jack knife position to see this.
This is the real reason that we are told to check our wheel lug nuts and the little sticker on our trailers that reminds us to check our lug nuts before moving the trailer, well, those stickers are put on units with steel wheels too.

[dscott]

The dealer just give me 32 new lug nuts,[to replace the rusty ones]on my D70 axles.I used a 7/8 six point socket replacing one at a time.Re-torqued lugs at 120 pounds.Have to recheck three times.Is this the normal procedure?

[rldriver]

Problem kind of solved. Thanks to all for your comments. There is a stainless sleeve over the nut, non-removable, I damaged 3 of them before I went and got a 3/4" 6 point socket and it worked fine on all the others. Now I have to figure out how to remove the damaged 3 and have them replaced. Looks like a warranty issue to me as all Keystone or the dealer had to say was us a 6 point socket.

[wileecoyote985]

quote:Originally posted by rldriver

Problem kind of solved. Thanks to all for your comments. There is a stainless sleeve over the nut, non-removable, I damaged 3 of them before I went and got a 3/4" 6 point socket and it worked fine on all the others. Now I have to figure out how to remove the damaged 3 and have them replaced. Looks like a warranty issue to me as all Keystone or the dealer had to say was us a 6 point socket.

Not sure I understand your reasoning on the warranty issue.

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by old turbo

I find it strange that when all the rv's came with steel wheels, lug nut torque was not a problem. Now we have these aluminum wheels and the torque post is ever present. When I get my new rig I am going to take my steel wheels off my old rig and put them on the new 5vr if it has the aluminum rims. I may come from the old school but I beleive the only thing that should be made from aluminum are beer cans!

Even the steel wheel lug nuts on trailers have to be retorqued every so many miles after being loosened or removed, until they no longer tighten. We had the steel wheels on the prior two Montanas and had to do this. It has to do with the design of the trailer wheels, is what I'm told, as compared to automotive wheels.

[simonsrf]

On my aluminum wheels, I torque my lugnuts a couple of times a month. The last three times, after 7 months of travel none of them moved.

I thought they would never stay tight, but they are all tight now. I will keep checking them.