Guys and gals,

I've got an 04 F150, new style. I know the lugnuts are to be torqued to 150 ft-lbs. In the Owner's manual, it says to retorque at 500 miles after a tire is taken off (i.e-rotated). I don't own a torque wrench, so do you think it would be proper to roll on down to the dealership I had the tires rotated at and ask for my 500 mile retorquing?

If this is a "no", then how can I go about checking the lugnuts?

-Travis

 

good gravy, 150 ft. lbs seems like an awful lot for an aluminum wheel. if you're not careful, i would think you could possible crack your wheel if it is not cinched down uniformly.

i torque mine to 90 ft-lbs and have not had any problems to date. harbor freight has a descent (not great) clicker type torque wrench for about $15.


-matt

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...itemnumber=239

 

I bought a torque wrench specifically for torqueing my lug nuts. 150ft lbs will not hurt the aluminum wheel.
Mattellis2, that is also the correct torque for your 03. 97-99 which had the 12mm lugs were 100 ft lbs. From there up with the 14mm lugs where 150ft lb. That is what I used for my 01, with no problems.
BigTRQ, the main reqason for the proper torque is brake rotors. If you have lug nuts that are unevenly torqued, the rotors will warp.
I learned that the hard way years ago when someone did some work on mt truck, and a month later had to have the rotors turned. Since I started torqueing the lug nuts, I have never had to have rotors turned. That includes about 250k miles on different trucks. It is worth the investment for a torque wrench.

 

kingfish,

Thanks for that info. Just out of curiosity, what kind of torque wrench do you have? What did it set you back? Thanks for you time.

Travis

 

I got mine at Sears. If I remember correctly it was on sale when I bought it. About $10 off. They currently list it at $110. Just make sure whatever you get can handle 150 or more ft lbs. Here is what I got.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...id=00944597000

 

I bought mine at Lowes for about 89.00. Its made by Kobalt and is a good quality torque wrench, well worth the money.

 

Kobalt is made by Snap-On (so I hear), so they should be pretty good to say the least