that I would get ya'll thoughts on this. Putting on new tires do you just put the nutz on as tight as a gorilla or to you get a little tecky and use a torque wrench ?? If so what ft lbs do you use ?? Nuts take a 13/16 socket if it means anything. Thanks.

Well, if you have a flat on the road and you gorillaed the lug nuts it can be very hard to get them off. But torqued, you can get them off. A good rule of thumb if you don't have a torque wrench is to tighten them down just snug, then do an additional one quarter turn. That will be pretty lose to the recommended torque value.

Torque value depends on the size of the lug bolts. 70 to 80 ft pounds is pretty common.

:cheers Thank bill, yea been on side of road with truck flat tire, couldn't loosen with a 4 way wrench. Had friend bring breakjer bar & 30 inch cheater pipe DANG IT BTW I do have torq wrench.. gonna go 70lbs.

Get rid of the 4 way wrench and get one of these!

I always torque my lug nuts if I install them.

:cheersnever heard of Gorillla wrench wt h

I put anti seize in the lug nut and on the lug bolt. Then I tighten them up tight. If you use a torque wrench the anti seize will let you to get a true reading. I own a shop of which I have two sizes of torque wrenches which have been calibrated by the snap on men from time to time. I do use them when building drive train units but being honest not on lug nuts. The anti seize is most important when lug nuts are dunked in water and worse salt water repeatedly. I know rain water is always an issue too. You won't ever snap one off that has anti seize on it. They don't tighten up early leaving them actually loose. People say the lug nut came loose when it never was actually tight. That torque wrench tells you how much resistance is on the nut . That dry rusty nut and stud may have enough resistance to set off your torque and you think it tight. Wall mart to Auto Zone all sell anti seize. They say I was in the shop at 6 years old and that was 1950. The above has worked well for a long time. Remember this you just think they are tight without anti seize.

Strange, I've read what I believed to be expert articles on the topic, and 100% of them were specific that lug nuts are intended to be installed and torqued DRY - no lubricant of any kind.
A friend who owned a string of 14 shops also confirmed that no lube should be used. Yes, a "loose" lug nut was never tight to begin with. There are two primary reasons:
1) The proper torque was never applied, or
2) The stud was not centered in the chamfer of the wheel when torque was applied.(It was off-centered and torqued in a bind that later slips.)

There are others, such as prior over-torque that distorted stud threads so that proper torque can't be achieved again, etc.

Every procedure I've ever read says to retorque after driving 20 miles or so.
No rust or corrosion is going to override ~100-150 lb-ft of torque applied (depending on wheel spec)
Having the wheel off the ground and the proper tightening sequence to center the beveled nut to the wheel chamfer matters much more.

I carry a 1/2" breaker bar and socket set for changing tires if I have to. I have a four way but avoid using it.

I guess we should have read the book. Now that I think of it we have never heard of a mechanic writing books. This opens a whole new world to us. We are going to hit the library with a vengeance. Thanks from a old dog looking for new tricks. I didn’t know there were that many expert articles on lug nuts out there until you brought it up. I’d like to meet a lug nut expert and see just what one looks like. Probably looks like a lug nut are at least some type of nut. Just call me the lug nut stud. You keep reading and we will keep fixing them.

:popcorn Thanks for help guys.

Mechanical/materials engineers (often as automotive engineers) design wheel systems. It's not a random throw-together process. They select materials, and based on stresses that those materials will accept without failure/elongation, they set the torque specification and how that torque is to be applied along with acceptable loading, etc. They are the ones who also set the sequencing for the torque procedure. Here's another example: Have you ever noticed that rather exacting instructions for head bolt torquing are given, along with whether any particular lubricant should, or should not be applied? Maybe not, if you never read anything. BTW, it doesn't take a book to discuss it, just a page or so. It certainly isn't decided minus science by random persons. If you have credentials that make you an expert in materials science, and have investigated and calculated a particular torque procedure that includes the proper safety considerations, then by all means, promote it. Otherwise, you should probably add a "well, what I do that may or may not be correct is......" disclaimer.

That is sweet I’m buying one today ! Thanks

If you fish Texoma alot ,check your lug nuts. The salt in the water will make them hard to get off.

Join AAA. GIve them a call and let someone else change the tire.😂

I started using one years ago and now have one in every vehicle.

They have a thin wall socket version as well but the regular one fits my Ranger wheels and every vehicle we have owned since.