Under-torqued Lug Nuts

[TractorFixer]

While doing my first tire rotation at 5k miles, I noticed the lug nuts didn't seem to be overly tight. My digital torque wrench confirmed the break-away torque was consistently around 70 ft-lbs. The lug nut torque spec in the owners manual is 100 ft-lbs.

I probably should have checked them before now, may not be a bad idea to check yours.

To my knowledge, the wheels haven't been off since it left the factory.

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[ADVNTURR]

Breakaway torque isn't necessarily a great indicator of what the original dynamically set torque was, but that does sound low.

Thanks for the heads-up/reminder though, I'm going to be doing a big tow with mine in a couple weeks and I should probably double check stuff like that.

 

[maxxvito]

I called Ford Service to find out what the torque specs are, they said 150

 

[hand-filer]

I called Ford Service to find out what the torque specs are, they said 150

They might be wrong.
2024 Ford Ranger Lug Nut Torque

 

[maxxvito]

They might be wrong.
2024 Ford Ranger Lug Nut Torque

Doesn’t 100 seem kinda low?

 

[hand-filer]

Doesn’t 100 seem kinda low?

Not really. It's an M12 lug nut. They're typically around 100 ft/lbs.
My Lincoln has M14 lug nuts which are 154 ft/lbs.
I checked the torque on my Ranger last night. The majority were at 100 ft/lbs.
A few were just under that

 

[NASSTY]

Mine seemed a bit under torqued when I removed my wheels.

 

[ZilWin]

100 seems pretty standard on most vehicles. I've seen it as high as 120 ft lbs on my SL550 Benz but the tires had a Y speed rating. My 2007 Tacoma is 83 ft lbs. Never had an issue in 17 years. Dismiss the dealer's opinion, torque them equally to mfg Spec and you can't go wrong.

 

[jeffers]

While doing my first tire rotation at 5k miles, I noticed the lug nuts didn't seem to be overly tight. My digital torque wrench confirmed the break-away torque was consistently around 70 ft-lbs. The lug nut torque spec in the owners manual is 100 ft-lbs.

I probably should have checked them before now, may not be a bad idea to check yours.

To my knowledge, the wheels haven't been off since it left the factory.

I noticed the same thing, they might have been torqued to spec but they didn't seem like they were cranked on there. Like I said it might be right, people tend to crank stuff on way past torque spec.

 

[jeffers]

100 seems pretty standard on most vehicles. I've seen it as high as 120 ft lbs on my SL550 Benz but the tires had a Y speed rating. My 2007 Tacoma is 83 ft lbs. Never had an issue in 17 years. Dismiss the dealer's opinion, torque them equally to mfg Spec and you can't go wrong.

The problem comes when mechanics put your wheels on with impact wrenches. Its fast and convenient but they can really over torque them.

 

[ZilWin]

Your right but they're not supposed to do that. Even Discount Tire ends with a torque wrench.

 

[jeffers]

Your right but they're not supposed to do that. Even Discount Tire ends with a torque wrench.

Well you might want to say Discount Tire ends with a torque wrench.

 

[2018]

Per the 2025 Ranger owner manual

Bolt Size	lb.ft (Nm)1
M12 x 1.5	100 lb.ft (135 Nm)

 

[boraxman]

Had over and under on mine.. All 100 now after first rotation.

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