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I have searched through the TSBs and owner’s manuals but I can not find the torque specs for the lug nuts. Does anyone know what the torque specs should be?
Sincerely,
Ryan Riggin
Hi Ryan. ‘Back in the day’, there were very few fasteners that had a torque spec. An experienced mechanic ‘knew’ when something was tight enough..
And that includes cylinder head bolts or nuts..
With your ’32, I can’t remember if you have wood spoke wheels or wire wheels?
The threaded studs on our cars are not as hard as wheel studs today. You CAN overtighten them, stretching the stud, or stripping the threads.
I would start with say 80 ftlbs.. and drive the car a few miles,, then check the torque on the lug nuts,, if they have not loosened, you are good.
I do recommend checking them every month or two during driving season.
If anyone else has a better suggestion I’d certainly like to read it.. I typically just tighten the lug nuts ‘tight’ and check every month or two each summer..
Greg Long
Greg I do have wire wheels. I found a forum discussion on the AACA website concerning the lug nut torque specs for the 1932 Model A. A gentleman was asking what the torque should be and the first reply said to torque the lug nuts to 100ft./lbs. There were several more replies that all said that 100ft./lbs. was too much and the correct torque should be in the 50-60ft./lbs. range. Upon reading this discussion, I decided to ask the wise men ( and wise guys) on the PAS forum for guidance. Tightening bolts or nuts without torque specifications gives me high anxiety. I did torque the lug nuts to 60ft./lbs. I will drive the car a few miles and torque them again to the 80ft./lbs. mark. Thank you again for your time and help.
I’m newer to the Pierce-world too, but know enough that Greg has considerable experience and offers sage advice. 80 ft./lbs. seems reasonable.
When I picked up my ’30 sedan, all four tires were flat (Pennsylvanias and Firestones – wood spoke/artillery assemblies), but the inner-tubes on two offered just love-enough for loading purposes. For the other two, I had to remove the spares from the fenders and mount. I also wondered about the proper torque, though knew that it wasn’t commonplace then.