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Careful With Those Wheel Nuts

Started by Nifty, December 02, 2018, 10:29:54 PM

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Nifty

It was almost impossible to undo the wheel nuts on our recently acquired Tvan. It took a one metre extension bar to get them going. One of the studs was spinning in the drum, so wheel removal required pulling the bearings out, still leaving the problem of undoing the nut (judicious use of a crowbar helped). At least one other stud has some play in it, so I guess I'm up for a couple of drums and a full set of studs now. Brake shoes are worn down to 1mm so they need to be changed anyway. I suppose over eager use of a rattle gun, on more than one occasion, has caused this, but it's a problem I would not like to be solving on a hot day in the bush. I think wheel nuts are typically supposed to be torqued to about 80 ft lb (I will check), which is much less than what most people seem to apply with a wheel wrench, and a great deal less than tyre 'specialists' use.

Shaker

You will find it is probably cheaper to buy complete brake assemblies instead of parts.
Prado 120 GXL 1KZ Manual
Tvan Mk2 Canning
Australian Off Road Quantum
Swag!

Harry Lissimore

I tighten my Topaz wheel nuts up to 120 newton meters which 90 ft lbs.  I cannot find anything in the manual as to what torque to set them at, but I do remember that the Tvan manual said 108 nm which is 80 ft lbs so I was using that for a while but I do check wheel nuts often (it can be daily at times) especially on dirt roads.

I changed it to 120 nm because the car wheel nuts were 120 nm (from the manual with alloy rims).  However I replaced them with Dynamic rims to be the same as the Topaz, and 108 nm seemed a little loose because the nuts often needed a little tightening.

I strongly recommend using a torque wrench as you can't overtighten the nuts especially when you check them often, plus the torque wrench has a long handle so gives a degree of leverage as well.

I don't have any trouble with removing the nuts either.  If the threads are very dry, I do put a very small amount of lubrication on them.  I was advised by an engineering/trailer repair and servicing place to do this so I won't break studs when removing the nuts.

I also loosen and re-tighten the wheel nuts to 120 nm after a service so that I know that they are the right torque and that I won't have any trouble removing them in an emergency.

Harry
Formerly 2002 TVAN, now a 2015 Topaz Savannah and 2014 Isuzu MU-X LST. Now towing with a 2019 Toyota LC200 GXL.

Nifty

Shaker, I'm chasing prices at the moment for the complete assembly. I suppose I'll have to specify the stud thread and length but I can see the advantage of getting shoes that fit the drum properly. I can always keep the old ones as spares. I'll call Outback HQ too as someone on here suggested they may have the right stuff at the right price because of the volumes they buy. It's a very helpful forum, eh.