Why Rotors Warp
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Senior Member
True Car Nut
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 3,066
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From: Ames, Iowa
Why Rotors Warp
Took the SSEi to a local garage to have the tires balanced this morning. On a hunch, I took my torque wrench, a short extension, and a 3/4" deep socket along. When they were done, before I drove away, I torqued all the lug nuts to 100 ft-lbs. They had used an impact wrench to tighten the nuts. On the left front front wheel, here are the torque settings I found as I tightened the nuts in a star pattern:
..................................40
.......................80..................70
.............................50.......60
With this kind of uneven tightening, is it any wonder that rotors warp? Of course, they do brakes, too. I'll bet they change a lot of rotors.
..................................40
.......................80..................70
.............................50.......60
With this kind of uneven tightening, is it any wonder that rotors warp? Of course, they do brakes, too. I'll bet they change a lot of rotors.
Senior Member
Posts like a Turbo
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 380
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From: Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Don't trust mechanics who use an impact and a regular socket to tighten lug nuts. They need to use a 100 ft lbs sticks to tighten lug nuts. as a Matter of fact, they should be tightened to 75, and the rest done with a torque wrench. Yes, its the #1 cause of warped rotors.
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Originally Posted by BillBoost37
I can't understand why you guys keep warping rotors. I'm brutal on them...
And wow.... That is a funky way to torque lugs.... I watched sears do it once, I firsy saw them use an impact, then they lowered the car onto the ground and torqued all of the lugs to spec with a torque wrench
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Do "torque sticks" work? Last time I got new tires, I was in the shop while the guy was working. I said "I don't know what your usual practice is, but please don't use an impact wrench on the lugs." He said that he uses 80 lb torque sticks with his impact wrench and it seems to work well.
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Joined: Aug 2005
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From: North of Buffalo, NY *** NEBF '05, '06, '07 *** ***ONBF & NYBF 06; 07*** ***WCBF 06***
....great. I just had new sneakers put on my Bonne today......makes me wonder if my lugs are torqued properly....I'd hate to go around with a "screw loose" <grin> so to speak.
DINOSAURUS BOOSTUS
Expert Gearhead
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 41,391
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From: Enfield, CT
Originally Posted by singscountry1967
....great. I just had new sneakers put on my Bonne today......makes me wonder if my lugs are torqued properly....I'd hate to go around with a "screw loose" <grin> so to speak.
The sticks limit torque at a certain value. They are better than just squeezin the trigger on an impact and quick.
Costco actually uses the sticks then torques by hand.
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True Car Nut
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From: Rochester, NY (college)
Originally Posted by singscountry1967
....great. I just had new sneakers put on my Bonne today......makes me wonder if my lugs are torqued properly....I'd hate to go around with a "screw loose" <grin> so to speak.