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Ironic isn't it? We hear lots of people complaining about some mysterious "Health and Safety" malaise telling us what to do, and everyone complaing that it's gone mad, yet at the other extreme we have lots of caravanners saying"what rubbish - I never check my wheel nuts and they've never come loose!" Well whoop-de-do. If you don't wish to check them, don't. Having lost a wheel from a caravan, (although not due to loose wheel nuts), and with a friend who also lost a wheel because of loose wheel nuts, I choose to check mine periodically, for my own piece of mind, just like I check tyre pressures etc periodically for the same reason.

Once a wheel comes off, it's too late to think that maybe I was wrong and should have checked. The damage is done then. But if another caravanner doesn't think it's necessary, then don't bother. It's a free country. As long as you don't hit me if you do have an incident! 

Please yourselves. Just don't get too smug towards those who take the trouble!

Al.

Quote: Originally posted by Mon Onc on 29/5/2009

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"what rubbish - I never check my wheel nuts and they've never come loose!"

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At a guess, I would think most people overtorque to be on the safe side.  The main advantage of using a torque wrench is that it torques them up enough to be safe, but doesn't overstretch the bolts and the nuts are not too hard to remove at the roadside.  Tyre fitters are doing it all the time and know by feel how tight the nuts should be.

Regular checking is the important aspect.

Brian

tykey - wind your head back in - I did "bother to actually read the comments". My comment was paraphrasing some people's general attitude towards doing it, not quoting anyone in particular, which I felt was obvious.

However I agree with you that it is uneccesary to torque wheel nuts to "within 0.1Nm (!!!!) EVERY time you set off and then stop after 30 miles on EVERY trip and torque them up again." I check mine regularly, but not to such a close tolerance, just within reason.

Ignore whichever comments you wish to, smug or otherwise. I'm equally relaxed about that.

Al.

I don't check wheel nuts before a journey but, I do check them after a wheel has been removed. If I have wheels off a lorry for anything, they're always re-torqued after a few miles. I call into the tyre supplier for this as they have the proper torque wrench for the job.

If I have a wheel off the caravan, I always carry a small torque wrench in my toolbox to check the wheel nuts. It's an Halfords one & I've had it years.

I also always check wheels on axles with the handbrake off so nothing is holding the drum to give false readings.

As Gary advises, after a wheel has settled & been run in place for a while, any signs of a stud slackening off should be addressed by loosening the studs before torqueing them up. I've never had to do this with a car or caravan though.

BB