TransWikia.com

1989 S10 Blazer loose lugnuts after tire change

Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Asked on July 25, 2021

I made a rookie mistake of overtightening my lugnuts after the tire change with an air wrench.
I noticed that as I was driving around the block all but one of the lugnuts came loose. Thank God I didn’t take it on the highway.

As I was trying to retorque it , I noticed that everytime I tighten two of the 5 bolts it loosens up the rest.

Now my question is , did I mess it up to the point I need to change all the bolts in the front? Or can I get away with getting some lugnuts from Napa or autovalue and tighten it using my wrench instead?.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The vehicle is a 1989 Chevrolet S10 Blazer with a 4.3 L V6. It’s a 2WD with a posi traction in the back.

Thank you

One Answer

I suppose it is possible to stretch the wheel lugs beyond their capability, even with an air wrench it seems unlikely that is your issue.

I recommend that you do the following:

  1. With the wheel off the ground, remove all the lug nuts and the wheel and inspect the lugs for visible damage. Things like missing or distorted threads or changes in diameter due to stretching. If they look OK, then continue. If not, then replace the lugs. On some vehicles they can be tapped out with a hammer but on others you need to replace the hub as well.

  2. Replace the wheel taking care to make sure there is no foreign matter on either the hub surface or the mating surface on the wheel.

  3. Replace the lug nuts and tighten them "lightly" to ensure that the wheel is in solid contact with the hub.

  4. Lower the wheel to the ground and then torque the nuts to the proper specification using the "5 bolt" pattern as shown in this article:

Lug nut torque pattern

Image:

5 bolt pattern

  1. Repeat the process on the other wheels. Take the car for a test drive and then re-torque all the nuts after the drive. They should be close to the specified torque. If not, then your lugs and/or nuts are damaged and should be replaced.

Answered by jwh20 on July 25, 2021

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question

Get help from others!

© 2024 TransWikia.com. All rights reserved. Sites we Love: PCI Database, UKBizDB, Menu Kuliner, Sharing RPP