1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190 
Torque is not the key to wheel loss
Page 30
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
I'VE READ WITH interest the steady stream of letters following your wheel loss article (CM 3 May), Wheelsure has carried out research into wheel loss, one piece of which I should like to share with your readers.
Even if wheel nuts are tightened correctly, there is a chance that wheel loss can occur.Torque is not a measure of clamp force, which is the key to retaining a wheel on a vehicle.
In our research, wheel nuts that had been torqued 100% correctly to 670Nm showed a clamp force range of between 56kN and 114kN when tested.This falls well short of the SAE's recommended level of 180-280kN.
In fact, the readings found were low enough for wheel loss to occur within a few miles, if factors beyond the control of the operator, such as road vibration, acted as a catalyst.This is where the danger occurs, as operators could assume that as long as the proper level of torque is applied to the wheel nuts using a calibrated torque wrench, the required clamp force will be achieved.
This assumption could have devastating consequences.
This is why we have developed our Wheelsure range to complement an operator's maintenance processes.
Gerhard Dorn Managing director, Wheelsure Ampthill, Beds