On alloy lug nuts and alloy wheels, yes, I always hand-torqued them.
On steel wheels, I did so many of them, I learned to know the proper torque, when using an impact wrench.
Many, many times: it was why I was so aware of the misuse of it.
Time is money. 
Really? I’m not sure I like that idea.
Bentley Turbo R has brass wheel nuts. And the left hand side nuts have left hand (undo clockwise) threads. So easy to strip them…
Just to add, this car weighs well over 2 tonnes and has a 400bhp engine…
As do 911s, with Fuchs wheels.
Works fine, if treated properly. One never uses an impact wrench on those.
THIS is why I always remove/replace the wheels on all our cars. Once I witnessed a tire shop monkey hit 5 lug nuts with a 1/2" impact wrench (hard) and then proceed to “torque” all 5 with a torque wrench. None of the 5 nuts moved at all when “torqued” meaning they were all over torqued, and likely WAY over torqued. I’ve seen them break lug studs and not tell the owner. Time may be money but stupidity is dangerous.
I think you are trying to apply more accuracy to the process than it warrants. Keep in mind that the applied torque required to tension the fastener to 90% of its capacity can vary 20%, particularly if you are using new fasteners. 4% accuracy on a 20% process is plenty accurate. If you require great accuracy, measuring bolt stretch is the only way to know for certain. See the “INSTALLATION” tab here: https://arp-bolts.com/p/technical.php
WTF is the idea there? Not saving any weight, just trying to be different?
American cars had LH threads on the left side up until, what, sometime in the 1960’s? Did Bentley decided to just keep that up? Or do the brass lug nuts somehow require that?
I guess there is one benefit to brass lug nuts: You won’t be stripping the studs.
Well… in the broad sense, no.
As fasteners are used, they stretch. Some will stretch quite a lot depending on the work load. The purpose for stretching (torquing) the fastener as you assemble is to pre-stretch the fastener so it stops stretching before it’s put to work. It’s the same as strapping a box in a pickup truck by stretching the bungee cord.
Torque values are known to the fastener manufacturer and should be heeded. Torquing to 40% of the recommended value isn’t doing any good even if they are all torqued evenly.
When I get a car back from the tire shop I always loosen and retorque the lug nuts. Usually they are on much tighter than the specified torque. I also always use a torque wrench at home when reinstalling lug nuts. I’ve had one lug nut cross threaded by a kid at a tire store. Fortunately I saw him do it had the store replace the wheel stud on the spot. Instead of owning up to his mistake the kid was trying to force the nut snug up to the wheel.
Nowadays all those shops seem to use “torque links” which limit the torque applied by an impact wrench (by absorbing the impact). If he went back afterward with a torque wrench, he was applying more care than usual.
Chrysler products, especially: Jeeps had it till ~1970, IIRC.
To be fair, I don’t think anyone suggested that: however, to torque to 95%+ is a safe zone.
Me? I followed whatever spec the manufacturer suggested, and never worried that much about absolute accuracy. Seemed to suffice!
Bentleys have a lot of idiosyncracies apart from brass nuts and left hand threads where they just are not needed. Like a single reservoir for the hydraulic fluid, which includes the suspension AND the brakes. The hydraulic fluid is mineral oil based. None of the switchgear on the dash, steering column is ‘normal’, it is all uniquely Bentley. I suspect there is a ritual ‘handshake’ between Bentley owners, involving turning on the wipers while sounding the horn (of which there are two - one loud and one very loud).
I recall a tale, and I’m not sure how much of this is still true as I’ve been telling it and re-telling it for several years, about the diminutive motor-racing journalist and one time Mille Miglia navigator (for Sterling Moss), Dennis Jenkinson. He owned E-Types, a S1 FHC and a S2 OTS, maybe more. When he took delivery of these cars he went all over them with a spanner or two, checking the torque settings on all the fasteners. I think the reasoning was that the factory would have torqued everything up to the minimum specs. Saves time on the assembly line, perhaps? He torqued everything down to full specs. Nothing fell off the cars.
There was another tale of assembly workers in the factory hitting fasteners with a hammer and then snugging then up with a torque wrench, but I’m not sure if that is something I’ve heard, or something I’ve made up in the past. I know my car has had its share of fasteners fitted using a BFH rather than a wrench. The torsion bar mounts and the gearbox end of the prop shaft, all showed signs that the car’s immediate PO was more of a butcher than the professional re-seller of E-Types they claimed to be. They have, thankfully, gone out of business.
speaking about Craftsman TW’s…mine (about 1976) has stopped working. The ratchet is fine but the adjusting handle no longer turns. I suspect it’s dead grease, cleaning it would probably do…but I don’t know how to take it apart and I can’t find directions anywhere on the web. I could send it out for recalibration which would force them to take it apart but, that would cost more than a new 1/2 inch TW. (not snap on)
It’s the kind with the plug on the bottom end of the wrench, looks like hammerd lead. Sears-Simpson I believe.
YES. I always returned it to 10 ft lbs…per directions…not zero.
Any ideas?
I’m sure they would send North of the border!
Clive.
Bill… Craftsman tool are guaranteed forever. Just take it into a Sears store and replace for free.
LLoyd
Don't you just hate those who live in the US for ten years and never bother to learn the language?
I think no one should graduate from grade school without learning either Cherokee, Apache, Ute or Arapaho.
LLoyd July, 2014
Thanks.
I just ordered some
Dennis 69 OTS