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3rd gen Lug nut torque specs?

17K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  andyg 
#1 ·
More specifically, I'm looking for the lug nut torque specs for my 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan w/ AWD.

I believe the wheels are aluminum/alloys, I'll post a pic of one.

Land vehicle Alloy wheel Tire Rim Wheel


I know it should say in the manual, unfortunately this van was purchased used and didn't have a manual with it.

Here's what's going on. A while back we had a tire blowout and when we went to change to the spare, we found that some of the lugs had been replaced with shorter ones that were deep inside and the factory wrench that came with the van couldn't get a good bite on them and they were rusted in and in short one got stripped out. Would have never happened if we had real Sockets and wrenches with us. Anyway, we ended up having to go to a repair shop and have them come out and help us.

After that I ordered some new lug nuts and replaced all of the short ones with ones that are longer and the same as the stock ones.

A while later I took the van to Wal-Mart and asked them to balance and rotate the tires while I did some shopping. Not long later they called me back and told me that they had stripped out one of the lug nuts because it had been tightened too tightly. They were unable to remove the tire and therefore would not balance them.

Needless to say, I was furious. The lug nut they stripped was not one of the ones I replaced, but was one of the stock ones. I've removed these wheels myself a few times and never used a torque wrench, just tightened them to what felt right, and never had any trouble. I'm sure the idiots there just used the wrong size, or didn't get it on all the way. This van used to live in SLC so there is rust under there, and I'm sure it was rusted a little tight.

Right now I'm getting ready to try and fix the damage they did, and check on my brakes while I'm in there. I tracked down my brother's torque wrench and am just wondering what the specs are for tightening down the lug nuts.
 
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#3 ·
Thank you.

An update here, I managed to remove the lug nut in question.

Capacitor Circuit component Passive circuit component Electronic component Shadow


It is more damaged now then it was, because after what they did to it I had a time getting it off. You can still tell though that they didn't have their socket all the way over the lug nut. You can see the part they rounded off going down to the red mark I made on the photo. The blue mark shows how far I pounded my socket onto it in order to remove it, because it wouldn't slide on over the damage they had done.
 
#4 ·
The factory lug nuts are a 2 piece design, and pure junk. I finally got fed up today with mine starting to strip out and ordered all new lugs off ebay for $16. I'll let everyone know how close they look to the factory ones, and they are one piece which will not do this.
 
#5 ·
By two peice you are referring to the cap, correct?, or did yours come with a washer + Nut type design?

That'll be interesting to see how the one peice ones do. I'll be needing to order at least one new one anyway so be sure and let me know how they work out, and maybe even show a pic of them or a link to the ebay item you got them from.
 
#6 ·
2 piece meaning that stupid aluminum cap over a steel nut, where the aluminum cap is the trouble causer. If you can bust the cap off, the nut itself takes an 18mm socket and still provides the actual function of the lug nut, just not pretty with the alloy wheels. I'll post the info about the 1 piece lugs when I get them this week. I want to make sure everything is good before I recommend it.
 
#9 ·
I got my lug nuts today and they worked out very nicely. I think they are actually better quality than the OEM ones and the replacements I've bought before.

Here's the auction I bought from:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120376873818&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

And some pics...


The new ones, showing color and how they are not 2 pieces like the original ones:


The old ones. The one on the left shows an original one that bulged like most of them and would only go that far into the sockets. I had 11 of them like that, not good as stripping them was very possible. On the right shows the new replacements you buy from Chrysler, the caps fall off like nothing was holding them on AND they rusted to that condition within 1 month in the summer. Complete junk.


Installed. The new ones are brighter than the old ones, but for the money they are perfect for me. $16 to have lug nuts that actually aren't at risk of stripping out every time you touch them is nice.
 
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#10 ·
Tire shops sell those here as well, but they want big bucks, the ebay purchase is the wiser choice for sure.
I did away with all my 2 piece lug nuts a few years ago.
 
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