What is the torque spec for the lug nuts?

Gonna rotate tires and wanna torque the lugnuts to spec...

2015 Legacy & Outback Owners Manual, page 12-9.

2019 = 85 ft lb

2019 = 85 ft lb

Wrong ... close, but wrong. Posts like this are exactly why I originally answered as I did.

Edited October 8, 2019 by ammcinnis

88.5 lfb-FT. (Subaru Wheels).

So, either 88.5 ft/lb or 85 ft/lb. It's virtually the same. Unless you're working with NASA's tools, that's well within the margin of error for any normal torque wrench. Set it to 90 or a hair less, and torque away. Bubba's pneumatic tools down at the garage are probably +/-10% (if youre lucky).

So, either 88.5 ft/lb or 85 ft/lb. It's virtually the same ... well within the margin of error for any normal torque wrench.

Technically correct, but fraught with possible abuse. (What is the "nut factor" for the OE wheel studs and nuts? It should be about 0.20, but I haven't measured it and I'm confident you haven't either.)

 

But the question wasn't, "What torque is 'close enough?'" or, "What torque can I get away with?" The question was:

What is the torque spec for the lug nuts?

There is only one correct answer for that. Edited October 8, 2019 by ammcinnis

I bet your great at parties...

 

I've been torqueing wheels at 85ftlb for years.

LOL he said "nut factor"

An aside: most illustrative example of the variability of even the best clicker-style torque wrench I've seen was in the gage cal/standards lab at work. Calibration tech took a wrench and torqued on the standard using a few different hand positions relative to the handle, and got a different reading each time at click. Ranging from in to out of spec, depending only on how he held the wrench.

 

Unless you have a calibrated high accuracy/precision digital gauge with an actual torque readout, I think we're all in the same boat. Just use it to get you reasonably close, and as long as you use the wrench consistently get reasonably consistent torques between all the fasteners in the pattern.

With wheels, its only critical to be within range and done in the correct order. Once I got the feeling of what 65-85 ft lbs feels like with the torque wrench (over several years), I just duplicate that with the breaker bar (for ten+ years). I take wheels off of my cars a lot and have had to replace lugs with worn out faces.

 

Consistency is much more important. You don't want a loose one and you always should check them again after test driving the vehicle.

 

Don't be anal about numbers when its more important to be consistent and create good habits.

I don't think the point was to be anal with numbers. The point is to have the correct information in an easy to find place. If there are many answers out there for a specific question that only has one answer, then that creates confusion for anyone else looking for the answer. I'm sure Subaru's spec has taken into account that a typical wrench won't hit the set point torque perfectly.

I bet your great at parties...

 

I've been torqueing wheels at 85ftlb for years.

Hangs out with ehsnils a lot.

So, either 88.5 ft/lb or 85 ft/lb. It's virtually the same. Unless you're working with NASA's tools, that's well within the margin of error for any normal torque wrench. Set it to 90 or a hair less, and torque away. Bubba's pneumatic tools down at the garage are probably +/-10% (if youre lucky).

 

88.5 is from the 2016 Legacy Owners Manual, page 12-9.

So, either 88.5 ft/lb or 85 ft/lb. It's virtually the same.

I bet your great at parties...

This discussion reminded me of a favorite quotation:

 

"If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude." ~ Gen. Colin Powell

 

Then again, as a counter-argument I've also embraced another idea:

 

"No amount of genius can overcome a preoccupation with detail." ~ Marion J. Levy (Levy's Eighth Law)

Edited October 11, 2019 by ammcinnis