Pro tip: I spent two years torquing lugs with the car on the ground, and a guy at a meet in Fresno caught it in 10 seconds

Logan Robinson · 2026-10-28T03:25:05.517132+00:00

I was at a parking lot meet in Fresno a couple weeks back and this older guy with a beat up 240SX watched me check my lug nuts with the car still sitting on all four tires. He walked over and asked if I liked keeping my rotors flat, then explained that with the weight on the wheels, the stud is loaded up and my torque wrench is basically guessing. I had been doing this for two years straight on every brake job and tire rotation, thinking I was being careful. He grabbed my wrench and showed me the click felt different when the wheel is off the ground, and he was right, mine was clicking way late. Then he said the line that got me, "That wrench is telling you a story, not the truth." I went home and redid all four corners with the car on jack stands and every nut took another quarter turn before the click. I had been rolling around on maybe 70 ft-lbs for months and somehow nothing came loose. So now I am wondering, does anyone here torque the wheels hanging free or do you still set them down first?

Rigidtalk

Loading…

Pro tip: I spent two years torquing lugs with the car on the ground, and a guy at a meet in Fresno caught it in 10 seconds | Car Mod Budget Builds - Rigidtalk