Hey there. I have a 2004 Dodge Neon SXT, and was wondering if anyone knows the proper torque to tighten the lug nuts on this car. The car my Neon replaced was a Geo Metro, and a gas station service guy cranked down on it's lug nuts so hard with an air gun that he stripped the lugs. I'd like to avoid that on this car, so will be doing all that myself. I'll be buying a torque wrench, but need to know which range to buy. Thanks.

 

You don't need a torque wrench. Just get them tight and then give it another 1/4 to 1/2 turn.

 

You can get a torque wrench with the range of 25-150ft pounds.

I used to work in a tire shop for 3 years and want to say Neons (like most) were around 100ft/p

The avg. car is about 120 but some of the smaller cars obviously range lower.


I am going to search the net and find out for sure on the newer models to make sure that they have not changed it since I worked there 6 or 7 years ago!


I'll share any info I find. I too am a fan of rotating my own tires. I already bought the Craftsman Microtek Torque Wrench for $69.99. I wanted the Digitork but it is $30.00 more and for how often I will be using it, it wasn't warranted. The only nice thing about the Digitork, it increases the range to 250ft/p if I am not mistaken.

ehorizon7

 

Am I the only one that does not use a torque wrench on tires?? I have never even heard of torquing tires. Maybe Porshe and Ferrari do, but thats about it. Its an impact wrench or a 4-way for me.

 

Thanks. I just found it in the owners manual, and it is indeed 100 foot pounds. (Didn't see it in there before, I must have selective vision.)

I've had several mechanics and service station people tell me that over torquing the lug nuts can cause some problems for the tire, especially if you have aluminum wheels. Everything from stripping the lugs, to improper wear on the rotors. (Which didn't make sense to me at first, but a search on the net seemed to confirm this.)

 

well i usally torque to um RFT, that stands for really f@#$in tigh!
lol

 

no tighter than you can loosen at night in the rain on the side of the highway with the tire iron.

 

both my 96 Neon and my 01 Neon are at 100ft lbs.

 

Yeah all the Neons are 100 lbs-ft.

Heck your old Geo Metro would be about 36.5.

Now why on earth would you torque your lugs...

Simple so you can get them off, you don't distort or strip your threads, and one of the not so obvius but happens every day you can warp your rotors and cause brake pulsation. Not a good thing. I work in a shop and shop policy is to torque by had all wheels that are reinstalled.

Now for most cars you are between

76 toyotas
80 honda
87 nissan mitsubishi
100 GM Ford Chrysler
115 a lost of other Chrysler

Trucks get to be more

These listed above are just approxiamate guides and are not all inclusive for even those listed above. Such as older GM SUV's are 95, Mazda based fords are 80-85 etc.

Biggest car torques I know of for street cars is the Geo Metro 36.5 (If tightened with and impact wrench then you kneed to have all the lugs replaced as they are damaged) and the a certain Porche 959 at 450 lbs-ft.

Most cars today are between 76 and 100. Even the 115 Chryslers are 85-115.

 

i just hand tighten it with a tire iron. nice and snug. the places that use a air gun fuc%en mest my car up. couldnt get them off. i eventualy did.