13-06-2011, 10:00 AM
Anyone who has done much mechanical work on motor vehicles will know that some parts have left hand threads, normally for some sound engineering reason. I have a problem with my LDV van in that above 50mph it starts shaking, getting steadily worse as the speed increases. I wondered if there was a wheel out of balance so I decided to try 2 of the rear wheels on the front. I did not get too far with this though as I could only loosen the nuts on one of the wheels, the offside rear. None of the rest would budge using the brace that came with the van plus a bit of scaffold pole. The one I did loosen I re-tightened using my torque wrench at its maximum 110 lb ft.
I then consulted the service manual CD to see what the correct torque should be: 170 to 206 lb ft
I don't really want to have to buy another torque wrench just for these nuts but I also don't want the wheels to fall off!
I did a search on an LDV forum for "wheel nuts" and was gobsmacked to read a post saying the nearside wheels have left hand thread wheel nuts. I thought this might be some sort of sick practical joke but I had another look and sure enough the front wheel studs are stamped on their ends L and R. With this information I have now managed to loosen all the nuts using the same tools but jumping on the scaffold pole. For now I have done them to 110 lb ft then a bit extra using hand pressure on the scaffold pole, which will in future live in the van.
I've been trying to figure out why LDV have designed the hubs this way. If it was a sports car with a single centre nut holding the wheel on it would be understandable. In that case, if a nut was loose and you braked hard a right hand thread nut could use its inertia to get even looser. The ring of nuts on the van is away from the axis of rotation of the wheel though so such inertia moments don't apply. :-/
I then consulted the service manual CD to see what the correct torque should be: 170 to 206 lb ft
I don't really want to have to buy another torque wrench just for these nuts but I also don't want the wheels to fall off!I did a search on an LDV forum for "wheel nuts" and was gobsmacked to read a post saying the nearside wheels have left hand thread wheel nuts. I thought this might be some sort of sick practical joke but I had another look and sure enough the front wheel studs are stamped on their ends L and R. With this information I have now managed to loosen all the nuts using the same tools but jumping on the scaffold pole. For now I have done them to 110 lb ft then a bit extra using hand pressure on the scaffold pole, which will in future live in the van.
I've been trying to figure out why LDV have designed the hubs this way. If it was a sports car with a single centre nut holding the wheel on it would be understandable. In that case, if a nut was loose and you braked hard a right hand thread nut could use its inertia to get even looser. The ring of nuts on the van is away from the axis of rotation of the wheel though so such inertia moments don't apply. :-/
