I recently put Douglas wheels on my Recon. The manual recommends 64 ft/lbs torque on the wheel nuts for the stock steel wheels. Should less torque be used with the aluminum wheels? Will the stock nuts damage the wheels at the standard torque rating? Any input here would be appreciated.

beige 98 Recon
red 98 Recon

 

64 ft lbs sounds pretty stiff to me. My Warrior came stock with alloy rims and the shop manual calls for 32 ft/lbs all around.
I have run my Douglas Red Labels torqued to the same specs for over two years now.
You might want to check the Douglas web page for an e-mail address & ask their tech dept to make sure.

 

Thanks. It seems a bit stiff to me too. I may be overlooking the obvious, but what is Douglas' URL?

 

www.douglaswheel.comIts currently under construction though.

 

When I put red labels on my Wolverine I installed flanged lug nuts on mine rather then turning over the stock nuts and torqued them to stock specs. 46 ft. lb. Flanged nuts hold better and also look better.

 

When you swith to the aluminum wheels, I would highly recommend putting flat washers under the nuts. If you don't, when you tighten the nuts it will cut into the aluminun and squeeze the aluninum against the stud. Then when you go to take the wheels off the next time you may have to beat on them to break them loose. This may not happen the first time but it eventually will.

 

Thanks for all the input. Where could I get some non-tapered lug nuts for my Recon? The Douglas tech rep recommended using nuts with a flange or square face. I would think that a tech note with the purchase of the wheels would be a nice idea. BTW, the douglas tech guy could not give a torque recommendation.

 

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