Lug nut torque question

[OneBulletDan]

Found a set of 2012 Ford Focus 17" rims to go on my 2010 TC. Thanks to all the "new wheels" posters on here, I went with 225/50/17 tires. They ride great, much quieter than the original tires, and look nice, too.

In my owner's manual, they call for a 66 foot pound torque on the lug nuts. It sounded kind of wimpy to me, so I headed to the local dealer to see what they thought. They claimed the standard steel rims were supposed to be torqued to 98 foot pounds. I'm not sure if alloys make any difference, but I went with a flat 100 foot pounds.

What are you guys torqueing them at?

[BSUPC]

I had this same question when I switched tires and wheels on my 2012's. Both the local Ford dealer and Discount Tire agreed that it was 70 ft lbs. But it seems like this as well as anything else to do with these vans, it all a guessing game.

[DonShockley]

The manual on my 2015 calls for 100 ft-lbs

[103west43rd]

OneBulletDan, I set my torque wrench to the specification in the manual for my 2010 with steel wheels, 66 foot lbs. The dealer you went to is wrong. I wonder if they pay to replace the lug nuts/studs they strip? Or, if you do not carry a large breaker bar with you, will they make a no charge road call if you get a flat and cannot get the lug nuts off with the supplied small wrench?

Edited May 5, 2016 by 103west43rd

[OneBulletDan]

Thanks for all the input. It took a decent sized breaker bar to get the wheels off in the first place. Apparently, the dealership I bought it from likes to use impact wrenches to tighten everything (lazy).

When I bought the van, the dealer assured me that it had gone through Ford's 176 point check list to make sure it was road worthy. I noticed on the way home that the thing rode hard enough to shake the hairs out of my knuckles. I'd never owned a van or a Ford before, so I though it was the nature of the beast.

I checked the tire pressure just for giggles. They'd transposed the front and rear tires and didn't bother correcting the tire pressure so they wouldn't have to retrain the TPMS. I put the correct pressure in all the way around and went by the book to reset the TPMS. Rode a lot better afterward. I spent a few days checking everything else just incase they'd got lazy on the other things, too.

66 foot pounds just scares me for some reason. I might pick a happy medium between the hundred it's torqued to now and the given torque. Either that or I'll find a Focus forum and see if I can find what they torque the 17" alloy rims to.

Thanks again, folks!

[G B L]

The stud size is M12X1.5 on both the 2010 and the 2014. The torque for the 2010 is 66Lbs and the 2014 torque is 100 lbs . The fact that the Gen 1 has 15 inch rims and the Gen 2 has 16 inch rims must have something to do with the difference in the spec. The most important thing is to use a Torque Wrench and re tighten the wheels a couple of times after changing a wheel.

[OneBulletDan]

I found a manual for the 2012 Focus online. They torque the M12X1.5 lugs at 100 fp. Since I'm using the same alloy wheels, I guess I'll leave it at 100.

I did recheck the TC manual and 66 fp is correct as you folks stated. Still sounds kinda light to me, but I don't claim to know more than the guys that built/designed it.