The torque for most 22.5-inch tires is 400 to 450 ft-lb. Ford is an even 450 and the correct torque will depend on the make, model, and year of your vehicle. Your owner’s manual should have these specifics inside it somewhere. Some manufacturers may call for 500 ft-lb of torque.
To learn more about this topic, just continue to read our article. It has the information you want so you can make sure your lug nuts are tight and won’t loosen on you halfway up or down a mountain road.
The answer to this question is going to be ‘depends’. That is because different manufacturers place different specs on their models of cars, trucks, and even motorhomes.
From what can be found is that for the 22.5-inch wheel, you would need between 400 and 500 ft-lb of torque. But this is a ballpark figure. Ford is set at 450 ft=lb, but other cars and trucks can go anywhere on that scale.
There are other factors involved in this equation. Thread size, type of lug nut, number of lug nuts, and so on, all play an important role in your torque setting. Then after 100 miles, you are supposed to go back to the shop and get those wheels re-torqued. But very few people do it.
As far as can be determined, while there is a ballpark range for torque, there is a standard that everyone seems to abide by. That standard is 450 ft-lb of torque when you are working with 22.5-inch wheels.
That measurement seems to be across the board. Some shops and companies will torque to 500 ft-lb as the prevailing thought is ‘ get them very tight’ no matter what.
When people torque their own tires or wheels, they buy a 600 ft-lb torque wrench to make sure they can get the right amount of torque on their wheels. Alcoa states that their wheels should be torqued between 450 and 475 ft-lb.
If you go higher than that on most vehicles, you run the risk of damaging the wheels and cracking them. This creates a bit of a problem when many mechanics set their air drills to 1000 ft-lb.
You do need to be cautious here as you do not want those lug nuts too loose or too tight.
The two-piece 33 mm lug nuts are to be torqued between 450 and 500 ft-lb. But that is for them. Other lug nut styles will have their own specifications and may not be as high as this option.
The best thing to do is one of three things. First, you can talk to a professional tire shop owner and see what they say. They handle all sizes of tires and wheels all the time.
Second, you can go to a mechanic who has to do this task from time to time and see what they say. But this option may get you only a generic answer of ‘just make them nice and tight’.
That statement could mean you will have them at 450 to 500 ft-lb or you may have them somewhere above 500 ft-lb of torque. The final place to check would be your owner’s manual.
Since torque has a wide range of applications, your owner’s manual will provide the right information for your specific vehicle.
We will probably take the easy way out for this section and the next section. The reason we can do that is that the answer is the same. The torque for your specific Peterbilt truck will depend on a variety of factors.
Peterbilt has been making big rigs for decades and there is no standard lug nut torque for each one. They have also made different models of Peterbilt trucks, and all require a different torque setting for the lug nuts.
The closest we have come is that these trucks will need between 450 to 600 ft-lb of torque. We would suggest that you talk to the Peterbilt dealer and see what they say about your specific model.
Another factor that comes into play will be the length of the lug nut thread. Each lug nut will have a different torque setting depending on the number of threads it has.
For a Freightliner rig with these specs, Wheels 22.5 aluminum, tires 235/80/22.5, chassis Freightliner, GVW 26,850#, you only need to torque the lug nuts to 450 ft-lb.
If you are working with a Freightliner chassis, the specs are - 20-mm 8-10 lugnut wheels: 280 - 310 ft-lbs 1 3/16" Socket and 22-mm 8-10 lugnut wheels: 450 - 500 ft-lbs 1 5/16" Socket.
You can pick up a good torque wrench at Harbor Freight or other big box outlets that sell quality tools. If it reaches 600 ft-lb the handle should be long enough to make it easy to reach that torque mark.
Like Peterbilt, check your owner’s manual or talk to the dealer for your specific model, make, and year. Everything is not the same.
The best source for torque information is going to be your owner’s manual. That is if it includes this piece of information. Make sure to get to that page and read it carefully so you know how tight those lug nuts should be.
If you are thinking of buying an impact wrench so you can handle this task yourself, do not go overboard. The most you will need would be a 1000 ft-lb impact wrench and that is for getting the lug nuts off.
Anything higher is overkill.