Something to worry about?

[PhillySpider]

Small (hopefully) issue...I refinished my steelies with fresh wheel paint (maybe will post a pic one day when I have an hour to figure out how ). I thought I torqued everything down snug as a bug, but on a brief 15 mile round trip this morning I felt some wobble around turns in the floor and steering for about the last five miles home. I took it easy home and sure enough all 4 bolts on the drivers front wheel were VERY loose. I torqued them down w/all of my man strength and all feels good on a quick test run around the block. So, should I be worried about "damage" and if so to what? Also, can anyone comment on the torque spec for the wheel bolts? Looks like I finally have good reason to invest in a torque wrench . I did check the other 3 wheels and all was snug as could be.

[RRoller123]

I have alloys and use 65 Ft-Lbs.

[DieselSpider]

You would worry about stripping the threads out on the hub if you go too far over spec. There was probably a glob of paint that compressed once you started driving that was behind the loosening. You need to be carefull to not go too heavy when painting the back of the hub area of a rim.

[Redline]

Precisely. Re-torque the bolts on freshly painted or new wheels often.

[PhillySpider]

Thanks Folks...I'll keep an eye on 'em...

[narfire]

Had the same thing happen to me a month or so ago. Tightened to 65 lbs with torque wrench and on the way about 3 kms from the shop felt a wobble, pulled over and two bolts were missing and the other two were loose. managed to tighten the two and drove the back road to the shop and had a look. One bolt hole had stripped, the other did not look great and two were fine. Took about 1/2 hour and swapped out with another hub.
Tightened to 65 and drove it a bit and then up to 85 and all is good now.
If you managed to tighten all four then I'm guessing the threads are still intact but do keep and eye on it.

[Dawgme85]

According to the Factory Service Manual, wheel lug torque should be 65 ft. lb.
According to my (very experienced) Fiat Mechanic, DO NOT EXCEED 65 ft. lb.

I've never had a problem when adhering to these recommendations, with aftermarket alloy wheels.