I put a set of ITP aluminum wheels on my 99 Sportsman 500 and I'm having a problem keeping the lugnuts tight, I've also lost one today.
Do you guys use thread locker on your wheel studs?
Something is seriously wrong then. Are you using the OEM nuts or ones supplied for the rims? Some rims are hub piloted and some use the taper of the wheel nut to center and keep tight. I think you have the wrong nuts. I have both aluminum and steel wheels for my quad and also have 2 different sets of lug nuts.
I ordered the lugnuts with the wheels from DK, I didn't torque them down because I lost my torque wrench so I just tightened them by hand and they obniously weren't tight enough.
What should I torque these aluminum wheels to?
the alum rims require a much higher torque then the steel wheels do. the studs arent the weak point here, the hub they go into is a softer metal then the stud.
alum rims for the quads are in the 75-100ft/lb range like smoothbassman said, but there is a lot of debate that always comes from that number. i know polaris suggest somewhere in that ballpark if you buy the alum rims out of the catalog from them
I would be really nervous about torquing the wheels on a '99 500 to the values suggested here. Like most all older Polaris quads, it has 3/8 N.C. X 24 wheel studs and by tightening to the extreme values suggested, you are over-stressing the wheel studs and risking breakage. Here is one of many bolt torque charts I found on line.
if you have a steel wheel, i believe the torque value is only like 36 ft/lbs or something like that
if you have an alum wheel, polaris recommends 90 ft/lbs.
there seems to be a good mix of guys who have and who have not broke a wheel stud by torquing to 90 ft/lbs. and a good handful of guys who will not torque to 90. (confirmed that the alum polaris rims are recommended at 90 ft/lbs) a lot of people always ask this question. from my experience at the dealership, we always torqued to 90 ft/lbs on the alum rims, and never broke a stud doing it. worst case, the stud takes 2 seconds to replace with a 5lb hammer, and it cost only a couple bucks. to us, it was better to torque to what polaris says to and risk having to replace a stud and possibly a lug then to have the lugs come off while the customer is riding it.
Make sure everything is free of GREASE, no grease on THREADS or TAPER, torque to spec and after a couple of rides re-torque and everything should be fine...unless you have the WRONG lug nuts for your type of rim, as mentioned earlier, check TAPER and make sure they match up.
1 last thing how is the ATV HUB matching up to your RIM, is it a TIGHT fit, if so it might be ristricting the rim to seat properly in its place and there for leaving a gap/space and when riding it'll tend to loosen lugs.
I was checking the owner's manual and the service manual for my 850 and both call for 75 ft/lbs for the aluminum wheels. The XP's also have 10 mm wheel studs vs the smaller 3/8" studs on the non-XP chassis.
Go with torque specs from the wheel company, over torquing puts stress not just on the studs but also can cause damage to youe wheels or spindle, polaris might recommend 90lbs for there wheels but aftermarket (like my Maxxis Maxlites) only require 36 lbs (right from Maxxis) My buddy torques his ITP's to 35 lbs
I have a 700 Sportsman x2 Deluxe & 500 Sportsman Stealth both with Polaris OEM Aluminum wheels. Both books spec 90lbs. I have them at 85 with no problem.
agree torque them to 75ft lb's. that is what the manual calls for. little bit of thread lock couldnt hurt. would definitly give you a little more piece of mind while riding.
I cant say for certain for your wheels, you should check with the manufacturer. But it is definately a good idea to torque the wheels, take it for a ride for a day and retorque again. The manufacturer should have instructions specific to their product. Not all wheels are made the same thats why there is such a wide range of torque suggestions.
ill never torque my lug nuts over 50 or 60lbs on a alum rim again. when i did my winter to summer rim change this yr i ended up changing 8 lug nuts and studs. (one tire had 4 strip out one had 2 strip out and then on each of the other 2) becuse at about 70 they started to losen then stripped out. the 90flbs was fine the first 2yrs. but after changing the tire/rim set 2 times its been weaking the studs or lug nut. vary cheap china steel.
its also not a simple 5lb hammer to change some of them. if i rember the front studs i hada loosen the brake disk to get the studs out. pain in the butt........
today i took the wheel off my 2012 850 xp and the manual calls for 75fp on aluminum wheels and all the others went on and tightened up fine but oneof them lugs went and didnt even tourqe down and snapped the stud so no i gotta get it fixed i think imma go with 65 from now on and just checkem
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