Particularly relevant for those with 2 metre long breaker bars and custom spinner removers!

My spinner tool & breaker bar is mainly used for undoing the spinners, the long bar isn’t necessarily used for tightening.

Mine is used to undo them Richard (see picture, made from Thule roof bar , Mulfab spanner & clips).



I have a hex nut socket on a short bar to fit them. I don't like swinging hammers next to the wings.

Hi Paul,

I recall we discussed this back in May at the auto test. I have sourced a 70mm A/F socket (Facom) stocked by Machine Mart, which I am just off to buy now. My drive back from Oakmere on the 4th in torrential rain resulted in the Via Gellia road turning the inside of the wheels white (quarry slurry on the road), hence the need to remove the wheels and clean them properly. Only just walking again after the surgery so this is my first opportunity to address the issue.

I will call the factory technical department on Monday and try and get a definitive answer, which I will then post here. After a working lifetime in engineering, the thought of tightening something as critical as a wheel retaining nut 'hammer tight', frankly makes me shudder!

Thanks everyone for all the input, gratefully received and appreciated. For what it's worth, and based on experience, I suspect 110Nm is about right as all wheel nuts should self-tighten with driving. Of greater concern is getting the wheel nuts off without potentially adding the possibility of damaging bodywork when swinging a mallet.

KR, Andy

I'm with you there, John. Hence the original question.

'Hammer tight' leads to visions of damaged bodywork!

I've been using this little flogging spanner for years, so compact it fits in the car easily, never failed to shift an overtightened centre nut, or fit one without damaging 'owt

An old school mechanic once told me to clean off the old grease and redo with a thin layer of copaslip each time & to never use anything with Moly additives on centre nuts as it's potentially too slippy on critical torque threads

I carry the same tool as Jon in my Roadster. When I bought my Roadster, the front nearside nut had been overtightened. The symptoms were that it was tight all the way off, and could not be removed by hand, the spanner was needed all the way. I tested the nut on the rear, and it was fine, meaning that the damaged threads were on the hub.

When I upgraded the front brakes, I took the opportunity to replace that hub unit, which I did, and the nut now comes off by hand.

Yes I clean & redo the copper slip on the nut & rhe splines, BUT A WARNING THE SPLINES CAN BE RAZOR SHARP IF WORN.

My front nuts (ooh Matron) always seem more tight than the rears.

As promised, I made a call to the factory this afternoon and spoke to one of the shop floor mechanics who deal with wheel fitment. And this is what he told me:

Put your supplied wheel nut spanner in a vice and bend it twice to introduce a crank at the nut end of the spanner.
Grease the threads with copper slip before reassembly.
Fit the retaining nut by hand and hand tighten.
Tighten the nut with the spanner until no longer able to turn the spanner.
Strike the spanner shank until a change in tone is audible. At this point, the nut is as tight as required .

I was informed that they have NEVER used torque wrenches for wheel nut fitment and use the ‘good old fashioned spanner and mallet method’.

So there we go, a typical ‘Morganism’! There we are, a proper noun develops to become a verb!

I will attempt to measure the torque whilst undoing all the wheel nuts and see if I can establish a mean torque level. Further reporting at a later date.

Unfortunately, this will not help, as the breakaway torque (I hope the translation is correct) is very high...