Wheel Maintenance is a Must-Do
Wheel maintenance is a critical part of safe RV travel. Let’s face it, we all know we are SUPPOSED to recheck our lug nuts regularly, especially around 50 to 100 miles after you’ve changed a wheel. We highly suggest you DO check that they are properly torqued any time you removed lugs and have driven. Kudos to those that also check all your lugs every time before they go out.
But for those of us that slack a bit about checking lug nuts before every long drive, there is an old-truckers trick that can quickly alert you of a problem when you do your pre-trip walkaround and visual maintenance checks.
Wheel Lug Nut Indicators
The fancy way is these
Many also even indicate high heat to warn of a problem like a bad hub, brake, or bearing. If there is too much friction being generated and your hub is heating up, heat-sensitive indicators will melt, distort or even drop off for easy identification.
There are all sorts of sizes and kinds from various price ranges available on Amazon, like these:
Another Cheaper Method
The discount way to this will let you know when lugs are loosening, but won’t provide information on hot hubs, and maybe isn’t quite as pretty. You place a line from the lug to the wheel indicating where it should be if properly tightened (see photo), using torque striping using nail polish or
Where Can I Get Them?
While indicators and torque striping can be found at many auto parts places. Amazon also carries a variety of types, including the heat-sensitive type that can alert you to potential problems with your hubs.
Here is a list of a wide variety of lug nut indicators and prices on Amazon:
Here is a variety of torque marking material for creating torque stripes:
Torque wrenches will help you check for accurate lug nut torque before you mark the lug locations:
