I have a 2008 infiniti g35 my son drives.
he let the wheel get loose and destroyed a rim driving it that way so long that it wallowed out the holes.
I replaced that rim, all 5 lug studs and all 5 lug nuts.
it backed off again.
I cleaned up the wheel hub, and inside the rim.
I have him check every day with a torque wrench, star pattern and he found 1 keeps backing off.
So I had him use a paint pen to number them all and found that it was the same one that keeps backing off.
I am planning on replacing that rim again, because you can see the holes are a bit chewed up.
but just in case it isn't the rim, is there something else I should be checking for?

tire was swapped and balanced on the new to me rim last time.
all lug studs and nuts replaced.
the other 3 have no issues.
torqued to 80 ft lbs. around the world 2 times.
cleaned the hub on the car and cleaned inside the rim where the hub sits.

The only thing I can think of left is to replace the hub itself since the lug stuts sit in it. if the next rim does the same thing.

i assume you have alloy wheels.
to me 80ftps seems low. do these cars have smaller than normal wheel studs?
i checked the specs and they say 72-87
i torque a alloy wheel. i torque alloys to 100 ft lbs and steel wheels to 80 ft lbs on cars and 120 ft lbs on light duty trucks. never had a problem. these are newer cars from 2000 and up.
i also have read in chat rooms and they seem to say tighten in steps, 50-60-80, to 80 ft lbs. waste of time in my mind. i just double check torque and torque to specs a second time.
all i can say is try 90 ft lbs and see what happens.


if the one loosening is the same. maybe a possibility this wheel stud isn't in the hub completely?

I started at 85 ft lbs, but the rest all seem to be fine on the other rims.

I did look at it, and it seems as flush as the others.
while I have it apart this weekend, I guess I will see about gunning it on more or see if I can max it out with a torque wrench and see if it gives.
but it also doesn't give just sitting, car has to be driven some distance for it to move again, so I am still leaning with loosening.
whereas if it were not seated enough, I would expect the torque wrench to keep not clicking.

and yes alloy rims. honestly the lightest wheel and tire combo I have ever picked up for a 17 inch rim.

I would call Infinity dealer service and Infinity customer service and see if there is a Tech bulletin on this? It's probably happened to someone else.

Issue with that hub since its about all you have not replaced?

How are you tightening them? In two steps? Are you re torquing after a few miles? I know the srt cars are a different style being the tapered like bolt but I always re torque just after a few miles and they take it to reach the proper tq. On those lugs I go 105/110lbs and I know some go 120lbs.

Good brand rims?

any chance your torque wrench is out of calibration ?
maybe dropped a time or two ?

I don't think it is a torque wrench thing.
I have my son recheck every day.
he drives maybe 8 miles each day to and from school.
for the last 2 days number 2 was loose.

I would start by marking the stud, the lug, and the wheel, then move that one lug to a different stud on the wheel to see if its the stud, or the lug that is a problem. Then just for fun, I would rotate the wheel so that wheel hole is on a different stud, with a different lug nut to be sure the problem isn't the wheel.

Also note, new parts these days doesn't necessarily mean the parts are good.

I believe 80 is pretty low torque for alloy wheels. I do 90 on mine, and you are suppose to retorque them in less then 50 miles.

The next question would be just how much more does the lug tighten a day later?

I had one hub, one time, that had a hairline crack on the mounting surface near one stud. Each time the lug was torqued, the stud was moving in the hub.

I had an issue with a couple front lug nuts backing off a slight amount on some cast aluminum wheels that kept doing it for several days until it stopped. Whenever the wheels came off the vehicle for any reason I took a torque wrench with me and would check them once a day until they stayed tight. They never backed off enough to make the wheel loose they just kept loosing 10 foot pounds or so after so many miles. I thought it was the cast wheels were soft, and that may have been some of it, but It wasn't until I switched out the tire store sourced chrome lug nuts (likely the cheapest bulk stuff they can find) for some better quality McGards that the lugs actually stayed tight. When you put both types of lug nuts on by hand the McGards have a much tighter fit to the stud vs the the cheap tire store ones. The tire store ones spun on almost too easy and had a small amount of jiggle to them all the way until they got close to making contact with the rim.

I had another old car years earlier and I put McGards on that with new aluminum mags at the same time and they always held torque perfectly. Remembering that is what let me to switching out the lug nuts on the other vehicle that I was having some issues with.

I got another rim today.
plan on getting it swapped out tomorrow.
have him number that and check it again every day.
if it still does it, then I will order a hub and swap that out and see if it helps.
not going to give it enough time to destroy this rim.

not sure, he says it moves then clicks, so that could be anything, vs the rest all click right off the bat.

Are these stock parts or fancy aftermarket wheels?

I've seen incorrect lugs and studs where the threads bottom out before they actually clamp the wheel tightly.

Run the nuts down without a wheel and see how close they get to the flange.

Also, check that there's not excessive rust or debris caught between the rotor and hub.

they are factory rims for a car 2 years newer.
the other 3 are the same with the same lug nuts no issues.
the one having issues, I replaced the lug studs with dorman replacements for the car.
and I used the same lug nuts on all the rest of the rims and an old one to pull the studs on. so they aren't bottomed out.
but thanks for the check.

Nuts & bolts work by stretching to lock into place & maintain tightness.
If the threads aren't precise, they'll not perform that task properly, including over time.

I've seen a handful of filings result from chasing threads on nuts and bolts.

I've used 80 ft/lbs on vintage TransAm race cars with aluminum wheels without a problem, we'd re-check after every session.
But the hardware & wheels we used was top-drawer stuff.

Although a different lug type, my srt cars like 110 and I know a few who go 120. I still maybe question the hub itself? Is there like a moog hub that comes with the studs?

The only thing that usually happens is there could be rust between the hub and brake rotor surfaces. I've been an import tech for close to 40 years with Honda and Toyota and they really don't have many issues with stock rims and nuts that came on the car. I have always put a few drops of oil on the threads or spray on white grease to the hub and studs. One of the younger techs figured I have installed over 1.5 million lug nuts in my first 30 years. I don't use torque sticks and only use a torque wrench on aftermarket wheels. I tighten all my wheels with an impact set on low in a star pattern and hit them all one more time in a circle. Never had a comeback or complaint for loose wheels in the thousands of cars I've worked on. I never put nuts on a dry stud and I think it's important to get the proper torque and clamping force on the rim.
Double check with the dealership that you have the proper nuts for the EXACT rim you are using

Gus

if it did it for all 4 I might be inclined to believe it is the lug nuts, but I am not beyond ordering another set.
I will double check since I pulled these rims off a newer model if the lug nuts are the same and I am just lucky with the other rims.

got the tire swapped out today and will keep checking daily.

yes there is a moog hub with studs already on it. new hubs are around 100 bucks.

I will also try swapping where the "new" rim sits to make sure it is that hub only.

already cleaned up the hub and rim where it sits on the hub.

Make sure you also clean between the brake rotor and hub too

thanks, about to take it apart again to verify the lug stud seating.
got it back and he found all the lug nuts about half a turn loose before clicking at 80 ft lbs.
80 ft lbs is what the paperwork says they tightened it to, but clearly not. all the other rims clicked at 80.

Probably wrong style lug for the wheel. Some need concave or flat etc

yep, seems like that is the issue.
when I looked up the car the wheels come from, it is a different part number for the lug nuts.
ordered a set and should be in tomorrow, so will see if that helps.

would have chased my tail on that one for a while if someone hadn't brought that up. didn't think the other rims might have a different style. instead of acorn, they have a washer.