Torque Specs & Tire Rotation
 

Can someone tell me where to find torque specs for our car? I have the service manual downloaded but can't find what section this would be in. Specifically, I was looking for the wheels and the oil pan plug. Thanks.

Being a non-moving part I wouldn't exactly stress over it. "Tight enough, without over tightening" sounds good to me :)

Every diagram (at the end of each section) has the torque specs written down on the diagram, right where the bolt is shown. There's a key for reading the torque specs near the beginning of the manual (white vs black wrenches mean different units, in/lbs or ft/lbs, although I forget which is which at the moment).

This is straight out of the Service Manual. Look at item 13. The torque spec is 25 ft-lbs.
http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/t...9-102739AM.jpg

This is also in the SM:
http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/t...09-12915PM.jpg

WRONG.

http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/t...09-13427PM.jpg

Yep, definitely 80ft/lbs for the wheel lugs. Went through this after I swapped in the wheel locks and wanted them tightened correctly.

Thanks for the replies. Too bad I just read in the service manual that you can't rotate the tires. I, along with others from the board in a previous post of mine, thought that you could still swap between right/left; however, apparently all the tires are unidirectional...lame.

You sure about that? I don't recall our tires being unidirectional. Asymmetric, yes, but not unidirectional. What page in the service manual did you see this on?

It's on MA-33. Am I reading that right?

The SM does indeed indicate directional tires on that page. That's where I read it first as well. However, if you look at the sidewall of the tires themselves and look up the same tires online, it appears they are only asymmetric, and could be rotated left/right.

Hmm...yeah, you're reading it right. I'm surprised though. Looking at the sidewall, I can see that the word "Outside" is stamped on the tire, which is what indicates that it's an asymmetric tread pattern (i.e., different tread on the inside of the tire vs. the outside). When tires are unidirectional, however, the sidewall is usually stamped with an arrow and the word "Forward" to indicate the direction the tire must rotate in. And I do not see that on the sidewall. I wonder if maybe that's a misprint in the service manual.

Actually, maybe a better way of putting it would be to say that they've worded that sentence really poorly. Here's how they worded it: "Tire cannot be rotated in vehicle, as front tire are different size from rear tire and the direction of wheel rotation is fixed in each tire." Okay, let's think about this. What would happen if the fronts and rears were all the same size, and the tires were unidirectional? Would that prevent us from rotating them? No. We wouldn't be able to swap the left rear with the right front, but we'd still be able to swap the left front with the left rear, and the right front with the right rear. Right? So really, what they should have said is that we can't rotate the fronts and rears because the wheels are different sizes. Period. The direction of wheel rotation isn't even pertinent.

I also looked up the tire at tirerack.com, and they mention it being asymmetric, but don't say anything about it being unidirectional. (Bridgestone Potenza RE050A)

But hey, I could be wrong. So I guess the safe thing to do is never flip them from one side to the other.

Guys, I'm going go out on a limb here and say that it's a misprint in the SM. Because check out this picture of the Bridgestone S-02: SuperView of the Bridgestone Potenza S-02

It's a little tough to see, but if you look at the back of the tire in the shot (at 3 o'clock), you can see a little arrow with the word "Rotation". That's how you know it's unidirectional. And our RE050A's don't have this indicator.

So what does that mean?

Correct, the RE50A's are asymmetric. This means they have an inside and an outside, but can rotate either way.

You guys realize the wheels themselves are directional right? Unless you want the wheels to look backwards :)

It means if you want, you can flip the tires from right to left. Personally, I don't really see the benefit of this unless you happen to always corner hard in one direction only, then I could see how over time one side might wear down more than the other.

You know, I did not notice this until you pointed it out! But you're right. I doubt it'd have a functionality impact though if all four wheels were 'backwards'.

Nahhh, it'd be perfectly functional. Would look wierd to me, though :)

Good catch. I would have been rolling around with my wheels jacked up.

Camber
 

Take into consideration the stock camber settings of the car. You are going to wear more on the inside than outside. Only way to achieve even wear on the tire is to swap tires. Meaning, not taking the right rim and tire and swapping it with the left side. You have to remove tires from rims....mount / balance....put right rim with left tire on right side etc.....

The wheels are directional? Hmm, how does that work, because of the design of the spokes?

Yes. The Nismo's on the other hand, should be able to rotate unless they are unidirectional.

That works with directional symmetric tires, but doesn't work with asymmetric tires. The outside must stay on the outside as there are different rubber compounds in different sections of the tire.

Are you sure the wheels are directional? I took a long look at them this morning. On the left side of the car, both wheels are rotating in the direction where the spoke opening is on the rearward side. On the right side, both wheels are rotating in the direction where the spoke opening is on the forward side. Hence if you switch sides, they will still rotate in the same direction for that side. More specifically, there is no "right wheel" and "left wheel" from the factory, they are the same (except for the different size front and rear). I believe you can rotate tires/wheels right to left.

Er, yes, I am sure...

http://images46.fotki.com/v1492/phot...309/007-vi.jpg

Look at the split at the end of each spoke. The "thin" split, is twords the front of the car (at the top of the wheel). Now, imagine flipping the wheel around and putting it on the opposite side of the car. The "thin" split will be twords the back. So, the wheels would be "backwards". Would many people even know? Nah, probably not. BTW, this applies to sport wheels only, not non-sports...

OK wait a second. If you take a picture of the other side of your car, isn't the "thin" split facing towards the back of the car? That is how it is on my car at least. Did my dealer screw me (which would not surprise me)?

Why not take a photo of it and post it up? Just do any google of Nissan 370Z and look at the images...should answer your question heh

Ok, here are 2 pictures I found on this forum...in the album section. One is of the car facing right and the other is of the car facing left. You can see that on the "left" picture, the "thin" part of the wheel is facing rearward. On the "right" pictures, you can see the "thin" part of the wheel facing forward. This shows that there is no "right wheel" and "left wheel" doesn't it?

Ah hah, NOW I see what you mean. And you are very correct! I didnt even notice that myself. Nice spot!

So the long and short is, as long as you dont have unidirectional tires, you can rotate side to side, but not front to back.

You are correct. I noticed this a while back and thought it was a little wacky. Most wheels are individually symetrical however, only our "lobster claws" have a thin side to the spoke.

John

I have already rotated mine from side to side, the Bridgestones are asymmetrical and not unidirectional, & there is no left and right rim. :tup:

Lugnut torque value
 

2014 NISMO owners manual 6-7