I doubt that the CTS would vary much from most of the other GM cars, (i.e., other Cadillacs, Chevrolets, Buicks, etc.), so you looking at 100 lb/ft. Remember to torque with alternating lug nuts, meaning for a five lug set to torque 1,3,5,2,4.

 

I agree with C&C. Most cars are either 90 or 100.

 

100 seems high. I thought it would be closer to 70 - 80.
Does anyone know for sure?

 

Hi, Dosen"t your owners manual have the torque?:hmm:

 

Yes, on page 5-128 of the 2008 CTS Owner Manual

"Wheel Nut Torque ... 100 lb ft"

 

I don't have the owner's manual (yet) because I pick the car up in July when I arrive back home from overseas. Thanks for the help.

Cheers

 

I thought it important enough to give this subject it' own thread. It could be a safety issue.

In another thread, a question arose as to wheel lug nut torque. 2008 and 2009 owners manuals give different specs. 2008=100 lb ft, 2009=140 lb ft. I decided to call a service tech at Bob Moore Cadillac in OKC. He took the time to look it up for me. Cadillac went to a larger lug nut for the 2009 CTS.

So, our owners manuals are correct for both. 2008 CTS torque=100 lb ft
2009 CTS torque=140 lb ft

The ref. for both is on page 5-128 under specifications.

 

Thank you for first catching the discrepancy and then following up. good job.
I would not have guessed a change like this took place, unless it has something to do with production of the V model and using common components.
rg

 

That's a heck of a big difference; thanks for following up on that.

 

You all are welcome. Glad we got it straightened out. :thumbsup:

 

Wheel Torque changed for 2009 ... to 140 ft/lbs!!!

I just had the TSB for squeaking brakes performed on our CTS. Got the car home and proceeded to reinstall my McGard wheel locks. It took more force than I expected to remove the lug nut, so I checked all the others using my torque wrench. Starting at 100 ft/lbs, I increased the force by 10 ft/lbs until the lug nut broke loose. Can you believe it took between 140 and 150 ft/lbs of force to finally break them loose?!

I complained to my service tech about this excessive force and actually accused them of just using their "rattle" gun and no torque wrench. Well ... he set me straight on the subject and showed me that on page 5-134 of the 2009 CTS Owner's Manual, it states that 140 ft/lbs is to be used for torquing the wheels on our CTS! :holycrap:

I've never seen such a high torque requirement for passenger car wheels before. WHY such an ungodly amount of force?

If there are any techs out there with more info, I'd like to know why such an increase from the '08 model of 100 ft/lbs to the '09's requirement of 140 ft/lbs. That just seems excessive to me.

 

They may have increase the bolt size from 12 *1.5 to 14*1.5. Same torque (140) as required on the 2010 & 2011 Camaros with the same bolt size.

 

Yup ... Larger studs

You're right, zen ... Just got the following reply from my service tech:
"New lug nut studs are larger than previous models. They are the same as the Escalades. 14 mm I believe."
FYI

 

Torque is based on the size and pitch of the fasteners.
The new CTS uses a larger lug stud and nut than previous models.
The older cars are 100 lb. ft. with the smaller lug studs.
The new CTS ('08 and up) are 140 lb. ft.

 

Is 2008 CTS manual in error?

ewill3rd - Are you saying that the 100 lb ft on page 5-128 of the 2008 CTS Owner's Manual is incorrect? OR ... did CTS still use the 12mm lug stud for 2008? If so, using 140 lb ft is incorrect for the 2008 CTS.

Go HERE for the manual.

 

100 lb/ft equals 140 N.m (Newton meters; I believe); could this be the area of confusion?

 

C&C - I wondered about that also, but in the '09 CTS Owner's Manual on page 5-134 they do have the correct Newton meters for 140 lb/ft of 190 Nm.

I'm still curious if the '08 CTS in fact used a smaller lug stud ... 12mm instead of 14mm. Any owners out there check for us? TIA

 

If the lugs are the larger ones, I think 21mm, then the torque is 140 lb. ft. or 190 Nm according to the FSM.
Owner's manuals sometimes contain confusing information on first year model changeovers. Often they carry over information that someone forgot to check.
If the nuts are 19mm then it is 100 lb. ft., if they are 21mm then they are 140 lb. ft.
Crazy but true, no confusion.

 

ewill3r,

thank you for the information. I have 08 with 18" wheels and was sure the torque supposed to be 100 lb-ft. But if I recall correctly the nut size is 21 mm. It would mean I always under-torqued them! I even complained to Discount Tire that they over-torqued them!

Again, thank you for clearing this confusion.

 

Forget about the size of the "lug nuts". It is the size of the size of the stud. It is a 12mm or a 14mm. The size of the lug nuts depend on the wheel.

 

The reason I called it out like that is because your average person doesn't sit there with a micrometer to check the stud size but they are much more likely to know what size socket they are putting on a nut.
Just sayin'.

To clarify what I think you are trying to indicate... if you have aftermarket wheels it COULD be different but OE wheels use a 19mm nut for the 100 lb. ft studs and 21 for the larger.

 

Now I am even more confused. I have always used 7/8" socket and it fit perfectly. Today I took one of the nuts off and measured the stud - 13.5 mm. OK I could not get deep with my digital calipers so I would assume it to be M14. However, then I measured the nut and it is 22.5 mm!

What gives? What torque settings should I use?

 

Mo, I'll be honest. I don't even look at the socket so I am not sure of the exact size... I just grab the green one! I used teflon coated sockets to keep from damaging the wheels and they are color coded.
I will look at the socket tomorrow to see what size it is but 22mm actually sounds right.
If a 19mm is too small then you need to do 140 with stock lugs.

 

I just checked and both 7/8" (green coded) and 22mm socket fit. So I definitely have M14 and need to torque nuts to 140lb-ft.

Thank evill3rd

 

So it's 140 lb-ft. Many thanks for your tenacity and the heads-up.

It all makes sense now...once again Cadillac did not edit or proof read the 2008 CTS Owner's Manual, and did not bother to deliver a correction or addendum to vehicle owners. Oh well, I've now corrected with red ink the erroneous entries on page 5-128. Thanks again, guys.

 

I rotated the wheels on my 2010 CTS wagon a few weeks ago. The owner's manual stated 140 ft-lbs for the wheel lug torque. That seemed very high but then again the lugs and lug nuts appear to be larger diameter than my vettes which require 100 ft-lbs. I used a Sears Craftsman micrometer type torque wrench that is always stored in my bedroom closet and always treated carefully and stored at 20 ft-lbs. A couple of my lug nuts scared me into thinking they were stripping threads until they finally reached the torque setting. I was just hoping that 140 ft-lbs wasn't an error in the owners manual. Is 140 correct in your past experiences?? :hmm:

 

I remember reading a post about one of the people on this board; he called his dealer out for over-torquing the lug nuts and ended up with a foot-in-mouth experience after finding the specification was greater than 100 lb-ft. It's definitely different, but nothing to worry about.


Edit: found the post http://www.cadillacforums.com/forum.../2008-cadillac-cts-general-discussion/140430-torque-setting-wheel-lug-nuts.html

 

My 2010 CTS Wagon uses 22mm sockets for the nuts. The owner manual states 140 ft-lbs. My vettes have M12 stud threads and use 19mm sockets on the nuts with 100 ft-lbs. The Wagon stud threads I am pretty sure are bigger then M12 so 140 ft-lbs would make sense but its over 40% more torque than the vette M12 studs.

 

Thanks for posting that thread link. Very interesting discussion making me feel more comfortable about 140 ft-lbs.