Effects of overtorqued wheel lug nuts

[Fred Schwab <fschwab@cv.nrao.edu>]

     I believe it's true that overtorqued lug nuts can cause brake rotors
to warp.  Can overtorqueing also lead to wheel-bearing failure?  I had a
(rear) wheel-bearing failure on my '85 Alfa Spider a couple of months
after buying new tires, and when I removed the wheel it seemed to me as
though the tire shop mechanics may have overtightened the nuts.  (I
realize now that I ought to have re-torqued them myself.  But I realize
too that a wheel-bearing failure on a 13-year-old car shouldn't be
unexpected.)

                                    - Fred Schwab (fschwab@nrao.edu)
                                      Charlottesville, VA