I decided to torque my own rims today by hand. This is the most sensitive driving car I've ever had. My steering had a little play in it, I could move the steering wheel from left to right just a little while the car continued to drive straight. After I re-torqued the rims, the steering play was gone and the response returned. The lugs were not that loose but I was able to tighten each one about 1/4. Can enough power to the wheels cause the lugs to loosen?

 

It sounds like you have a vivid imagination.

 

What is a good size rim for the 2007 SL to maintain the ride

 

Torque wrench. Ever heard of one?

 

I like 18"s. I dont consider them too big or too small and ride quality is fine obviously since the SE versions come with stock 18"s anyways. I wouldnt do more than 20" rims though.

 

SmokinMax - 'Torqueing' means tightening to a preset tension as measured by a torque wrench. Simply tightening the lugs with a regular wrench by hand has no connection to 'torqueing'.

I was going to refer you to the torquing procedure as laid out in the stickies at the top of this 6th gen board, but the stickies are horribly screwed up right now. I tried ten times to read various specs stickies, and either I was not allowed to view them (even ones I had written) or the wrong one came up every single time. I don't recall that situation as having happened in all the years I have been here. I'm sure that will be corrected shortly.

Until the stickies are available again, I will simply say that the 6th gen Maxima is (as you said) extremely sensitive to everything concerning the wheels and tires. But changing the tightness of the lug nuts will have absolutely no connection whatsoever to steering play. Period. Believe it.

The recommended torque tension for the 6th gen Maxima is 80 foot-pounds. There is no way to obtain this correctly except by use of a torque wrench. If the lugs are too loose, a wheel may come loose/fall off. If the lugs are too tight, or vary in tightness, the rotors, or even the wheel can be warped. The usual mistake made when tightening without a torque wrench is to tighten the lugs too tight, as well as having some lugs slightly tighter than others. That is very bad.

Additionally, the order in which the lugs are tightened is important. It is called the 'star' method, because the order is to continually cross to the other side of the wheel after each lug is tight, with the movement pattern resembling a star.

Of course, for various reasons, the recommended torque can be varied (for reasons I won't bother you with, I torque all my lugs to 70 foot pounds). But every single lug MUST be torqued to exactly the same tightness as every other lug, and I would strongly recommend never exceeding 85 foot pounds (90 at the very most) with the 6th gen Maxima alloy wheels.

Just for comparison purposes, the torque tension for vehicles with steel wheels is always well over 100 foot pounds, which is easily obtained with any good tire wrench. If you exerted any meaningful effort in tightening your lugs, they are almost surely badly overtorqued.