How to tighten knuckle bolts

[G26okie]

Want to check the torque on the knuckle bolts, but I was curious as to how to tighten them.

The bolt itself has a torx or star female end where the nut goes. Do I need to get a bit in there to hold it and then a wrench on the nut, or can I just get a deep socket on the nut and torque?

 

[XLR82XS]

Recommend using the correct TORX bit.

 

[Raro]

If you do it with the car sitting on the ground you won’t need the torx. You might not need it even if you are jacked up. It’s only there so the joint doesn’t spin as the nut goes on for the first time in the factory.

The torque is reacted on the taper once the joint is seated. That little torx won’t hold anywhere near the 130 some odd ft/lb that the nut gets torqued to.

 

[Occhis]

That torx is used most often when removing the ball joint, as it will tend to spin as it loosens especially if the threads have debris that hinders the removal of the nut.

 

[G26okie]

Thanks for the replies guys. another forum member who had these loosen just threw a socket on it without issue. I did the same, got them to spec, one on each side was slightly under.

 

[dsgerbc]

Are you talking about this bolt?

I did those when I was swapping suspension and then again for upper control arms.
The torx bit was somewhat helpful, but I don't think it was necessary to tighten things up. That bolt only needs 50-60ish Nm. If you can get it snug, tightening further did not make it rotate for me. That's a sample size 1 though.