When I was a teenager my Dad shared a wheel torquing tip with me that I have used with great results. I don't think it's common knowledge and I thought I'd share it.
Dad learned it in the late fifties at the age of 16 from a mechanic who serviced heavy equipment in the field, and saw it reinforced as a vehicle tech in the Canadian Army. It applies to anything that needs to have multiple fasteners torqued in sequence and is especially useful in situations where the fasteners are hard to get at for re-torquing.
Most of us know that lug nuts should be tightened in proper sequence.
We also know that lug nuts should be torqued to the proper specification, usually found in the owner's manual.
But the missing ingredient is gradually increasing the torque: Dad taught me to do it in thirds. So after I have tightened the bolts by hand, gently snugged them up with a socket and breaker bar and lowered the wheels to the ground, I set my torque wrench to one third of the specification and go around to each wheel, torquing the nuts in the proper pattern. Then two thirds for all the nuts, then the full spec. The reason is the amount of stretch that is put into the lug bolts, and the point of the torque staging is to minimize the difference in stretch between bolts during tightening.
Dad has used this method ever since he joined the Army at 19, and I've used it since he taught it to me.
Of course, it's not a big deal to check your trailer lug nut torque half a dozen times after every removal of the wheels and I check mine before every trip... but I've never had one loosen.
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