Stop torquing dryershaft nuts to 60 ft-lbs, it's stripping them

I've pulled three failed dryer drums in the last two months and every single one had a stripped shaft nut. People are cranking these things way past spec because the old manuals say 60 ft-lbs, but modern drums use a different hub design. I checked my torque wrench against a certified one last week in Phoenix, so I know my readings are right. The real number for most Whirlpool and Maytag models since 2019 is 35 ft-lbs, plus a drop of thread locker. Has anyone else seen this pattern or am I the only one dealing with this lately?

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joelsanchez17d ago

That’s a real surprise to me, honestly. I’ve been doing this for years and always trusted the old spec, never even questioned it. Last month I torqued a newer Maytag hub to 60 and it felt off, like the threads were fighting me, so I backed off to around 40 and it held fine. Your post lines up with what I saw, and now I’m wondering how many of my early repairs are gonna come back on me. Gonna grab my torque wrench and double check the calibration this weekend, your Phoenix note makes me want to verify mine too. Thanks for putting this out there, this could save a lot of us some headaches.