Split rims how tight

[joncrane]

I recently had my wheels respoked (21" split rim). I am mounting the rims on the felloes with 4 lug nuts per wheel. Rims do not want to go up tight against the steel felloe. How tight should the lugs be against the felloe? Somewhere I read a 3/8" was acceptable. If I cross pattern tighten the lugs and take them to 50# torque is that sufficient? I recall that you can bend a wood spoked wheel by trying to force the matter.
Any thoughts?

 

[redmodelt]

They just need to be tight and checked every so often. There is no torque value and thinking that 50 would be too tight. The rim should rest evenly against the flange on the back side.