Lug nut torque?
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 4,300
Likes: 6
From: San Antonio Texas
Well, got her back and things are much better. Not totally perfect, but at least 90% better. It appears that the tech never did the front wheels correctly in the first place (aka, cut corners). This morning he had to rotate the tire in relation to the wheel because they didn't match up. Both front wheels (tires) were needing to be matched up. Both were at least 90 degrees off. So he had to remount both tires, with one needing to be remounted twice (he didn't do it quite right the first try). He told me he couldn't figure out how that could happen since he had done it all just three days ago. Well, I'm thinking, hell I know how it happened, it happened because he just didn't do it before. Period. It took him almost two full hours just to do both tires, while three days ago the whole job, four tires, took two hours.
And then I watched as they correctly torqued all four wheels, with a torque wrench.
Now I am sure that whenever I happen to stop in again for work needing to be done (again the only place in town with the right equipment), they will for sure have me in their computer with a red flag next to my info. And hopefully, that will mean that things will be done the right way the first time.
Thanks, everyone, for your help and your patience. This whole thing about being taken advantage of by some wrench jockey, really ticks me off. Lesson to remember; be there with your car, be insistant, and demand things to be done right. From now on, I am watching everything being done to my car, garage rules be damned.
Railfan
And then I watched as they correctly torqued all four wheels, with a torque wrench.
Now I am sure that whenever I happen to stop in again for work needing to be done (again the only place in town with the right equipment), they will for sure have me in their computer with a red flag next to my info. And hopefully, that will mean that things will be done the right way the first time.
Thanks, everyone, for your help and your patience. This whole thing about being taken advantage of by some wrench jockey, really ticks me off. Lesson to remember; be there with your car, be insistant, and demand things to be done right. From now on, I am watching everything being done to my car, garage rules be damned.
Railfan
Once I saw an independent shop mechanic with an air-driven chisel trying to chisel the shock bolt bracket off my Lincoln. All he had to do was take the weight off of the wheel. The bolt would have automatically dropped to the ground. Shop paid to have someone weld the bracket back on the car.
Last edited by z06Bigbird; Sep 1, 2007 at 01:49 PM.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 831
Likes: 0
From: Traverse City Michigan
OK, so now that the wheels are balanced as well as can be, I would appreciate your opinions on the alignment I got.
Front left: Camber -0.1 degree
Caster 6.8 degrees
Toe 0.07 degrees
SAI 8.5 degrees
Included Angle 8.4 degrees
Front right: Camber -0.1 degrees
Caster 6.9 degrees
Toe 0.02 degrees
SAI 8.6 degrees
Included Angle 8.6 degrees
Front
Cross Camber -0.1 degree
Cross Caster -0.1 degree
Cross SAI -0.1 degree
Total Toe 0.9 degree
Rear left: Camber -0.2 degrees
Toe 0.00 degrees
Rear right: Camber -0.2 degrees
Toe 0.02 degrees
Rear
Cross Camber 0.0 egrees
Total Toe 0.02 degrees
Thrust Angle -0.01 degrees
I told the tech (different garage, different guy) that I wanted an alignment that was easier on my tires, causing less wear. So how do these numbers look in regards to that, and to ride quality (smoothness). By the way, I have Michilen run flats with only seven thousand miles on them. Still am feeling some vibration throughout the car (not from the engine)....not as smooth as it was before I did all this stuff,
, but better than it was two days ago.
Thanks.
Railfan
Front left: Camber -0.1 degree
Caster 6.8 degrees
Toe 0.07 degrees
SAI 8.5 degrees
Included Angle 8.4 degrees
Front right: Camber -0.1 degrees
Caster 6.9 degrees
Toe 0.02 degrees
SAI 8.6 degrees
Included Angle 8.6 degrees
Front
Cross Camber -0.1 degree
Cross Caster -0.1 degree
Cross SAI -0.1 degree
Total Toe 0.9 degree
Rear left: Camber -0.2 degrees
Toe 0.00 degrees
Rear right: Camber -0.2 degrees
Toe 0.02 degrees
Rear
Cross Camber 0.0 egrees
Total Toe 0.02 degrees
Thrust Angle -0.01 degrees
I told the tech (different garage, different guy) that I wanted an alignment that was easier on my tires, causing less wear. So how do these numbers look in regards to that, and to ride quality (smoothness). By the way, I have Michilen run flats with only seven thousand miles on them. Still am feeling some vibration throughout the car (not from the engine)....not as smooth as it was before I did all this stuff,
, but better than it was two days ago.Thanks.
Railfan
Last edited by Railfan; Sep 2, 2007 at 04:48 PM.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 812
Likes: 8
From: Pleasanton CA
There is a section in the maintenance manual dedicate to vibration. It includes a step-by-step flow chart to test and verify where the vibration is comming from. Many times a tire or alignment job will not do it. I suggest (if it's that bad) you obtain a service manual and follow the process. Of course, you'll also find all the torque specs you need in the 'manual'...the best (and first) $100 I spent on my car...
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 831
Likes: 0
From: Traverse City Michigan
Thanks. I might just look into that. It is very frustrating to do everything you feel you can, and still not get the car to what it was earlier in the year.
Hate to get it aligned again, since I had the wheels balanced twice. Dont' want to spend more time and money if it isn't going to help. So....maybe I'll just take a gander at the manual that UR LZN suggested. Where can I find one?
Railfan
Hate to get it aligned again, since I had the wheels balanced twice. Dont' want to spend more time and money if it isn't going to help. So....maybe I'll just take a gander at the manual that UR LZN suggested. Where can I find one?
Railfan
