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From: NNCC No Name Car Crew; Owned 1 C2, 2 C3's, 1 C4, 3 C5's, 1 C6, 2 C7's; Now '86, '03; S. DE
2024 C5 of the Year Finalist - Modified
2024 C4 of the Year Finalist - Modified
2024 Corvette of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C3 of the Year Wnner - Unmodified
2023 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
St. Jude Donor '21-'22-'23-'24-'25-'26
Something Was Wrong
Had some of the fellers over today for a brake pad exchange from dusty to Power Stop ceramics. Normally, taking off the wheels are done by hand, breaker bar, etc., then put back on with a 100 ft pd tightening. Getting a wheel off, not happening, could not break loose any of the lug nuts. Tried a 600 ft pd torque impact gun, nothing. Used a 4 ft long steel pipe on the breaker bar, again......nothing.
Owner is taking it back to the tire shop that did the last tire / wheel work on it. Someone screwed up, I see an *** chewing coming up on proper torque tightening.
Just a 150# guy leaning on a 4ft pipe = 600# of torque. I'd be ordering lugs and lugnuts. A 4ft pipe that won't break it loose says to me that they are so over tightened that they may be stretched/damaged.
For some reason,,,,, people think they have to tighten the crap out of the lug nuts. I would be willing to bet if you used just 50 LBS you would never have an issue.
Noobe with a big impact wrench and no torque sticks or torque wrench.
DT uses a impact wrench with the regulator turned down with torque sticks for the first 50 - 70 lbs and then finishes up with a torque wrench to the proper torque in a star pattern.
I had the same experience with my new 06 GT Mustang. using a proper lug nut socket and 4 foot cheater bar and all my 180 lb weight to break them loose, all of them. Made the dealership give me new lug nuts.
This is why I only take tire shops the tires and wheels. You just can not predict what they will do. Bit of a pain, but I just take 'em off and take 'em in. Hope your rims aren't damaged. Good luck!
An Impact gun should never be used to tighten wheel lug nuts
Why? I do it all the time and never had an issue. I start the nuts or bolts by hand and set it to medium setting. There is PLENTY of torque left for the torque wrench to do it's job. OTOH, if you start it by impact and it is cross threaded and you jam it in with the impact at the highest setting, you are screwed. My bet is that someone started the nut by impact and forced it on which is why it is what it is.
This is why I only take tire shops the tires and wheels. You just can not predict what they will do. Bit of a pain, but I just take 'em off and take 'em in. Hope your rims aren't damaged. Good luck!
I disagree. My techs are known to me. I can trust them to do it right or let me know where it went south. When I bring it to Discount Tire or Costco or whatever place, I watch what they do from outside the door, in the cold, if needs be. When they do the tire mount and balance, you can watch from the customer lounge. When they start to bolt stuff up, I'm definitely watching it as closely as a teenager watches the detains in a **** movie.
I disagree. My techs are known to me. I can trust them to do it right or let me know where it went south. When I bring it to Discount Tire or Costco or whatever place, I watch what they do from outside the door, in the cold, if needs be. When they do the tire mount and balance, you can watch from the customer lounge. When they start to bolt stuff up, I'm definitely watching it as closely as a teenager watches the detains in a **** movie.
Glad that works for you. Not sure how you can watch a torque value. I fortunately do not know "my techs" as I am able to maintain my own rides. Every journey into a auto shop is an unknown to me and I strive to avoid them. I recently had a Chevy dealer in PHX telling me I had a blown head gasket on a '14 with 45000 easy miles. I took it out of their hands. It was a 15 minute, $110 fix because the plastic coolant tank had popped at a seam. Easy find with a cooling system pressure check. I don't trust nobody but me anymore...... sad state quite frankly.
EDIT: They had the car for 6 days.....put a 100 miles on it while they were "diagnosing"...... M#^$(&F&^!@#$s
Last edited by rdbragg; Nov 1, 2024 at 01:57 AM.
Reason: Add additional detail
Wonder if someone decided to put red thread lock on it? If one was cross threaded I doubt all would be cross threaded.
Torque sticks are unreliable - You tube video showed big difference between brands and a big difference between an air and battery impact wrench using the same stick.
I remove lugs with impact - but always hand start the nut and use the impact at lowest setting (first bump stop) then use a torque wrench for final tightening
really would like to know the entire story and it's conclusion
Glad that works for you. Not sure how you can watch a torque value.
I fortunately do not know "my techs" as I am able to maintain my own rides. Every journey into a auto shop is an unknown to me and I strive to avoid them. I recently had a Chevy dealer in PHX telling me I had a blown head gasket on a '14 with 45000 easy miles. I took it out of their hands. It was a 15 minute, $110 fix because the plastic coolant tank had popped at a seam. Easy find with a cooling system pressure check. I don't trust nobody but me anymore...... sad state quite frankly.
EDIT: They had the car for 6 days.....put a 100 miles on it while they were "diagnosing"...... M#^$(&F&^!@#$s
You can see the color of the torque stick. I always have them use the lowest one and I do the final setting. I let them know I have anri-seize on the threads, which I do. I also have my own torque wrench with me.
When I was younger sure. Save some money from DIY. I didn't believe I could get hurt and I didn't have toys to play with. Today, I have reminders of what could happen when you don't have the right tools to do something. I understand why you don't trust mechanics. I used to think that too concerning anyone who worked for me. Cars, home, landscaping companies, etc. I have learned that trust is EARNED, not given. If I choose to get a random tech, most of the time, I get away with it. Just saying. If I want to improve my odds, I have to get properly acquainted with them.
This isn't a problem if I know the tech. I had someone daily drive it and they finally found the intermittent fault after 150 miles. They do small jobs first so I can build confidence in them.
I remove the wheels and tires and take them to town to have new tires installed. I then bring them home and use an impact wrench/gun on setting 1 out of 3 to sinch the nuts down in a star pattern after I get them started by hand. Then I use a torque wrench in a star pattern to bring them up to specification and double check them.
I have been doing this for decades and it minimizes the possibility of a screw up or accident and only takes a bit more time out of my day. We each have our own methods that work well for us based on our experience, tool inventory, workspace and available time.
Here for the follow-up story
Something Was Wrong
