thank you tire monkey !!! lug nut rant !

[rfuerst911sc]

I have a 2001 GMC one ton dually 4 x 4 I call KONG . Last year I had a local Pep Boys install 6 new tires. Today I was going to replace the diesel fuel filter which is a screw on type similar to an oil filter and it is in the engine bay on the passenger side. The easiest way to replace it ( I'm told ) is to remove the passenger side front tire, remove the plastic inner fender liner and voila the fuel filter is right there. So step one is to loosen the lug nuts.......you gotta be kidding me how many foot pounds of torque did you guys install these nuts with ????!!!!! I cranked up my IR industrial compressor, set my impact for stun and the lug nuts laughed at me I could not get one friggen lug nut loose ! I then tried a breaker bar with my 220 pounds bouncing off it no dice. I guess I'll have to get a piece of pipe to go over the breaker bar to see if I can crack these loose. I know this is a big heavy truck designed to pull/haul a lot of weight but common sense says they don't have to be this damn tight !

[stomachmonkey]

I usually slide the handle from my floor jack over the end of the breaker.

[masraum]

Never, ever go to Pep Boys for any reason!!! Years ago, I moved to Houston from FL. I had no friends or family where I could go to work on my car. I had very limited tools and space. When things went wrong that I couldn't do, I took my car to Pep Boys thinking that if anything went wrong, I could at least call the corporate 1-800 and complain, and be made right. I learned eventually that the Pep Boys 1-800 was crap and the service was even worse. It varied from mildly, maliciously irritating to horribly and completely incompentent. (really, I think 98% of my problems were due to gross incompentence with very little "let's just screw him, he'll never know the difference") Fortunately, I did know the difference and didn't let them intentionally screw me, but I did bear the brunt of the incompetence.

Reminds me of the rant from Lethal Weapon 2

They FOOK YOU at the drive-thru, okay? They FOOK YOU at the drive-thru! They know you're gonna be miles away before you find out you got fooked! They know you're not gonna turn around and go back, they don't care. So who gets fooked? Ol' Leo Getz! Okay, sure! I don't give a fook! I'm not eating this tuna, okay?

[masraum]

If you are looking for decent installers in your area, you may want to go to tirerack.com and check their list of installers. I think that their installers are more likely to be pretty good. I have used one and had good luck. I assume TireRack would remove them if they got complaints.

[sc_rufctr]

Sounds "painful"... A long time ago I was helping someone remove the lug nuts from an old Combi Van. Really old tires, lots of corrosion.
Long story short after spending most of the day failing (including bouncing on a breaker bar until it broke) he had to use a nut splitter to remove them.

I hope you have better luck.

[KNS]

On the Porsche I bring wheels in loose to preclude crap like this but it's not always possible with the daily driver.

So I brought my daily driver to C&R tire (a Tire Rack recommended installer) and had my breaker bar with me in the trunk. As soon as they finished installing the new tires I pulled out my breaker bar from the trunk and tried to break the nuts loose. Prior to starting the work I said to the guy at the desk: "Please make a note on the paperwork and do not over torque the lug nuts". He indeed wrote it down.

The breaker bar wouldn't budge. I was pissed. I walked in and got the manager whom I spoke with earlier, handed him my breaker bar and asked him to get any of the nuts loose. He couldn't. "How am I supposed to get this off on the side of the highway with a flat?" I asked - pissed.

He apologized and said they do it as habit because they don't wheels coming off on the road...

I wish I the equipment at home to do tires.

[wdfifteen]

Why don't they use torque sticks? They have no liability if the wheel comes off, as long as they can certify that they used the right stick.
My old Mercedes dealer had a great service manager. He had the crew torque stick the wheels on at a torque lower than spec. the use a hand torque wrench to tighten them.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by KNS

The breaker bar wouldn't budge. I was pissed. I walked in and got the manager whom I spoke with earlier, handed him my breaker bar and asked him to get any of the nuts loose. He couldn't. "How am I supposed to get this off on the side of the highway with a flat?" I asked - pissed.

He apologized and said they do it as habit because they don't wheels coming off on the road...

What a load of crap.

"they do it as a habit because they are lazy and it's quicker and easier"

Here ^, fixed it for him.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Why don't they use torque sticks? They have no liability if the wheel comes off, as long as they can certify that they used the right stick.
My old Mercedes dealer had a great service manager. He had the crew torque stick the wheels on at a torque lower than spec. the use a hand torque wrench to tighten them.

These looks cool. I guess they only twist so far before yielding. Is it possible to break them?

[Dantilla]

Local Discount Tire always does the final tightening manually with a torque wrench.
Even though I bring the car's wheels & tires to them in the back of my truck, I thank them every time for doing it properly.

I let them do the truck- The invoice lists the torque setting they used.

[fastfredracing]

I leave the wheel on, and just remove the fender liner .

[Yorkie]

They did the same thing to me and I ended up shearing the lug nuts on my wife's Previa. Took it back and they were most apologetic and comp'd me an oil change. You really should never go there.

[sugarwood]

All tire places I've ever gone to have torque sticks.
I specifically ask them to use them,

[rcecale]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

I usually slide the handle from my floor jack over the end of the breaker.

I have a 5-foot piece of galvanized fence-post that works wonders!

Randy

[varmint]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

I have a 2001 GMC one ton dually 4 x 4 I call KONG . Last year I had a local Pep Boys install 6 new tires. Today I was going to replace the diesel fuel filter which is a screw on type similar to an oil filter and it is in the engine bay on the passenger side. The easiest way to replace it ( I'm told ) is to remove the passenger side front tire, remove the plastic inner fender liner and voila the fuel filter is right there. So step one is to loosen the lug nuts.......you gotta be kidding me how many foot pounds of torque did you guys install these nuts with ????!!!!! I cranked up my IR industrial compressor, set my impact for stun and the lug nuts laughed at me I could not get one friggen lug nut loose ! I then tried a breaker bar with my 220 pounds bouncing off it no dice. I guess I'll have to get a piece of pipe to go over the breaker bar to see if I can crack these loose. I know this is a big heavy truck designed to pull/haul a lot of weight but common sense says they don't have to be this damn tight !

and you should take a moment to thank GMC for this piece of inconsiderate prick engineering.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Last year, I had a local tire store mount my snow tires on a spare set of rims.
They offered to switch the rims onto my car for free (I guess it was already built into the price- most people don't walk in with loose rims, but a nice gesture!!!!)
They switched them out, and went back with torque wrenches after for final adjustment.
I asked them what they torqued it too.

FWIW- Volvo's- 81ft/lb torque.
Which I remember since I commute on interstate 81 everyday.

Would I let any of them touch the aluminium lug nuts on the p-car? F@#$ no!!!!- Although the indie shop nearby has the right socket...

[biosurfer1]

This reminds me of why I won't use Toyota's dealerships to wipe my ass let alone touch my cars. Made the mistake of taking the wife's Highlander in for service since it was free (first 2 years). Went to do an oil change since they will only do it every 10k free, and her car has a cartridge instead of the spin on filter. I have the correct wrench and it took both feet against the wall with a breaker bar and extension and all my 250+ lbs pulling on it to get that thing off.

Know what TOYOTA recommends for the oil filter cartridge torque??? Just past hand tight!

[pen15]

No need to remove anything to replace the fuel filter on a duramax up to 2007. Can be easily replaced in 2-3 minutes from under the hood including the time needed to swap the water in fuel sensor and prime the filter.

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

I usually slide the handle from my floor jack over the end of the breaker.

Wait just a minute, people. SM just gave me an idea when he mentioned the floor jack.

Think about it.

Tick


Tock


Tick


Tock


Got it yet?


Slide a cheater bar over your lug wrench. Position the wrench on the lug so that the bar is in the 4:00 position.

Got it now?

Put the floor jack under the end of the cheater bar and apply 2 tons of pressure.



It'll either break off the lug or loosen it, right?

[porsche4life]

Way to think like an engineer Patrick!