Why dont tire shops use torque wrenches?
06-28-08, 03:46 PM
#1
Why dont tire shops use torque wrenches?
Hi everyone
I recently had a warped rotor issue on my 07 camry. 80% pads left but warped rotors. We dont drive it too hard, this seemed odd. Anyways, had the rotors resurfaced at toyota and noticed they did not torque the lugs on. I know this is a contributor to warpage so I went and bought a torque wrench. I came home and used the little wrench in the trunk to slightly loosen the lugs so i could re-tighten with torque wrench. Much to my surprise the effort which I had to use to loosen the lugs was considerably different. Then I torqued them all to 80. (manual calls for 76 i think). So then I went to my 06 GS which recently had a front brake service, and to my surprise a few of the lugs I could barely remove. I had to literally put all my weight on the tip of the wrench and in some instances had to step on this with alot of force....does this seem odd? why would they not torque them properly? I guess the lesson learned is whenever you get the wheels removed, make sure to have them torque them or do it yourself.
I recently had a warped rotor issue on my 07 camry. 80% pads left but warped rotors. We dont drive it too hard, this seemed odd. Anyways, had the rotors resurfaced at toyota and noticed they did not torque the lugs on. I know this is a contributor to warpage so I went and bought a torque wrench. I came home and used the little wrench in the trunk to slightly loosen the lugs so i could re-tighten with torque wrench. Much to my surprise the effort which I had to use to loosen the lugs was considerably different. Then I torqued them all to 80. (manual calls for 76 i think). So then I went to my 06 GS which recently had a front brake service, and to my surprise a few of the lugs I could barely remove. I had to literally put all my weight on the tip of the wrench and in some instances had to step on this with alot of force....does this seem odd? why would they not torque them properly? I guess the lesson learned is whenever you get the wheels removed, make sure to have them torque them or do it yourself.
06-28-08, 06:15 PM
#2
Hi everyone
I recently had a warped rotor issue on my 07 camry. 80% pads left but warped rotors. We dont drive it too hard, this seemed odd. Anyways, had the rotors resurfaced at toyota and noticed they did not torque the lugs on. I know this is a contributor to warpage so I went and bought a torque wrench. I came home and used the little wrench in the trunk to slightly loosen the lugs so i could re-tighten with torque wrench. Much to my surprise the effort which I had to use to loosen the lugs was considerably different. Then I torqued them all to 80. (manual calls for 76 i think). So then I went to my 06 GS which recently had a front brake service, and to my surprise a few of the lugs I could barely remove. I had to literally put all my weight on the tip of the wrench and in some instances had to step on this with alot of force....does this seem odd? why would they not torque them properly? I guess the lesson learned is whenever you get the wheels removed, make sure to have them torque them or do it yourself.
I recently had a warped rotor issue on my 07 camry. 80% pads left but warped rotors. We dont drive it too hard, this seemed odd. Anyways, had the rotors resurfaced at toyota and noticed they did not torque the lugs on. I know this is a contributor to warpage so I went and bought a torque wrench. I came home and used the little wrench in the trunk to slightly loosen the lugs so i could re-tighten with torque wrench. Much to my surprise the effort which I had to use to loosen the lugs was considerably different. Then I torqued them all to 80. (manual calls for 76 i think). So then I went to my 06 GS which recently had a front brake service, and to my surprise a few of the lugs I could barely remove. I had to literally put all my weight on the tip of the wrench and in some instances had to step on this with alot of force....does this seem odd? why would they not torque them properly? I guess the lesson learned is whenever you get the wheels removed, make sure to have them torque them or do it yourself.
lug nuts do tend to take more force to remove than they do to install, however, so, it may not be as real of an issue as you think... the little wrench in the trunk is not long enough to get any real leverage with... I have people complain all the time about lug nuts being too tight, and every time I've taken a real lug wrench and done it by hand quite easily... especially chevy and ford trucks (140-160 lb ft)...
06-28-08, 06:50 PM
#3
Mitsuguy is right. Only the reputable shops do everything by the book and use torque wrenches. At America's Tire Co/Discount Tire Co we make our guys torque in a star formation and then check torque in a circle formation.
Also, I have had a customer complain about over torque causing rotors to warp. Is this true?
Also, I have had a customer complain about over torque causing rotors to warp. Is this true?
06-28-08, 06:53 PM
#4
Mitsuguy is right. Only the reputable shops do everything by the book and use torque wrenches. At America's Tire Co/Discount Tire Co we make our guys torque in a star formation and then check torque in a circle formation.
Also, I have had a customer complain about over torque causing rotors to warp. Is this true?
Also, I have had a customer complain about over torque causing rotors to warp. Is this true?
06-28-08, 07:03 PM
#5
One of the lugs needed me to step on and rock my weight on the wrench to loosen it....I wonder what the torque on that one was??
Yes, the short little trunk thing does not get enough torque itself so things seem tighter....but still it should be somewhat easy to remove a 76 lb torqued lug without having to jump on it....God, the squeak I heard from a couple of lugs made me cringe.....
Yes, the short little trunk thing does not get enough torque itself so things seem tighter....but still it should be somewhat easy to remove a 76 lb torqued lug without having to jump on it....God, the squeak I heard from a couple of lugs made me cringe.....
06-28-08, 07:03 PM
#6
I actually think if you were to do a study about that, you would find its more along the lines of unevenly torqued wheels that can cause this, not necessarily overtorqued wheels...
but to be simple, wrongly torqued wheels can lead to brake pulsation, however, it's not something that happens overnight... it's typically 3-5000 miles down the road... a few thousandths parallel variation is about what an uneven torque will cause the rotor to warp (a thousandth of an inch is about the thickness of 3 sheets of paper)... anyways, a few thousandths is typically within specs of parallel variation in a rotor, however, once that unevenness has built up a thin layer of pad material, voila - brake pulsation due to uneven tightening of lugs...
but to be simple, wrongly torqued wheels can lead to brake pulsation, however, it's not something that happens overnight... it's typically 3-5000 miles down the road... a few thousandths parallel variation is about what an uneven torque will cause the rotor to warp (a thousandth of an inch is about the thickness of 3 sheets of paper)... anyways, a few thousandths is typically within specs of parallel variation in a rotor, however, once that unevenness has built up a thin layer of pad material, voila - brake pulsation due to uneven tightening of lugs...
06-28-08, 07:05 PM
#7
One of the lugs needed me to step on and rock my weight on the wrench to loosen it....I wonder what the torque on that one was??
Yes, the short little trunk thing does not get enough torque itself so things seem tighter....but still it should be somewhat easy to remove a 76 lb torqued lug without having to jump on it....God, the squeak I heard from a couple of lugs made me cringe.....
Yes, the short little trunk thing does not get enough torque itself so things seem tighter....but still it should be somewhat easy to remove a 76 lb torqued lug without having to jump on it....God, the squeak I heard from a couple of lugs made me cringe.....
no, thats still pretty typical... I hand torque all my own wheels, and when I painted my car last year, I used a standard 4-way and it had been about 6 months since the wheels had been removed, and I had somewhat of a hard time with a couple... even though I know I torqued them all evenly, a few came off harder than others, with some offending squeaks... I'm not saying they weren't uneven or anything, but, some of that is normal...
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06-30-08, 09:26 AM
#8
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the big corporate ones like justtires, america's tire, etc go by the book and do everything by company policy, which includes properly torquing the lug nuts.
however, a lot of shops could care less. Using the air gun with sensiitve wheel locks, using the airgun to torque the wheels leaving the lug nuts and lug bolts over tightened, stripped, broken.
however, a lot of shops could care less. Using the air gun with sensiitve wheel locks, using the airgun to torque the wheels leaving the lug nuts and lug bolts over tightened, stripped, broken.
which gave me a huge laugh.
07-02-08, 02:50 AM
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LOL
I just got new tires today at American Tire C0 (aka Discount Tire) I asked the same question and they say they do Torque the lug nuts.
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