Tried to take my front right tire off today, because it was rubbing. It's not perfectly smooth that's for sure. Anyway, the damn place that put my tires on, put them on so damn tight! I was jumping up and down on the bar for 30 minutes before I got 1 nut off!

Then I couldn't get any of the others. I tried my lock nut and the bastards had it so tight it broke! Now my wheels can't come off!!!!!!!!

ugh I'm so pissed. Sorry I just had to rant, I went and bought an impact gun and finally got some nuts off but the locking nuts are screwed! I'm going to give them some shit tomorrow! They better be able to remove them without f'ing up my rims!

Definitely let them have it! One for being stupid and two, for being unprofessional. Any tire business / employee worth the rubber they sell should know that different cars have different bolt specifications as far as tightening them goes. I mean what if you had had an emergency with a flat and couldn't change your tire? Make sure you mention that and that they would have been held responsible! NEVER let them use an impact gun on your bolts! Always specify HAND tightening ONLY with a torque wrench.

This is exactly why I went out and bought a good shopjack with some jack stands and a good torque wrench and rotated my tires myself. Unless it involves the mounting and dismounting of actual rubber, I will not let anyone touch my wheels. Not to mention that I just plain like doing things for myself on my car and the cost of the hardware and tools will more than pay for themselves!

It happened to me some time ago, my protege's rear tires were mounted so tight that I broke 2 of the bolts, one in each of the rear tires. I haven't had time to have new bolts and nuts installed so now I'm running with 3 each. My protege is a 2000 lx with 4 nuts per tire.

Well the bolts aren't broke, it's the locking nut, so I'm sure they will get it off, it's just a pain in the ass, really if I was stuck I would have been screwed, I was jumping on the thing, that's at least 250pounds of pressure,that is for sure too tight. The impact gun I had does 240pounds and it took them off after hammering for a minute or so. I'm sure sure what the torque should be, but REALLY snug by hand should be enough in my books!

That is definitely WAY too tight!!! Just to give you an idea, the five bolts on my 1.8T Jetta with 17" wheels are suppose to be torqued to ~88 ft./lbs. From what I've heard and seen, most cars are typically between 80 and 90 ft./lbs for each bolt.

Not to make you feel any worse, but depending on your bolts, locks, and wheel design around the mounting holes, they may even have to drill your wheels in order to get them off. Hopefully they can do something like "slot" the head of the broken locks with a cutting tool enough to get them off that way or maybe use a stripped head bolt puller.

Look on the bright side....they will owe you a set of brand new wheels if they fudge them up!

and you can probably get a new set of locks with it..

Well, I went in this morning, the guys kept insisting they only use 90lbs of torque and only 50lbs on the locking nuts. So he proceded to use the special socket that threads on. He said he was hammering the thing and it wasn't coming off! He tried an air chisel as well, saying usually that will just inch it along enough to get it off. But it was soooo tight there was no chance he was getting it off.

So he said, he is going to have to either cut it off, but that might scuff the rims (only where the centre cap is) or drill it. He said he'll drill so I left the car there.

But they want ME to order the lock key to take the other three wheels off! I'm like, how abouts you just use your air chisel and get the other three off! Because if they get 1 off (already destroyed) what the hell am I going to do with a $20 tool that is useless. I'll just have to throw it out after.

GRRRRR. So hopefully they can get all the nuts off, and tighten them properly this time.

I guess they were in a hurry last time I don't know, I think I'll return the impact wrench I don't really need it, at least I shouldn't!

Speaking of bad times at car garages, the Bmw 3 series we used to have had and automatic locking system built into the alarm which locked the doors about 2mins after the ignition was turned off. Anyway we told the garage not to leave the keys inside so what did they do- left the keys inside anyway when I went to pick up the car they said that the keys are inside but the doors are locked. First they tried to get the keys out with a coathanger but then they realised that the wouldnt fit between the weather seal:headsmack and destroying the paintwork at the top of the door in the process. They then tried to pick the lock agin sctratching the paint around the window. Eventually they just had to smash the window.:mad: To repair all of this they gave us a minute amount of money for what cost much more than what the gave us!

NeverSieze.

A cheap can of this grey slime can save you LOTS of trouble! I work for a "very large oil company" at a refinery, and this stuff is standard issue for bolts that are removable.
We use it on the huge bolts that hold the tops on high pressure hydrogen reactors, each stud as big as your leg, and we want them to unbolt easily in two years, with no thread damage.

Cheap stuff, and it is the first job I do when I get a 'new' vehicle.

A good feeling after a sunny day of 'torque wrenching' in the driveway always beats jumping on a tire iron and cursing in the middle of nowhere.
Didn't help my jeep though - every time it SAW a lug wrench it would break one of its wheel studs. I know, I know, it was a jeep, what do I expect? It was also my last US made vehicle - coincidence? Maybe not.

Ray.

Yes, I think I will head to canadian tire and get some. I just got home from returning the impact wrench. I bought some good wheel cleaner to get that horrible break dust off my rims.

I try to get the wheels off, NO F'IN WAY! I should have tried BEFORE I brought back the wrench! I can't get them off again, F'IN MORONS! I got 1 bolt off, I jumped up and down for about 5 minutes on another and gave up!

They said they put them on at 80lbs, F that it's WAY more that that, they also said it was impossible for them to go tighter because that's how they set the impact gun. I think they just keep hamering on the thing! If you jerk a torque wrench it WILL NOT work!

Ugh! I guess I'll just jump when it warms up it's too cold out today, once I get them off I'm never going back there. They obviously don't know how to use a torque wrench!

Guys there is no way you should need to put on any kind of "antiseize" on the bolts/nuts. If torqued to spec, 80-90 ft/lbs you should be able to take them off without any problem. This is the shops fault for using a gun and over torquing the lug nuts.

Yeah, and I just wish I could take them off! Since they had to drill my bolt out I think they "fixed" my initial problem of a rubbing on my right front wheel. They had to remove the rotor and replace it. So that seems to be fixed.

I bought some cleaner for break dust and would like to use it! I'll probably drive down to my parents place next weekend and use my Dad's air gun.

This is what happens when "tools" try to use tools! LOL

Sorry to hear that they screwed up again. What a bunch of freaking morons. It's not bad enough they did it once, they wanted to see if they could make it so you couldn't even get one bolt of I guess. When you eventually do get them off, make sure to check the threads on your bolts. They may have screwed the threads up in the process.

By the way...you should have told them that 80-90 ft./lbs. doesn't mean letting the impact gun hit the bolt 80-90 times after it screws on! ;)


Like my first post said HAND TIGHTEN ONLY...they must have some wimpy teenagers working there if they can't even turn a torque wrench to 80-90 ft./lbs. ;)

Good advice for everyone out there....go to Sears and buy a good Craftsman torque wrench for anywhere from $70-100 depending on the type of adjustment desired. It will be money well spent!

Well I would buy a torque wrench but that won't help me get them off ;)

I pretty much know how much 80-90lbs is, it's less than JUMPING force. Basically I tighten till my strength runs out, without heaving. This is what I did last time with the torque wrench so it would be essentialy the same (unless I got stronger).

At least I know if I put them on as tight as I can, I will be able to get them off!

Leverage makes a hell of a difference, too.

I've had to change flats a few times. My wife's little '97 Tracer had a little L-shaped device with a handle maybe 8 inches long. Every time I tried to change a flat, the thing was less than useless. I could jump on it - literally - with no results. I'd have the whole car rocking back and forth from the motion.

After the second time that happened, I bought a standard X-shaped tire iron. The two metal bars were maybe 16" long. The lug nuts I couldn't budge came off easy as child's play. A 12 year old could have used it to change the tires.


I'm not saying that's the case here. If a standard tire iron could solve your problem, then their machine could certainly have done the job. That's not the case, so they've got to be doing something else wrong.