I would like to think so but experience shows me differently in this day and age.
Dealer Severely Overtightened Lugnuts!
- Thread starter SwampSurvivor
- Start date
I would like to think so but experience shows me differently in this day and age.
Ultimately it depends on individual values and taking pride in one's efforts. I also believe it is critical to success.
I will make mistakes; I will not hide them. Everyone affected will hear about it from me. Starting with my boss.
I asked the President of our major Semiconductor Mfg company what would happen if I made a mistake on my mission critical forecast application.
He stared at me with those cold steel eyes and said, "We will fix it and move forward."
Regarding torquing wheel fasteners 3x over spec; that is carelessness and is purely a management issue.
I guess because it's once in a while where we hear horror stories of wheels falling off. Who cares if it's overtightened by 150 ft. lbs, as long as he saves his butt my making sure they don't come loose. That's the mentality we're faced with. Just a fact of life these days, nobody saves or rebuilds a part anymore, safer to replace, this way their hands are washed of the matter. Done deal, sad but true.
Hey Miller88, love the avatar. I saw John 10 years ago in Joliet, IL. Yes, that Joliet, Jake.
You probably just have unrealistic expectations. At lower wage rates, you won't get a quality job. That's why it's common when an order gets screwed up at a fast food place. What do you expect for minimum wage? The manager is probably just making a few dollars more than the worker. You just have to be happy the wheel didn't fall off and got yourself killed on the way home. That's the type of pays your money and takes your chances world we live in.
True, but here all the dealer mechanics are union so if all the mechanics were all certified and the dealer is charging $120/hour so why wouldn't they do the work properly like they were taught? I've caught my dealer on several things before where things are missing or I've had to drive it straight back after I got home. Luckily I had another means of transportation otherwise I'd been out of a vehicle to go to work for another day or two.
EDIT: I'd like to add that yes some dealers do have lube techs that do the most menial job of oil changes and tire rotations but it's like "tight is tight" is a motto. At the BMW dealer I used to work for, some certified techs used torque wrenches on the wheel, some didn't. Not sure why there isn't an SOP for it.
I don't think techs get paid that much even when the dealer is charging $120/hour. One mechanic I use told me he got around $20-$25 an hour working at the dealer. I think he made up for it by getting paid for the hours that get billed so if he gets a 4 hour job done in 2, he can pocket that 2 hours that he'd be paid. Otherwise if it's just guys making minimum at the oil and tires, then no matter how you train them, they probably forget or they're not very good or they don't stick around long enough for it to sink in. I think on the flip side, if you take longer, you lose money so using a torque wrench would take longer and you'd lose money.
I see your point. We are, however, talking about properly installing wheels on a car. Done incorrectly, this could lead to a deadly situation. Also, my point is, if I pay the agreed amount, the shop (dealor or indie) needs to do their part. Just my 2 cents.
How long ago, roughly? As a foreigner, I'm just effin' flabbergasted how numbnuts rule everything in America (in many of not most cases)
Well if they blast it on with an impact, there will be no issues of the wheel falling off. You just end up with other issues. All in the name of speed and money. There are consequences to the race to the bottom.
Strip threads, distort rotors, damage wheels, break studs. Yes, the wheel can fall off.
Well we were talking about incompetents. Better for them to overtighten and risk those than not tightening at all. At least that's probably how the shops see it. .
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
I don’t see these threads as bashing or whining. I see it as truth. When I have one bad experience I go elsewhere. When multiple “elsewheres“ make the hair on the back of my neck stand up, there’s a systemic problem. @Wolf359 called out the root cause correctly.
Seriously, when a senior tech adamantly says that the service manual doesn’t include torque specs; when a service manager sprays coolant all over himself after being warned by ME that opening the hot pressure cap might be a bad idea; when wheel lug nuts are torqued so tightly that I can’t loosen then by bouncing on a breaker, etc., you start to realize a pattern.
I am more than willing to pay a good shop top dollar for things I can’t get done myself, that’s not why people like me are complaining. We’re complaining because simple, mechanic 101 stuff is being screwed up at an alarming rate. It’s not a coincidence that many of us have more “bashing” stories than praising stories.
Wheels falling off is RARELY reported from OVER torqued wheels.
Seriously, when a senior tech adamantly says that the service manual doesn’t include torque specs; when a service manager sprays coolant all over himself after being warned by ME that opening the hot pressure cap might be a bad idea; when wheel lug nuts are torqued so tightly that I can’t loosen then by bouncing on a breaker, etc., you start to realize a pattern.
I am more than willing to pay a good shop top dollar for things I can’t get done myself, that’s not why people like me are complaining. We’re complaining because simple, mechanic 101 stuff is being screwed up at an alarming rate. It’s not a coincidence that many of us have more “bashing” stories than praising stories.
Wheels falling off is RARELY reported from OVER torqued wheels.
For me, that's unacceptable. It's better to do it right; that's what I pay for. Clicking a torque wrench is not an advanced skill.
It is not about incompetent techs. It is about incompetent management, period.
I had a flat on my Magnum...wound up calling AAA because I could not get the lugs off with a 4-way! The guy AAA sent was a huge dude (6'4", easily 300+lbs, 3' shoulders) who looked like he was playing hooky from the Patriots defensive line...and HE needed a breaker bar with a pipe on it. The gorilla with the impact was the dealer...they'd just done the brakes.
You shouldn't need a 1" unless you work on dump trucks or heavy equipment.Ford truck? On a new to me F150 I had to use this arrangement to remove them from one wheel.
That's a 4 foot long 1 inch drive breaker bar with an even longer cheater pipe. Just getting the 25 pounds of metal on the lug nut was the hardest part. It was right after that, that I bought a 1" drive impact wrench. Also 25 pounds but much easier to maneuver.
Or it's a bad impact wrench.
Been there> I weighed 330lb. and could not get some off by jumping on a 4 way. Had taken it to dealer for oil change and tire rotation before my wife went out of town. Thought I would check when I got home. They will not do anything with my tires again.
Bought the 1" impact AFTER going through that ordeal.
I have popped lugs tightened to 400lb-ft with a 1/2" impact.
Of course...it is a Snap-On.
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