mechanics who dont torque wheels

[Carnoobie]

With a torque wrench after reinstalling tires. Bad avoidable mechanic? I hate to say it but i wouldnt go back to any mechanic who doesnt double check with a torque wrench after putting back on tires.

Cause i notice some just put them back on with the gun and thats it.

 

[Bluestream]

Yeah, they're flat rates tech for the most part. They don't have time to use a torque wrench, they need to make money and on the the next vehicle.

Impact....Braaaap and job is done....

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Carnoobie
Cause i notice some just put them back on with the gun and thats it.

That describes majority of the tire shops around here, unfortunately. Even at more upscale shops, I've never seen anyone actually use a torque wrench on wheels. It takes too much time.

 

[NHGUY]

Flat rate=Big money for the shop,small money for the tech,and a potentially sloppy job.I used to work in a dealership shop,and I saw firsthand how techs were not given time to do things right,and meant comebacks that techs didnt get paid for.

 

[spackard]

Last set of tires I bought was at a high-volume tire store. One mechanic took wheels off, another mechanic dismounted, another mounted, another installed, and a senior torqued with a wrench and wrote on the work order each wheel.

 

[E365]

I don't even let the tire place touch my car anymore. If I need a tire plugged or new tires I bring the wheels in loose and then bring them back home to install myself. I also like to wire brush the hubs clean and apply a thin coat of grease to the hubs, in addition to the wheel torque

 

[Eddie]

Amazing that my WalMarts guys actually use a torque wrench to tighten down lugs. They even checked the store computer to get the correct spec for my vehicle. 4 tires front-cross rotated for $12. I give him a $5 tip. Ed

 

[BrownBox88]

I avoid at all costs. When I lived in Pensacola, a local mom and pop tire store with several stores throughout the city, called Vannoy's. Their techs were experienced, but did not give a [censored] when putting wheels back on. I'll never let a garage like that touch my Evo again.

 

[eljefino]

I worked at a tire shop where it was store policy to finish with a torque wrench. I "knew" my impact and would spin stuff down to 60 ft lbs or so then follow up with the precalibrated, color coded, idiot proof wrench. The nuts always turned a little more, showing I did it right. We had a chart with torques for everything out there.

Coworker gunned 'em on plenty hard and her torque wrench never moved afterwards. Her policy was 80 ft lbs for small cars, 100 for big, and 120 for trucks.

One time I found her putting anti sieze on some lug studs because "the lugs came off hard"... probably one she did some time before!!

 

[Rock_Hudstone]

Firestone Auto care uses a torque wrench, I watched the guy myself last time I was in there. Probably a company rule no doubt and little to do with wanting it done correctly on the part of the tech.

My local mechanic, ah, not so much, but he is very good otherwise and I never use him for anything tire related if I can help it.

 

[yonyon]

The big torque wrenches with a knob on the side rated at +/-20% and built for being dropped on the floor and run over by tire guys aren't the most precise instruments available. Factor in a tire guy guy who just puts it on the lug and jerks the handle to make a click noise instead of using the torque wrench to tighten the lug and you're looking at a %error higher than you would see with a cross wrench. If I have to let a tire tech tighten my wheels I'm going to hand him a torque stick and tell him to gun them on using that. If he uses the stick and then "uses" the torque wrench afterwards I'll take the [censored] torque wrench and "use" it on his teeth.

 

[Rock_Hudstone]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Coworker gunned 'em on plenty hard and her torque wrench never moved afterwards.

"Her"??

 

[tommygunn]

I throw my tires on with an electric torque wrench at home, take a short drive, then finish off the bolts with my spare tire wrench. All by hand, no torque wrench.

How many people here do that is a good question because for being this anal about wheel torque, a lot of the time it doesn't even stay right after the first bit of driving around.

Reality is if its so tight King Kong can't get it off yeah; thats pretty ignorant, because I've tried to change flat tires on cars before where you have to stand on the tire wrench to crack the bolt free, and thats absolutely overkill and making it impossible to change a flat, but I think complaining about it not being down to specific foot-pounds within %5 of what the specifications are...you're worrying way too much.

Unless you got aluminum mag wheels or something because overtightening on that I've heard can be a nightmare on your rims. Steel rims? Pretty much as hard as you can pull with one arm, for me at least, is about a hundred foot pounds. Never once had an issue.

If you wanna call me an idiot for it feel free. I will agree though that most tire shops are run by monkeys and I completely loathe the impact-everything-to-200-foot-pounds mentality.

 

[The_Eric]

Many of you guys are getting your shorts in a bunch for nothing. Torque sticks work fine. If they were a safety concern, the industry would have ditched them long ago.

I've used them since I started at the shop I'm at now 2 1/2 years ago and have not had any issues. We have many repeat customers and I've had their tires off and on several times for varying reasons. Each time the lugs will come off just fine and NEVER in the history of the shop have we had a wheel come off due to improper torquing.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Torque sticks work fine.


You are correct. Torque sticks work fine.
It's the uninformed idiot techs who use them that give them a bad name. About a year ago, a lady that I know lost her front wheel on her minivan because the lugs broke off. She had a tire repaired the day before and her van (and her twin 5 year old daughters in the van) lost control, swerved, and barely missed oncoming traffic. It could have been bad. Of course, it wasn't possible to prove anything, but for the lug studs to simply snap off without warning was probably the fault of the tire shop.

 

[sciphi]

I always torque the wheels with a torque wrench. Of course, I'm just a weekend warrior who wrenches on the family cars.

The local Wal-Mart TLE torques the wheels using a torque stick, and then finishes off with a torque wrench. The local mechanic who does a much more careful job mounting/balancing just guns them on. I take those lugs off and re-do at home after inspection.

 

[Carnoobie]

What if the mech says you dont need to retorque tires after you put them on? He just uses his impact gun, sets to 90 ft lbs or whatever and thats it

 

[spasm3]

I take my wrench with me to the tire place. I loosen and the torque them all the same before the brake rotors see and heat. I don't seem to ever get warped rotors since doing that. In addition if i can't get the lug loose i have not left the tire place.

 

[HTSS_TR]

These places use torque wrench: Walmart TLE, Discount Tires/America Tires, Costco.

 

[steveh]

Every time I go to Walmart for my lifetime rotation they torque them. Then they drive some figure eights in the parking lot and re-torque them.