Lugnuts...

[General Zod]

So here I am at the office, doing a little Sunday OT. I glance out at my truck and realize the rear tire looks oddly low. Sure enough, there's a screw in the sidewall. So I get my spare down out of its little tucked-in storage spot, get the tire iron out and...can't budge the damn lug nuts.

I even STOOD on the tire iron. I weigh over 300 pounds. I can't budge the lugnut, but I flexed the tire iron so much some paint flaked off of it.

Fucking Discount Tire put the lug nuts on so hard they're apparently permanent. So now I'm having to drop $85 to get roadside assistance. Yay me.

 

[BRD@66]

Yeah, it's almost like they use some sort of machine to torque those nuts.
Almost off-topic, I did my tri-weekly tire pressure check & decided I might also check that hard-to-get-to spare. It had 18 psi. YMMV.

 

[busykngt]

Two very common problems which are incredibly frustrating to deal with! I *always* ask Discount Tire to “hand tighten” the lug nuts... but admittedly, I’m guilty of not usually checking them. (Guess I’m just expecting them to honor my request). Those guys can really crank that torque down using air wrenches!

And I think most everybody forgets to check the air pressure in their spare! I can never recall a time when I have remembered to check, that it didn’t need air. One of these days, that’s gona catch up with me! (And according to ‘Murphy’s Law’,.... at the worse possible time).

 

[TxStetson]

I always have an 18V Impact Wrench and a socket set with me, just for such occasions. I also carry a hydraulic jack, tire slime, plugging kit, and 2 different 12V air compressors. I ain’t walking out of any oilfield leases.

 

[Kar98]

Why is it always a competition which shop can tighten the damn lug nuts the most.

 

[grasshopperglock]

Instead of a lug wrench. Buy a craftsman or kobalt torque wrench.

When the lug nuts get over tightened or not enough. Different torque between the studs. It warps the shit out the rotor. Having a flat and hand tightening the spare(mini donut) to get home is fine. On the permanent wheel the lugs have to be torqued to the correct spec in a star pattern or things get phucked up.

Running the nuts up with an impact and guessing doesn't work anymore. The wheel studs require a certain and equal between them torque value.

 

[SloppyShooter]

I had the same problem on my truck, but while working on the brakes and an impact would barely loosen them.

Now they all have anti-sieze and are hand tightened . Next step....get a spare and tools in the truck to change a flat.

 

[Dawico]

Never had a problem with Discount Tire but I never use a factory tire iron either. That's for the unprepared.

 

[oldag]

I once had to lower the jack with the lug wrench properly positioned so that the weight of the car loosened the lug nut.

Very frustrating.

I do keep the spares aired up, but I am not as consistent as I once was checking the lug nuts after the tires have been rotated or change.

 

[TxStetson]

Never had a problem with Discount Tire but I never use a factory tire iron either. That's for the unprepared.

Exactly.

 

[HKShooter65]

Several great pearls in this thread!

Check your spare's pressure more than once a decade.

Buy a decent torque wrench.
I bought a nice Snap-On 20 years ago in a pawn shop.
Worth it's weight in gold.....er....maybe silver.

After anybody mounts your wheel(s) loosen it and torque it right. Takes just moments.

This one will be debatable:
Toss a small compressor and some pugs and some contact cement in your vehicle.
Can save a lot of trouble.


For all the incredible vehicular technologic sophistication our rubber tires are a weak point.

 

[vmax]

You needed a cheater pipe

 

[HKShooter65]

So now I'm having to drop $85 to get roadside assistance. Yay me.

I generally HATE paying for insurance.

But.....
6 drivers in the family.

The $200+ I've spent an AAA roadside assistance is the best-spent "insurance" I've ever invested in.

Once and it's paid for itself.
2017 we used it 5 times.

 

[Vaquero]

You needed a cheater pipe

You just barely got that edit in time.
Heh

 

[HKShooter65]

You needed a cheater pipe

Correct.
Though 300 lbs standing on the wrench was probably 500 ft/lbs of unsuccessful torque!!!

His nut is seriously rusted or seriously over torqued!!!
I had a flash back, just now, to using a 6 foot t-post and snow chains long long ago as a Tech student to unstick an over torqued rusted nut on a tractor in Wolforth!

It'll likely snap off and be even more costy.

 

[Texasjack]

Worked in a gas station years ago (back when they actually provided service) and ran into the same problem many times. We had an air wrench, but we hand tightened all lug nuts just to prevent the situation you're in.

A few years ago, I had a crew here re-roofing my house. The trailer they used to haul away the old roofing got a flat tire. The foreman on the crew broke out a brand new 4-way that he had just bought from Harbor Freight. Shiny and new! He was a strong, hard working fellow, so when he started turning the 4-way, it spun around almost 180 degrees - but the lug nut never budged!! The Harbor Freight 4-way was made out of Chinese steel that wasn't quite the quality of an average piece of rebar. The beautiful chrome plating peeled right off where the wrench torqued.

 

[SloppyShooter]

Several great pearls in this thread!

Check your spare's pressure more than once a decade.

Buy a decent torque wrench.
I bought a nice Snap-On 20 years ago in a pawn shop.
Worth it's weight in gold.....er....maybe silver.

After anybody mounts your wheel(s) loosen it and torque it right. Takes just moments.

This one will be debatable:
Toss a small compressor and some pugs and some contact cement in your vehicle.
Can save a lot of trouble.


For all the incredible vehicular technologic sophistication our rubber tires are a weak point.

Tried that, but the pugs pooped all over the place and then died.

 

[TheMailMan]

My auto insurance comes with free roadside assistance.

 

[pronstar]

My auto insurance comes with free roadside assistance.

Here’s what they don’t tell you: using insurance-provided roadside assistance can turn into something that counts against your insurance record.

Ask me how I know...despite having otherwise excellent USAA insurance, I have AAA now as well.


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[Kar98]

You needed a cheater pipe