Lug Nuts Outrageously Tight

[Mabuse]

So I bought a torque wrench so I could tighten my lug nuts to Toyota specifications (83 ft/lbs.). Previous to this all tire rotations have been done by the dealer every 5,000 miles.

So in order to tighten to 83 lbs I thought I ought to first loosen them. I used my OEM tire iron first. They were incredibly tight. I could not get them to budge. So I pulled out the new torque wrench and set it to 100 lbs, the wrench clicked immediately. I was fascinated, just how tight were these lug nuts? I kept inching up the lb's in order to find out just how tight these lugs were.

Would you believe 120 lbs?

Well you'd be wrong!

How about 160?

No f'ing way.

Would you believe over 180?

That's right. All four wheels. It took just over 180 ft/lbs to loosen the nuts.

What a joke. I am going to have the rotors inspected at the next maintenance interval, and if there is any warping they are going to replace it, because they tightened it 225% of spec.

I am also pissed because in my 24,000 miles I have been off road in some very remote places. Thank God I didn't have a flat, because I would not have been able to loosen the nuts to change the tire.

 

[drmorbius]

So I bought a torque wrench so I could tighten my lug nuts to Toyota specifications (83 ft/lbs.). Previous to this all tire rotations have been done by the dealer every 5,000 miles.

So in order to tighten to 83 lbs I thought I ought to first loosen them. I used my OEM tire iron first. They were incredibly tight. I could not get them to budge. So I pulled out the new torque wrench and set it to 100 lbs, the wrench clicked immediately. I was fascinated, just how tight were these lug nuts? I kept inching up the lb's in order to find out just how tight these lugs were.

Would you believe 120 lbs?

Well you'd be wrong!

How about 160?

No f'ing way.

Would you believe over 180?

That's right. All four wheels. It took just over 180 ft/lbs to loosen the nuts.

What a joke. I am going to have the rotors inspected at the next maintenance interval, and if there is any warping they are going to replace it, because they tightened it 225% of spec.

I am also pissed because in my 24,000 miles I have been off road in some very remote places. Thank God I didn't have a flat, because I would not have been able to loosen the nuts to change the tire.

When I had my brakes done I gave my mechanic all the parts in boxes from Toyota and also gave him the torque specs for everything and he kind of laughed at me and said this isn't as important as you think, and nobody checks this! I looked him right in the eye and said I want it done this way and if you can't or won't do it I will take it elsewhere. He got the message and did it right (I checked). I can't believe the dealer did that. It just shows that if you want it done right you either have to do it yourself or stand over the guy you get to do it. It really sucks because it's important!

 

[Ulfr]

Reminds me of broken bolts.. and 3 wheels, one missin'.

It's always better to just do things yourself. The professional guys are usually not that very professional...

 

[004Gunner]

I had one of those chain repair shops balance my tires several months ago and the lugs were so tight I had to use an impact to get them off. I think most grease monkeys just throw the impact wrench on the lug and let it go until the lug won't turn anymore. Breaking a wheel stud is no concern to them:bash:

 

[Mike07SE]

Exactly why I try to do all my own work. I work directly for an auto manufacturer where torque specs are of the utmost importance. Setting the torque wrench to the proper setting isn't good enough, we have to verify with a calibrated machine for each time. Dealer's don't care about this sort of thing. They're just going to thread the nut or bolt in a few turns and blast to hell with the air gun. Less time is more money to them.