I got my PowerStop rotors and Axxis pads put on the front at a shop yesterday. On the way home i felt a shuddering in the steering wheel around 70-75 mph. I thought that I now had to get my tire balanced but the wierd thing was that the prblem was not there prior to the work done so I was suspicious.

This AM before work I raised the car, loosened and tightened again all the lugnuts. Using the proper technique etc.

The problem is solved....

Those shops always use impact wrenches etc to tighten the lug because they are lazy! This is how many rotor get warped and ruined. I even noticed that one of the nuts was on MUCH tighter than the others. I'm glad I thought to do this as I could have future damage or wear due to these guys incompetance.

Just thought I'd share so others can look out for it.

 

I re-torqued all mine the other day after my drop was installed. Almost every lug was under-torqued.
I think tirerack also recommends re-torquing after about 100 miles when you take wheels off and put back on.

 

Yup... you guys are dead-on. Even in my car this is happening. I got new rims from a guy on here and had them re-balanced. After that happened my car still studders over 75mph. This weekend I will remove all lugnuts and tighten them with a torque wrench to the appropriate 80 pounds of torque. Hopefully that will solve the problem.....

 

AGREE

very good point, everybody should read this


if at all possible, avoid shops that don;t use a torque wrench to tighten things up....



i know one guy who lugs nuts came loose and the wheel nearly fell off when driving!

also true: if the lugs are overtightened or not tightened evenly, worped rotors acn occur.......

 

Great point!

After running at the track several weeks ago with my stock tires, I put the 18's back on. I hand torqued them pretty good, but forgot to re-tighten them after 100-200 miles. Yesterday, when I pulled the front wheels to check my brakes, they were too loose (not that they would have come off any time soon, but loose all the same).

 

I highly recommend everyone getting their own torque wrench especially after getting aftermarket rims.

 

ok so I need 12mmx 1.5 lug nuts. how so I know if they will fit under center caps? I have ADR-RS Limited Ricochets, and what is the correct torque to torque the lugs too, and what is a good price for a decent torque wrench?

 

thread back from the dead

Not sure what lugs you're using to fit your rims - stock or tuner?

For torquing, the manual says 80 lbs

I got my Gorilla torque wrench from tirerack for $29.99...and they have thin wall sockets if you need one too.

 

Good thread.

I hate watching shops with the impact wrenches and seeing how they tightened the lugs. Sometimes, you can actually see what looks like a puff of smoke coming from the wrench.

I hope everyone reads this. Not everyone knows how important it really is to have the lugs properly torqued.

 

Well now that were on the subject i know some of you have racing hart wheels...I brought my car to this shop couple months ago and now all my lugs are stripped pretty bad. The freakin guy used the wrong socket or something. Anyone know which size lugnuts i should buy? I think 12x1.5...not sure but everytime i go to the store none of the lug nuts fit under the center cap I need short ones...Anyone recommend any certain ones? And what size socket do i need to buy with the gorilla torch wrench? I have a 17mm socket but its to thick to fit...The racing harts are funky... Thankz :0

 

I know a kid who had a wheel fall off of his A4 after he was driving it home from the dealership after it sat there for 2 weeks getting a new tranny, it fell off at around 80mph on a freeway and messed up a bunch of underbody crap, he got it fixed and a new wheel all for free from them but he had to wait another 3-4 weeks

 

i take my tires to costco... they torqe the tires in a cross motion to the manufacturers specs. i have never had a problem and my family and I have taken over 6 cars to them. they charge 16 dollars for a rotation/high speed balance a real rotation back right to left front..... even directional tires they take off the rim and turn arround. best service for tires i have ever seen!...

 

Excellent thread! WHenever I get new tires I always redo the lug nuts since they are either on way to tight or not tight enough. My only other suggestions would be to remove the "center cap" (if you have one) on your wheels before yout take it in; I've had a few broken off in the past from tire places that careless when removing them.

 

post a pic of the RH's with the cap off

 

happened to me!! scary shit. luckily i was only going like 40 and slowed to like 20 before my car colapsed onto the front right wheel.

 

I tend to bring back the oldies... but I have aftermarket rims so tuner lugs. yeah what size socket do I need?

 

my friend caught a flat the other day in his 2.2

i got a question

i braught like 4 wrenches that take out lugs

and none of them fit

his rims had like 1 cm clearance space in between the whole in the wheel and the lug

whats that about how do u get the lugs out

 

do you mean 1mm gap? a cm is huge... probably one of those thin walled sockets that they are all talking about, but the question is what size will fit.

 

a 3/4" (19mm) thin wall socket can be used on the stock lugs or aftermarket rims that require a thin wall socket to fit into the holes with the 3/4" acorn type lugs.



tuner lugs should come with their own thin wall key

 

anyone know a set of tuner lugs that fit on RH's that come with sockeT?

 

ebay has several to pick from right now.

r0dxx, maybe you need the open ended kind of tuner lug. They might be shorter than the closed end kind.

Look for 12mm 1.50 for the size.