finalcross

iTrader: (3)

I finally decided to paint my calipers. Freaken took forever. Did 2 wheels at a time. I was about to take off my right rear wheel but no matter what, I couldn't do it. I used the tire iron for the spare. I kept trying all of them and finally got the one with the wheel lock loose after it make like a really loud metal to metal grinding noise. I then tried the other ones again and one of them made the metal to metal grind noise so I stopped and didn't want to mess with it.

Now I have 3 calipers painted silver and 1 wheel that won't come off.

They shouldn't be permanently stuck because I just got my rims changed recently and the other ones came off fine. Should I just go to any tire/mechanic shop and tell them to use their air compressor to loosen it for me just in case I get a flat?
and
Is tightening the lug nuts by stepping on the tire iron until it won't move anymore tight enough or should I have a tire shop spec them to whatever lb/ft they need to be at?

01tl4tl

spec is 80 foot pounds
the old school method of standing on the lug wrench will do if you have a flat
until you get home to a torque wrench and the real tire put back on

likely: the tire shop blasted them on instead of bringing up slowly and equally to spread the load outwards.
Go back and ask them to loosen and bring back to 80

finalcross

iTrader: (3)

I think that is exactly what happened. I remember asking the guy "how do you know if its tight enough?" because he wasn't using anything to measure it. He said "you just tighten it until you can't tighten it anymore." and put his air compressor in and "tightened" all of them to show me. That is the exact tire that I can't take off.

Gfaze

Never take your car there again. That guy doesn't know what he's doing.

01tl4tl

bet he tightens each one fully rather than the correct star pattern we all know
A shop air compressor will easily put lugs or any bolt to 130+++ foot pounds
I have seen caliper brackets put on that high!!!

acutee

x2. each equip has its own tq capacity, and if they have no tq measurement, they must be familiar with their equipment and know when to stop, not just keep shooting it.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Great Title! two

wng

Get a long length of pipe that will fit over the handle of your tire iron and you should be able to use the additional leverage to turn it. If it still won't budge, put your hands on the top of your trunk and use your body weight and stand and bounce on the pipe. Be careful, though, the lug nut could give way very quickly so if you're not prepared for it, you could twist your ankle, which is why you brace yourself on the truck and transfer your weight to the trunk if necessary.

01tl4tl

let the offending shop loosen it- if there is other damage as a result,, you want it to happen there!

dont risk your back, neck, or extremities--for all you know its at 180 foot pounds!

01tl4tl

note- I have seen over-tightened caliper bracket bolts (132 ft lbs, spec is ~ 50) RIP the threads out of the bracket,,thread curl comes right out with the bolt on removal--
rendering bracket useless (cant buy it alone anywhere but junkyards) and allowing caliper to move under braking--not cool at all

every single bolt has a torque spec- its there for a reason!
Note 2: tightening pattern on wheels affects rotors and axle hub if done wrong

VQPower37

lol ... i thought this thread was about something else

finalcross

iTrader: (3)

I just wanted to know the worse that will happen if i stomp on it too hard? I didn't want to over do it because I over did it on one of the nuts and it made like a metal to metal grinding sound so I stopped. Is it possible for me to strip them? That would really suck.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

the worst you can do is break the stud.

shiftmech

Don't worry too much about that noise your describing as long as the lugnut doesn't get harder to turn while removing it instead of getting easier. That sound happens on my vehicles all the time and I torque my wheels to 80 ft/lbs everytime they get put on. The sound is just friction between either the stud treads and the lugnut treads or the bottom part of the lugnuts are tapered to help center the rim on the hub, this taper causes a lot of friction between the lugnut and the rim. The noise usually goes away after a complete turn of the nut. Good Luck

jdjohn84

Sounds like dude at the shop was trying to show-off - thinks he works on a Nascar pit crew. I sure hope he started those lug nuts by hand and didn't cross-thread them while tightening until "you can't tighten anymore."

01tl4tl

its shocking how few of the minimum wage employees at tire shops know how to properly tighten wheels--or remove them for that matter!

same theory applies with easing off bolt tension equally- then removing--its all about stress on other parts
Pretty much no training involved--they bounce your expensive rims over to the machines...fully tighten one lug after another--as seen on nascar
(problem is we use aluminum rims-nascar are steel and replace them each year because blasting the lugs on is really bad for them)

after explaining to the manager and shop foreman how I just watched the kid put the lugs on wrong- they gave the song and dance of `torque sticks` break if you exceed their limit--which doesnt apply to the problem of incorrect tightening

some discussion occurs in the shop---lugs are all loosened and redone with same torque stick but better on the easing them down equally and gently-air gun power set on 2 not full force 5

then I watch the kid use the torque wrench---not to finish bringing them up from 70 to 80-as you should do,
but to run 2 full sets of cking the lugs were at least at 80,,who knows what they really are (I do-had to redo at home with own tq)
If it clicked the first time you ckd it--its not going to change

the torque wrench clicks,, but you can be above that set point and it wont tell you

exception for digital high dollar tool which may give that actual readout