I'm trying to change my winter to summer tires. The last time I took my wheels off was in the summer to change my brake pads. Yea I probably overtorqued the lug nuts a bit. To tighten, I stood on the wrench and used my body weight (~145lb) to wiggle up and down on it. Yes I should have used a torque wrench, but I don't have one and this is how I usually change the tires and I don't usually have problems removing my wheels for several years / cars.

Anyways, today I tried changing my wheels and I'm having problem with the wheel lock lug nut. I ended up warping the pattern of the wheel lock key. I got a replacement from my Acura dealer and I still managed to warp the wheel lock key on a different wheel. I suspect it's the fact that it's because I slightly overtorqued the lugs + cold weather causing me this problem. The thing is, I'm not even pushing down that hard on it when it's warping... Anyone got any ideas?

 

Save yourself some time and money, invest in a torque wrench. Jumping on a wrench to tighten the lugs is, sorry to say, rediculous.
As the damage has been done:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Lug-N...item518b059161

 

Why would you stand up and use your body mass to tighten? Use the strengh in your arms man.. The factory lug are approx 80 ft. pounds, it doesn't take much..

When your bouncing up and down to tighten up the lugs your not centering on the lugs correctly.. Your pushing the bar on an angle, unlike if you used your arms it's more of a concentrated/even load.

 

+1 on this , it isn't that hard

 

I've dislocated my shoulder before and it's never been the same since, so I avoid putting strain on it whenever I need to. I'm not putting all my weight into it as if my life depended on it. I've never had a problem with this before, and I still don't have a problem with the other lug nuts, just the wheel locks. The wheel lock key metal is just not as strong as the regular bolts. And about the bolts going on at an angle, I do a star pattern and only tighten a bit at a time.

Regardless, I'm going to try removing again by pressing the wrench into the lug nut as well as removing the 2 lugs across from the wheel lock beforehand as suggested here by Mcgard: http://www.mcgard.com/McGard/Custome...Removal#Remove

 

sorry to hear man, makes my post look stupid

 

I'd invest in an electric impact and a torque stick.

 

So for that ebay lug nut remover, can I just use a manual ratchet breaker bar?

 

A breaker bar isn't a ratchet, so using a breaker bar is the way to go, but to get extra leverage if the nuts are that tight, place a pipe over the handle and it will make it easier. I keep a 5' pipe in the garage as it does come in handy at times. If you are speaking of a ratchet, the assembly may not hold up under excess leverage.
In the future when changinmg the wheels/tires, just don't eat Wheaties in the morning.

 

Whoops, I meant if I could use a breaker bar (socket head) instead of an impact gun, which is yes it seems.

 

Word of thumb. When you are taking off your wheels, take the wheel lock nug off first. When you are installing your wheels, put the wheel lock nug on last. Also, you should invest in a torque wrench, this will definately save you the headache in the long run.