F**k Car Repair Shops!

[RossKean]

My wife took her Hyundai Santa Fe in to get summer tires swapped for winter tires. After driving for 50 km, I decided to make sure that the wheels were properly torqued - they can sometimes loosen off on the front after some time. Tried the front wheel nuts and the wrench "clicked" without the nuts moving. OK, lets loosen and tighten again to make sure torque is right. Couldn't move the nuts with a 1/2" ratchet. Ended out using an 18" breaker bar and with that I had to stand on the handle and BOUNCE before they would break loose (I weigh 200+ lb). Figure an absolute minimum of 400 ft.-lb. on the wheel nuts instead of the 80 ft.-lb. specification.

Figure I'm out a set of wheel nuts, four new rotors and maybe a set of alloy wheels because some "mechanic" used a pneumatic impact gun instead of a torque wrench (all 20 were WAYYYY over-tight).

I have contacted the owner of the business and waiting to hear back. I'm betting that I might see an offer to refund the service cost unless we end out in court.

Just had to vent!

 

[SLK50]

Where can I get a 400 ft-lb impact wrench?

Im tired of standing on my breaker bar to

tighten my lug nuts.

 

[Panman]

Where can I get a 400 ft-lb impact wrench?Im tired of standing on my breaker bar to

tighten my lug nuts.

Weird statement, the Santa Fe's torque is 80 Lb's.

 

[SwollenRaccoon]

I had the same thing happen 25 years ago. Bought tires, and the shop offered free rotation and balance for the life of the tires. "Great!" thought my ignorant self. Well, after one bout of disc resurfacing and then disc replacement, I finally figured out why the discs warped after rotation. Duh. Ever since, I take the wheels off the car myself if they need balancing, and torque them correctly. Guess what? No more warped rotor issues (other than mileage/age/pad replacement time). Pretty sure most shops do that knowing that people that don't know any better will come back to them for brake work. I know the impact driver is fast, but it's not the right tool for that job.

 

[RossKean]

Where can I get a 400 ft-lb impact wrench?Im tired of standing on my breaker bar to

tighten my lug nuts.

A pneumatic impact gun held on the nut for 5 seconds will tighten to well over that amount with sufficient air pressure (and no torque adaptor).

 

[hppants]

I've always done the Preventative Maintenance on my cages. I'm a cheap bastard, but also I don't mind that kind of work and it gives me a chance to look under the hood and chassis for anything developing. Wifey's car has lifetime free oil changes and tire rotations. Like S/R, I was skeptical, but reluctantly, gave it a try with the dealer. I was VERY pleasantly surprised at the level of service - the technical data sheet is provided with every service. It includes a lot of data and even includes the torque spec for each lug on each wheel. After the first service, I went out and checked their work and I couldn't be happier.

And get this - the service manager lives in the next block. So when we need service, he takes her car in and loans us his demo for the day. Delivers the vehicle that evening!! Truly amazing.

Take care, Ross. They're not all that bad.

 

[RossKean]

^^^^

I need a shop like that!! I have a friend who has a lift and tire mounting/balancing equipment he will let me use. Unfortunately, his shop was tied up and he was out of town so we had a local tire shop/service center do them. Never again!

 

[BkerChuck]

Really sucks that you had that happen. I avoid most dealerships at all costs unless warranty work is involved. I've been fortunate enough to find a nearby independent shop that I've built great rapport with through a period of years. I hope the shop you dealt with makes things right.

 

[Geezer]

It is common for a shop to assign their least skilled technician to wheels and tires. It is heavy work that requires little knowledge or skill.

 

[RossKean]

It is common for a shop to assign their least skilled technician to wheels and tires. It is heavy work that requires little knowledge or skill.

That lack of knowledge and skill might end out costing the better part of $2000 - wheels, rotors, nuts etc. You're right, top mechanics are not assigned to install and balance winter tires but I would have thought that there should be some amount of training and supervision.

 

[lnewlf]

I had a '66 Chrysler New Yorker which had left hand threads on the right side wheels....took it to Monkey Wards for new tires and the shop monkey wrang off all 10 lugs on that side !!! took 2 days to get the car back ...At least I got new brake drums [yep, drums] all around..

 

[Knifemaker]

Now picture having that lugnut torqued to all shit and you in the rain with a flat tire trying to break it loose with the stupid 13" "wrench" the car comes with. Eventually the "tinfoil" they use to cover the nut strips out, and of course the wrench doesn't fit the exposed nut.

I now retorque all my lugnuts too any time the shop touchs them.

 

[roger dodger]

Not my horse... but I have to mention Discount Tire in this thread.

They will patch or plug any tire for free. They will rotate and balance (tires bought there) every 5k for free.

And they always bring out a man with a torque wrench to finish each install. They won me over years ago.

 

[boyitgobob]

Wife bought a low mile Toyota aways from home. It had a slight vibration on test drive. Saturday service manager changed out rotors while we finished the purchase, and afterwards we drove towards home 100 miles away. 50 miles in, wife calls me and says that I need to drive it, it’s worse than before. Swap cars and I nurse it home while talking to dealership and then calling a shop that can look at it. Turns out ‘service manager ‘ put the lug nuts on backwards, with cones facing out. 4 wheels with enlarged/elongated lug holes, luckily no wheels fell off and the shop manager attested to the danger we had been placed in. 4 new wheels installed, of course.

 

[Gitbox]

I recently went through a similar event. A local tire company fixed a flat for me (off the vehicle) and offered to pop it back on. Against my better instincts, I let him. When I got home I decided to re-torque the wheel nuts to spec as I always do. I wound up wringing off four of the five studs. The nuts were seized. The service manage said "bring it back and we'll take care of it". How am I supposed to drive with one stud holding on a wheel?? I told him to pound sand and demanded reimbursement for my parts and labor. I fixed it all myself and now steer EVERYONE I know away from that place.

 

[mcatrophy]

Whenever a shop has put new rubber on, the car has been serviced, or even on a new vehicle, at the first opportunity I take each wheel off. Sometimes undoing a nut means putting my full weight and bouncing on the jack, on a couple of occasions ending up with it bent.

Putting the wheel on, I put a little grease on the thread (and between wheel and hub) and tighten it to my personal torque setting (i.e. by feel). And I don't tighten each nut in one go, I tighten all just sufficiently to hold the wheel in place, then finally tighten them down - in a cross-wise order. Then go round them all to make sure. Overkill? Maybe, but it makes me feel good.

The grease will allow me to feel exactly when it's tight enough. It also it prevents corrosion.

Then, in the event of a puncture, inevitably in the dark and pouring rain, I (or on one occasion my wife) can take the wheel off without undue difficulty using the car's supplied tools. And I've never had a wheel come loose.

 

[wfooshee]

Don't grease the lug threads. All the torque setting are too light then.

My story is getting a set of tires mounted, took the car home to do just that, loosen and correctly torque. I could not get a single lug nut off, with my own impact air wrench, a breaker bar, anything. Took it back down there and complained, was told that that's not possible, they use the limiter attachments. I laughed at him and said once those things are used up, they're solid bars.

Their guns couldn't remove them. They had to cut every lug nut, replace every lug bolt, and buy me a set of nuts, including the locking nut on each wheel. All this was after me specifying manual torque of the wheels. This was a Tire Rack recommended installer, and I called Tire Rack and told them all about it.

 

[RossKean]

Yeah - I'll give these guys a chance to make it right.

Other than suing in small claims court, there isn't much I could do other than give them a crappy rating on Google and make sure that everyone I know steers clear.

Talked to the owner today and he told me they always check with a torque wrench. He said he was going to check with his staff. I expect they are using the torque wrench to make sure it isn't still loose after beating the snot out of it with the impact wrench. Just ensures that the torque is greater-than-or-equal-to the wrench setting. In this case, vastly greater than!!

 

[Warpdrv]

Where can I get a 400 ft-lb impact wrench?Im tired of standing on my breaker bar to

tighten my lug nuts.

A pneumatic impact gun held on the nut for 5 seconds will tighten to well over that amount with sufficient air pressure (and no torque adaptor).

^^^^ this.....

shop used a air gun, without a torque stick.... can get upwards of 600lbs or more right from the gun.....

We always use torque sticks to tighten lug nuts.... In fact - there are kits that ya get off the tool truck that you would use on different platforms, cars vs trucks etc....

Honestly we have found, and a good shop will know that improperly torqued nuts (not all the same torque) can and will result in warped rotors....