Retorq Lug Nuts?

[njhowie]

So you've gotten new tires for your car. On the receipt it says to bring the car back after 25 miles to have the nuts checked/retorqued. How many folks actually do?

Just had new tires put on yesterday. In 40 years I've never brought it back to retorq. How many folks do/don't?

 

[Spock]

So you've gotten new tires for your car. On the receipt it says to bring the car back after 25 miles to have the nuts checked/retorq. How many folks actually do?

Just had new tires put on yesterday. In 40 years I've never brought it back to retorq. How many folks do/don't?

All of my vehicles are old enough that the lug nuts are torqued to exactly 1 ugs of grunt on the tire wrench.

 

[skyking1]

I toss a wrench on my truck when I mess with it, only because I have had one loosen up.
My work 1 ton has done it too.
this is a bacon vote since I do it myself.

 

[Music Lover]

I change tires twice a year (dedicated summer and winter tires) and always retorque them after 50 - 100 km.

 

[easysurfer]

I've never had any place say come back for a retorque.

My biggest issue is places over torque. That's why I have an impact wrench in my car in case of flat and get get lug nuts off manually.

 

[Midpack]

When I changed to/from snow tires every year (don't anymore), I did it myself and used a torque wrench - but I never rechecked (maybe I should have). I'm about to buy a car that requires higher lug nut torque than most cars, so I will probably buy a torque wrench check for myself occasionally.

 

[Car-Guy]

Never. I visually inspect them when I get home and will re-torque them myself if/when I rotate them at some point.

 

[Jerry1]

I’ve never done it but will be doing it in the future. I’ll check them with my own torque wrench. My son in law got some new tires and then about a month later was going to do his own breaks. The lugs were on there so tight, we could not get them off. Had he been stuck with a flat, I’m not sure what he could have done. We stripped a couple of them trying and then even got a special socket to remove the stripped lug nuts. It took most of a day running back and forth to the store just to get the one wheel off and change out the breaks and rotor. When we got to the second tire (we’re doing to front breaks) we realized that it wasn’t our equipment. The lug nut were socked down so hard, nothing we had was going to get them off without a major struggle. We gave up and the next day (Monday), he took it to the place and had them deal with all four wheels and properly torque them. Even they destroyed a few lug nuts getting them off. Of course for them, no big deal. For a weekend mechanic, it was a pain in the butt.

 

[njhowie]

I've never had any place say come back for a retorque.

Where do you get your tires?

Every place we go indicates it on the receipt - whether Costco, Pep Boys, or any place else.

 

[Car-Guy]

I’ve never done it but will be doing it in the future. I’ll check them with my own torque wrench. My son in law got some new tires and then about a month later was going to do his own breaks. The lugs were on there so tight, we could not get them off. Had he been stuck with a flat, I’m not sure what he could have done. We stripped a couple of them trying and then even got a special socket to remove the stripped lug nuts. It took most of a day running back and forth to the store just to get the one wheel off and change out the breaks and rotor. When we got to the second tire (we’re doing to front breaks) we realized that it wasn’t our equipment. The lug nut were socked down so hard, nothing we had was going to get them off without a major struggle. We gave up and the next day (Monday), he took it to the place and had them deal with all four wheels and properly torque them. Even they destroyed a few lug nuts getting them off. Of course for them, no big deal. For a weekend mechanic, it was a pain in the butt.

Are you sure you had a prefect socket fit? People often get a near fit (especially when they mix up SAE vs Metric sockets. That can cause problems.

No matter if rotating/changing your tires or doing a brake job, it's unusual to strip (or round off) the lug nuts if you use the correct sockets/4 way. Now I have broken off a few studs in my time but rarely damaged a lug nut.

 

[RunningBum]

I never have. A few years ago I got a torque wrench so I could rotate them myself and get the right torque. If I remember I recheck them after a couple of drives. I should do the same when I have the shop do them, and more importantly make sure they aren't overtightened (Jerry's story above). I have a telescopic extender to help get them off, but part of that is just because I'm not as strong as I used to be so it helps even with properly torqued lugs.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I never bring them back for a retorque. I will stick a 1/2" drive socket wrench on the lug nuts and check for sufficient tightness on all tires that have been removed/replaced. I have no idea if the torque is correct, I'm merely checking to see if there are any grossly loose lug nuts.

 

[Sunset]

I've checked in the past to see there was no loose nuts, but never measured with a torque wrench. Just use the grunt measure.

Haven't done it all the time..... careless.

They put that on, to protect themselves from liability... if the wheel falls off and you didn't come back... well it's your fault they would claim.

 

[freedomatlast]

No one does that. No need to retorque lugs after 25 miles if they're torqued properly to specification to begin with. This is merely an 'out' created by lawyers so that if a wheel comes off at a later date, the lawyers can say that it's the customer's fault for not having them retorqued as instructed.

The last time I got new tires, I saw one guy torque the lugs properly with a click type torque wrench (not the torque bars that don't work) and then another guy followed with a different torque wrench checking to make sure they were tight.

 

[Jerry1]

Are you sure you had a prefect socket fit? People often get a near fit (especially when they mix up SAE vs Metric sockets. That can cause problems.

No matter if rotating/changing your tires or doing a brake job, it's unusual to strip (or round off) the lug nuts if you use the correct sockets/4 way. Now I have broken off a few studs in my time but rarely damaged a lug nut.

That’s what I thought too. That’s why we tried different things. I wasn’t there the whole time but went over when he said he was having problems. He started with a socket then went and bought a 4 way. Then he borrowed an impact wrench from a neighbor. I thought it was all about SIL screwing up, but when we got to the second tire, I was there from the beginning. We both laid on the 4 way together and it just wouldn’t budge. It also didn’t help that the nuts have these decorative caps on them and once you rip those off, then the bolt that’s left is a little smaller. It was just a nightmare. I quickly figured out that the problem was how tight the nuts were. I’ve done enough mechanical stuff that it was just clear that 1) the lug nuts were way to tight and 2) we didn’t have the right tools to get them loose. As you said, we needed a perfectly fitting impact socket and a better impact wrench or one hell of a breaker bar.

 

[Walt34]

I like bacon.

I check them myself with a torque wrench. And I have an electric impact wrench in both the car and the pickup to get them off.

 

[donheff]

Never crossed my mind but it makes sense. I would rather check them myself than return to the shop.

 

[Ronstar]

I’ve never had a tire shop ask to have a vehicle brought back in to re-torq the lug nuts. I probably wouldn’t bring it back unless the tire place was close by. I’ve never tightened lug nuts with a torque wrench

 

[Music Lover]

No one does that. No need to retorque lugs after 25 miles if they're torqued properly to specification to begin with. This is merely an 'out' created by lawyers so that if a wheel comes off at a later date, the lawyers can say that it's the customer's fault for not having them retorqued as instructed.

Everyone I know does this. It's also recommended by mechanical experts for good reason.

And it's not an extra cost. Skip it at your own risk.

 

[homestead]

I take our car back to costco to have them retorqued after a rotation. Once I checked them myself.
My truck has aluminum heavy duty wheels that can carry 4500 lbs each and I check the torque on those for every time we take a camper trip. The rear tires almost never need it but the fronts always have a couple nuts that rotate a bit before the torque wrench trips.

 

[MC Rider]

Never heard such a recommendation.
Bacon it is.

 

[Music Lover]

Never heard such a recommendation.
Bacon it is.

So, you've never had tires on a vehicle changed? This is standard practice by virtually all tire shops and garages.

 

[MC Rider]

So, you've never had tires on a vehicle changed? This is standard practice by virtually all tire shops and garages.

If it was on the paperwork I did not see it, and they did not say anything.

Well, getting motorcycle tires they tell you go easy for first 100 miles, tires may be slippery.


Never had a problem.

 

[easysurfer]

Where do you get your tires?

Every place we go indicates it on the receipt - whether Costco, Pep Boys, or any place else.

Car-x.

 

[easysurfer]

I’ve never done it but will be doing it in the future. I’ll check them with my own torque wrench. My son in law got some new tires and then about a month later was going to do his own breaks. The lugs were on there so tight, we could not get them off. Had he been stuck with a flat, I’m not sure what he could have done. We stripped a couple of them trying and then even got a special socket to remove the stripped lug nuts. It took most of a day running back and forth to the store just to get the one wheel off and change out the breaks and rotor. When we got to the second tire (we’re doing to front breaks) we realized that it wasn’t our equipment. The lug nut were socked down so hard, nothing we had was going to get them off without a major struggle. We gave up and the next day (Monday), he took it to the place and had them deal with all four wheels and properly torque them. Even they destroyed a few lug nuts getting them off. Of course for them, no big deal. For a weekend mechanic, it was a pain in the butt.

Some car places, I think they could care less. They just use the air gun and zap, lug nights overly tight to the point of can't take off manually. That's the reason why I got a strong impact wrench as part of my emergency set up. Don't want to get stranded with no way of removing. Did happen to use the wrench once after a flat. Lug nuts off like a knife through butter with a capable impact wrench.