Anyone tried one of these lighter plug impact wrenches? I got to
change a tire a couple weeks ago, and really coulda used an impact.
But do they do any good, or are they all hype and no torque?


--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

Stormin Mormon wrote:
Anyone tried one of these lighter plug impact wrenches? I got to
change a tire a couple weeks ago, and really coulda used an impact.
But do they do any good, or are they all hype and no torque?
....

Specifically, don't know, but I would really doubt they have enough
impact/torque to do much good on an over-torqued lug nut (as is usually
the case if a tire shop did it -- seems like they universally just set
their wrenches on "max". ).

I keep a long breakover in the car for the purpose -- I _know_ it will
work when needed...

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in
:

Anyone tried one of these lighter plug impact wrenches? I got to
change a tire a couple weeks ago, and really coulda used an impact.
But do they do any good, or are they all hype and no torque?



The 12V HarborFreight driver only has an impact every couple of
seconds(beats per minute,IIRC= 20).And rated at IIRC,150 ft/lbs.
Most impact wrenches have 100's-1000's of BPM.They might be kinda slow.

**BUT,I've never tried one.**

I use a 1/2" drive breaker bar and socket.
If you pull UPwards on the bar,you use your leg muscles instead of body
weight when pushing down. IMO,you get more force.



--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Jim Yanik wrote:

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in
:


Anyone tried one of these lighter plug impact wrenches? I got to
change a tire a couple weeks ago, and really coulda used an impact.
But do they do any good, or are they all hype and no torque?




The 12V HarborFreight driver only has an impact every couple of
seconds(beats per minute,IIRC= 20).And rated at IIRC,150 ft/lbs.
Most impact wrenches have 100's-1000's of BPM.They might be kinda slow.

**BUT,I've never tried one.**

I use a 1/2" drive breaker bar and socket.
If you pull UPwards on the bar,you use your leg muscles instead of body
weight when pushing down. IMO,you get more force.



I agree. Not only that, there's less chance of nicking your knuckles.

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

In article ,
says...
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in
:

Anyone tried one of these lighter plug impact wrenches? I got to
change a tire a couple weeks ago, and really coulda used an impact.
But do they do any good, or are they all hype and no torque?



The 12V HarborFreight driver only has an impact every couple of
seconds(beats per minute,IIRC= 20).And rated at IIRC,150 ft/lbs.
Most impact wrenches have 100's-1000's of BPM.They might be kinda slow.

**BUT,I've never tried one.**

I use a 1/2" drive breaker bar and socket.
If you pull UPwards on the bar,you use your leg muscles instead of body
weight when pushing down. IMO,you get more force.

The downside of using a breaker bar is that you're far more likely to
break the bolt. An impact wrench is MUCH better for this situation.

While I have never used a cordless impact wrench, I would tend to
have little confidence in a 12V unit. Nevertheless, I will defer to
someone who has actually used one.

On Sat, 09 Dec 2006 03:43:54 GMT, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

Anyone tried one of these lighter plug impact wrenches? I got to
change a tire a couple weeks ago, and really coulda used an impact.
But do they do any good, or are they all hype and no torque?

I avoid any impact tool that is rated at less than 400 ftlbs. Waste
of money.

dpb wrote:
Stormin Mormon wrote:
Anyone tried one of these lighter plug impact wrenches? I got to
change a tire a couple weeks ago, and really coulda used an impact.
But do they do any good, or are they all hype and no torque?
...

Specifically, don't know, but I would really doubt they have enough
impact/torque to do much good on an over-torqued lug nut (as is
usually the case if a tire shop did it -- seems like they universally
just set their wrenches on "max". ).

I got some new tires recently at WalMart. After the hippie seemingly
finished, I asked if the car was ready to go. "Just a minute," the hippie
said and disappeared.

Presently the hippie returned with the auto parts manager who was carrying a
torque wrench. The manager proceded to test each lug nut. As he was doing
so, the hippie oozed over to me and said: "Company policy. We have to have a
second person set your bolts. Walmart doesn't want your nuts to fall off!"
He was then dissolved into uncontrollable giggles.

I was pleased WalMart was concerned about my nuts.

On Sat, 9 Dec 2006 17:24:06 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:

dpb wrote:
Stormin Mormon wrote:
Anyone tried one of these lighter plug impact wrenches? I got to
change a tire a couple weeks ago, and really coulda used an impact.
But do they do any good, or are they all hype and no torque?
...

Specifically, don't know, but I would really doubt they have enough
impact/torque to do much good on an over-torqued lug nut (as is
usually the case if a tire shop did it -- seems like they universally
just set their wrenches on "max". ).

I got some new tires recently at WalMart. After the hippie seemingly
finished, I asked if the car was ready to go. "Just a minute," the hippie
said and disappeared.

Presently the hippie returned with the auto parts manager who was carrying a
torque wrench. The manager proceded to test each lug nut. As he was doing
so, the hippie oozed over to me and said: "Company policy. We have to have a
second person set your bolts. Walmart doesn't want your nuts to fall off!"
He was then dissolved into uncontrollable giggles.

I was pleased WalMart was concerned about my nuts.


Walmart torques my nuts at least 25 ft lbs higher than spec. Discout
tires over torques more than 40 ft lbs.

DK wrote:

Walmart torques my nuts at least 25 ft lbs higher than spec. Discout
tires over torques more than 40 ft lbs.

I wonder why? Do they think over torquing is better/safer?

I would think that the spec is set to both ensure safety as far the lug
nuts not coming off and protection of the threads on the lug nut and or
stud.

I'm guessing the installers don't even consider the possibility of
damaging the nuts/studs and just assume tighter is better.

Of course, this is all coming from a guy who tightens his lug nuts
until they squeek. "Man, they sure sound tight!" g

In article ,
"Stormin Mormon" wrote:

Anyone tried one of these lighter plug impact wrenches? I got to
change a tire a couple weeks ago, and really coulda used an impact.
But do they do any good, or are they all hype and no torque?

A couple farmers I know have them. 18 volt though, I think.
Both like them. One tightened up the lug nuts on a pivot tire (7/8"
nut). They were tight when he was done. I put my breaker bar on them
to check.

Dean

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Mike Hartigan wrote:
....

The downside of using a breaker bar is that you're far more likely to
break the bolt. ...

You break grade-8 lug bolts w/ no more than a 1/2" breaker bar
routinely enough it's a problem????

I'm with you, carrying the breaker bar. I've heard tell that some
shops have contests. See if Joe can put the lugs on so tight that
Steve's wrench won't get em off. Of course, they end up replacing
studs, rotors, drums, etc.

The goal would be to get a rusted lug off after starting the motion
with a breaker bar.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"dpb" wrote in message
oups.com...

....

Specifically, don't know, but I would really doubt they have enough
impact/torque to do much good on an over-torqued lug nut (as is
usually
the case if a tire shop did it -- seems like they universally just set
their wrenches on "max". ).

I keep a long breakover in the car for the purpose -- I _know_ it will
work when needed...

The one time I did a tire change for a friend, I started the lugs with
a breaker bar, and then it woulda been nice to hvae an impact to get
them the rest of the way. She had a X-wrench which helped a lot.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Jim Yanik" wrote in message
.. .
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in
:

Anyone tried one of these lighter plug impact wrenches? I got to
change a tire a couple weeks ago, and really coulda used an impact.
But do they do any good, or are they all hype and no torque?



The 12V HarborFreight driver only has an impact every couple of
seconds(beats per minute,IIRC= 20).And rated at IIRC,150 ft/lbs.
Most impact wrenches have 100's-1000's of BPM.They might be kinda
slow.

**BUT,I've never tried one.**

I use a 1/2" drive breaker bar and socket.
If you pull UPwards on the bar,you use your leg muscles instead of
body
weight when pushing down. IMO,you get more force.



--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

I did that a couple vehicles ago, changing shocks. The breaker bar
sheared off the bolt, and an impact wrench loosened the bolt. Ah,
well.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Mike Hartigan" wrote in message
.net...

The downside of using a breaker bar is that you're far more likely to
break the bolt. An impact wrench is MUCH better for this situation.

While I have never used a cordless impact wrench, I would tend to
have little confidence in a 12V unit. Nevertheless, I will defer to
someone who has actually used one.

The 110 volter I got from Harbor Freight was about 200 rated, and it's
worked very nicely for me. Used it several times. $39.99 and worth
every penny.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"DK" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 09 Dec 2006 03:43:54 GMT, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

Anyone tried one of these lighter plug impact wrenches? I got to
change a tire a couple weeks ago, and really coulda used an impact.
But do they do any good, or are they all hype and no torque?

I avoid any impact tool that is rated at less than 400 ftlbs. Waste
of money.

Dean Hoffman wrote in
:

In article ,
"Stormin Mormon" wrote:

Anyone tried one of these lighter plug impact wrenches? I got to
change a tire a couple weeks ago, and really coulda used an impact.
But do they do any good, or are they all hype and no torque?

A couple farmers I know have them. 18 volt though, I think.
Both like them. One tightened up the lug nuts on a pivot tire (7/8"
nut). They were tight when he was done. I put my breaker bar on
them to check.

Dean

the 18V ones are cordless ones similar to a cordless drill/driver. The one
the OP is referring to runs off the cig lighter or has clamps to clip onto
the 12 car battery posts.

The 18V ones have more beats-per-minute,and more torque(IIRC,230Ft-lbs
compared to 150 for the 12v corded driver)

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in
:

The 110 volter I got from Harbor Freight was about 200 rated, and it's
worked very nicely for me. Used it several times. $39.99 and worth
every penny.


the only thing stopping me from buying one of those is not having an
electric outlet available in the apt. parking lot and too far a distance
for extension cords.

IIRC,it's 240 ft-lbs. (and $39.99 is the sale price.)

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

In article .com,
says...

Mike Hartigan wrote:
...

The downside of using a breaker bar is that you're far more likely to
break the bolt. ...

You break grade-8 lug bolts w/ no more than a 1/2" breaker bar
routinely enough it's a problem????

I broke one many, many years ago. That one was enough to break me of
the habit. I've no idea how many I may have damaged prior to that
one, but it was probably more than none.

Being too far away from a 110 volt socket is why I was considering a
12 volter. For those once in a while moments when on the road.

The corrections to what I wrote about foot pounds and price don't
change the message very much.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Jim Yanik" wrote in message
.. .
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in
:

The 110 volter I got from Harbor Freight was about 200 rated, and
it's
worked very nicely for me. Used it several times. $39.99 and worth
every penny.


the only thing stopping me from buying one of those is not having an
electric outlet available in the apt. parking lot and too far a
distance
for extension cords.

IIRC,it's 240 ft-lbs. (and $39.99 is the sale price.)

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

the only thing stopping me from buying one of those is not having an
electric outlet available in the apt. parking lot and too far a
distance
for extension cords.

IIRC,it's 240 ft-lbs. (and $39.99 is the sale price.)



big 750 Watt inverters are pretty cheap these days...get one that is at
least twice the rated value of the impact wrench so it will start it
reliably. I think an AC wrench and inverter would work much better
than the 12 Volt job. A big inverter will draw LOTS of current , hook
it directly to the battery, not to the cig lighter and maybe leave the
engine running while using it.

Mark

Impact wrenches (all types: pneumatic, manual, electric) WORK.

They are safer than leverage when it comes to loosening nuts/bolts. OTOH
than can easily over-tighten.

In the "bad old days" the professionals used a "Cross" wrench. This always
seemed to work a lot better than the wrench than was provided by the
manufacturer.

Why?

Because the "cross wrench" worked a little like an impact wrench!

Impact wrenches are very good at breaking loose a nut/bolt. Once a
nut/bold is loose the pneumatic are very effective at spinning a nut/bolt
off. A manual impact wrench acts like any other wrench. An electric
impact wrench is likely to be on the slow side until the nut/bolt is quite
loose.

Mike Hartigan wrote:
In article .com,
says...

Mike Hartigan wrote:
...

The downside of using a breaker bar is that you're far more likely to
break the bolt. ...

You break grade-8 lug bolts w/ no more than a 1/2" breaker bar
routinely enough it's a problem????

I broke one many, many years ago. That one was enough to break me of
the habit. I've no idea how many I may have damaged prior to that
one, but it was probably more than none.

In some 50 years I don't recall ever breaking a lug bolt on anything
from passenger car to tractors and combines. Being as they're hardened
and decent-sized diameters, I think it likely there was a
fracture-failure already present to break one w/ just a simple bar (or,
of course, you're undoubtedly able to apply much more of a lever-arm
than I when applying same... ).

I worry far more about the over-torquing of the average tire-shop
grease monkey w/ the impact wrench on max at 150 psi over-stressing the
bolt and/or stripping threads, not to mention warping brake rotors...

Stormin Mormon wrote:
I did that a couple vehicles ago, changing shocks. The breaker bar
sheared off the bolt, and an impact wrench loosened the bolt. Ah,
well.
....

Oh, that's easy enough for a Grade-5, probably no more than 5/16" or
3/8" bolt -- probably better off to replace it, anyway.

My point was simply that a Grade-8 lug bolt is pretty formidable to
shear w/ no more than an ordinary 1/2" breakover bar unless it already
had a stress-fracture or had been over-torqued w/ the aforementioned
tire-shop zealot w/ his impact wrench...

Rear shocks, Chevy product. The bolt I broke was the main one coming
from the frame. I twisted the nut (3/4 or about that size of socket)
and the bolt broke off. Looked like it would make for a LOT of work to
replace that large a bolt, and not designed to be replaced. Not sure
what the hardness was, but the broken bolt was supposed to take the
force of the shock absorber.

I know what you mean about the repair garage guys and their over
active impact wrenches. I got a safety inspect one year, and came
home. Figured to try the lugs, see if.... yep the only thing I owned
that would loosen them was a 25 inch breaker bar.

I get funny looks when I tell the repair garage to put the lugs on
finger tight, and I'll set the torque before leaving the parking lot.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"dpb" wrote in message
oups.com...

Stormin Mormon wrote:
I did that a couple vehicles ago, changing shocks. The breaker bar
sheared off the bolt, and an impact wrench loosened the bolt. Ah,
well.
....

Oh, that's easy enough for a Grade-5, probably no more than 5/16" or
3/8" bolt -- probably better off to replace it, anyway.

My point was simply that a Grade-8 lug bolt is pretty formidable to
shear w/ no more than an ordinary 1/2" breakover bar unless it already
had a stress-fracture or had been over-torqued w/ the aforementioned
tire-shop zealot w/ his impact wrench...

"John Gilmer" wrote in message
...
Impact wrenches (all types: pneumatic, manual, electric) WORK.
CY: That's my experience.

They are safer than leverage when it comes to loosening nuts/bolts.
OTOH
than can easily over-tighten.
CY: Same, here.

In the "bad old days" the professionals used a "Cross" wrench. This
always
seemed to work a lot better than the wrench than was provided by the
manufacturer.
CY: Ah, yes, the X-wrench, as I improperly call em.

Why?

Because the "cross wrench" worked a little like an impact wrench!
CY: We must be talking about different things.

http://static.zoovy.com/img/usfreigh...elugwrench.jpg
http://images.orgill.com/200x200/5216148.JPG
You mean this?


Impact wrenches are very good at breaking loose a nut/bolt. Once a
nut/bold is loose the pneumatic are very effective at spinning a
nut/bolt
off. A manual impact wrench acts like any other wrench. An
electric
impact wrench is likely to be on the slow side until the nut/bolt is
quite
loose.
CY: Yep, they start slow, and then pick up speed.

In article .com,
says...
DK wrote:

Walmart torques my nuts at least 25 ft lbs higher than spec. Discout
tires over torques more than 40 ft lbs.

I wonder why? Do they think over torquing is better/safer?

Given that they're going to do it wrong, I'd rather have them over
torque than under torque. It's safer to lose a bolt than the whole
wheel.

On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 19:46:43 -0600, Mike Hartigan wrote:


In article .com,
says...
DK wrote:

Walmart torques my nuts at least 25 ft lbs higher than spec. Discout
tires over torques more than 40 ft lbs.

I wonder why? Do they think over torquing is better/safer?

Given that they're going to do it wrong, I'd rather have them over
torque than under torque. It's safer to lose a bolt than the whole
wheel.
I'd rather have neither. It sucks getting a flat tire and being unable to
put the spare on because some asshole overtorqued the lugnuts. I don't
appreciate hiking back to civilization especially in bad weather.

BTW: All the discount tires shops I've seen use torque wrenches. (at least in
colorado and arizona. I don't know about elsewhere)

In article ,
says...
On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 19:46:43 -0600, Mike Hartigan wrote:


In article .com,
says...
DK wrote:

Walmart torques my nuts at least 25 ft lbs higher than spec. Discout
tires over torques more than 40 ft lbs.

I wonder why? Do they think over torquing is better/safer?

Given that they're going to do it wrong, I'd rather have them over
torque than under torque. It's safer to lose a bolt than the whole
wheel.
I'd rather have neither. It sucks getting a flat tire and being unable to
put the spare on because some asshole overtorqued the lugnuts. I don't
appreciate hiking back to civilization especially in bad weather.

It sucks even more to have a wheel fall off at 70 mph due to under
torqued nuts. On a return trip from Philadelphia to Buffalo quite a
few years ago, we had to stop due to a severe wobble in one of the
rear wheels. Turns out that three of the bolts had already failed
and the remaining two were barely hanging on. I shudder to think
what might have happened had we gone just a few more miles.

BTW: All the discount tires shops I've seen use torque wrenches. (at least in
colorado and arizona. I don't know about elsewhere)

That's been my recent experience around Chicago, although I don't
know if it's a universal thing.

On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 02:21:51 GMT, AZ Nomad
wrote:

On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 19:46:43 -0600, Mike Hartigan wrote:


In article .com,
says...
DK wrote:

Walmart torques my nuts at least 25 ft lbs higher than spec. Discout
tires over torques more than 40 ft lbs.

I wonder why? Do they think over torquing is better/safer?

Given that they're going to do it wrong, I'd rather have them over
torque than under torque. It's safer to lose a bolt than the whole
wheel.
I'd rather have neither. It sucks getting a flat tire and being unable to
put the spare on because some asshole overtorqued the lugnuts. I don't
appreciate hiking back to civilization especially in bad weather.

On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 02:21:51 GMT, AZ Nomad
wrote:

Given that they're going to do it wrong, I'd rather have them over
torque than under torque. It's safer to lose a bolt than the whole
wheel.
I'd rather have neither. It sucks getting a flat tire and being unable to
put the spare on because some asshole overtorqued the lugnuts. I don't
appreciate hiking back to civilization especially in bad weather.


You've got a tire iron and a jack, how can you not be able
to loosen the nuts?

On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 11:50:20 -0500, Goedjn wrote:


On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 02:21:51 GMT, AZ Nomad
wrote:

Given that they're going to do it wrong, I'd rather have them over
torque than under torque. It's safer to lose a bolt than the whole
wheel.
I'd rather have neither. It sucks getting a flat tire and being unable to
put the spare on because some asshole overtorqued the lugnuts. I don't
appreciate hiking back to civilization especially in bad weather.


You've got a tire iron and a jack, how can you not be able
to loosen the nuts?

You can be unable to generate 350ft-lbs. of torque with the jack that comes
with the car. I've jumped up and down on the end of the tire-iron and still
been unable. Sorry. I only weigh 200 lbs and can only generate
200-300ft-lbs of torque when I'm jumping down on the end of a 9" tire iron.

On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 17:45:54 GMT, AZ Nomad
wrote:

On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 11:50:20 -0500, Goedjn wrote:


On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 02:21:51 GMT, AZ Nomad
wrote:

Given that they're going to do it wrong, I'd rather have them over
torque than under torque. It's safer to lose a bolt than the whole
wheel.
I'd rather have neither. It sucks getting a flat tire and being unable to
put the spare on because some asshole overtorqued the lugnuts. I don't
appreciate hiking back to civilization especially in bad weather.


You've got a tire iron and a jack, how can you not be able
to loosen the nuts?

You can be unable to generate 350ft-lbs. of torque with the jack that comes
with the car. I've jumped up and down on the end of the tire-iron and still
been unable. Sorry. I only weigh 200 lbs and can only generate
200-300ft-lbs of torque when I'm jumping down on the end of a 9" tire iron.

You put the tire-iron on the nut, handle-sticking out sideways,
to the right. Then you put the jack under the end of the handle
and crank it up. You might have an issue if the jack handle
is the same hunk of metal as the tire-iron, but that's
not usually the case, anymore.

Having a 3' hunk of blackpipe in the car
is still a better solution, though.

Mike Hartigan wrote in
.net:

In article .com,
says...
DK wrote:

Walmart torques my nuts at least 25 ft lbs higher than spec. Discout
tires over torques more than 40 ft lbs.

I wonder why? Do they think over torquing is better/safer?

Given that they're going to do it wrong, I'd rather have them over
torque than under torque. It's safer to lose a bolt than the whole
wheel.

What if they warp the brake rotors?

That gets expensive.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

AZ Nomad wrote in
:

On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 11:50:20 -0500, Goedjn wrote:


On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 02:21:51 GMT, AZ Nomad
wrote:

Given that they're going to do it wrong, I'd rather have them over
torque than under torque. It's safer to lose a bolt than the whole
wheel.
I'd rather have neither. It sucks getting a flat tire and being
unable to put the spare on because some asshole overtorqued the
lugnuts. I don't appreciate hiking back to civilization especially
in bad weather.


You've got a tire iron and a jack, how can you not be able
to loosen the nuts?

You can be unable to generate 350ft-lbs. of torque with the jack that
comes with the car. I've jumped up and down on the end of the
tire-iron and still been unable. Sorry. I only weigh 200 lbs and can
only generate 200-300ft-lbs of torque when I'm jumping down on the end
of a 9" tire iron.


That's why I use a 1/2" drive breaker bar instead of a short tire iron.
I don't need to jump on it,either.You can generate more torque by lifting
up on the breaker bar/lugwrench then trying to push down on it with your
weight.

Is "G" suggesting you use the tire jack to lift up on the lugnut wrench to
break loose the lugnuts? A great opportunity to have the thing slip and go
flying with some force in a random direction.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

In article ,
says...
On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 17:45:54 GMT, AZ Nomad
wrote:

On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 11:50:20 -0500, Goedjn wrote:


On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 02:21:51 GMT, AZ Nomad
wrote:

Given that they're going to do it wrong, I'd rather have them over
torque than under torque. It's safer to lose a bolt than the whole
wheel.
I'd rather have neither. It sucks getting a flat tire and being unable to
put the spare on because some asshole overtorqued the lugnuts. I don't
appreciate hiking back to civilization especially in bad weather.


You've got a tire iron and a jack, how can you not be able
to loosen the nuts?

You can be unable to generate 350ft-lbs. of torque with the jack that comes
with the car. I've jumped up and down on the end of the tire-iron and still
been unable. Sorry. I only weigh 200 lbs and can only generate
200-300ft-lbs of torque when I'm jumping down on the end of a 9" tire iron.

You put the tire-iron on the nut, handle-sticking out sideways,
to the right. Then you put the jack under the end of the handle
and crank it up. You might have an issue if the jack handle
is the same hunk of metal as the tire-iron, but that's
not usually the case, anymore.

I've stripped out the stock tire-iron. I've had some fold up.
Most of the stock irons put a sideways torque on the lug and the
iron slips off, rounding both.

Having a 3' hunk of blackpipe in the car
is still a better solution, though.

Having a good (cross) tire iron; priceless.

--
Keith

On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 13:43:37 -0500, Goedjn wrote:


On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 17:45:54 GMT, AZ Nomad
wrote:

On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 11:50:20 -0500, Goedjn wrote:


On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 02:21:51 GMT, AZ Nomad
wrote:

Given that they're going to do it wrong, I'd rather have them over
torque than under torque. It's safer to lose a bolt than the whole
wheel.
I'd rather have neither. It sucks getting a flat tire and being unable to
put the spare on because some asshole overtorqued the lugnuts. I don't
appreciate hiking back to civilization especially in bad weather.


You've got a tire iron and a jack, how can you not be able
to loosen the nuts?

You can be unable to generate 350ft-lbs. of torque with the jack that comes
with the car. I've jumped up and down on the end of the tire-iron and still
been unable. Sorry. I only weigh 200 lbs and can only generate
200-300ft-lbs of torque when I'm jumping down on the end of a 9" tire iron.

You put the tire-iron on the nut, handle-sticking out sideways,
to the right. Then you put the jack under the end of the handle
and crank it up. You might have an issue if the jack handle
is the same hunk of metal as the tire-iron, but that's
not usually the case, anymore.

Good luck keeping the tool on the lugnut while trying that trick. The chances
of that trick working on an overtorqued lugnut are about zero.

On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 14:29:49 -0500, krw wrote:


I've stripped out the stock tire-iron. I've had some fold up.
Most of the stock irons put a sideways torque on the lug and the
iron slips off, rounding both.

Having a 3' hunk of blackpipe in the car
is still a better solution, though.

Having a good (cross) tire iron; priceless.

A good cross type tire iron won't generate enough torque. Nowadays I always keep
a 20-24" breaker bar and a 1/2" socket in the car.

In article slrneo3ajf.l92.aznomad.2@ip70-176-155-
130.ph.ph.cox.net, says...
On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 14:29:49 -0500, krw wrote:


I've stripped out the stock tire-iron. I've had some fold up.
Most of the stock irons put a sideways torque on the lug and the
iron slips off, rounding both.

Having a 3' hunk of blackpipe in the car
is still a better solution, though.

Having a good (cross) tire iron; priceless.

A good cross type tire iron won't generate enough torque. Nowadays I always keep
a 20-24" breaker bar and a 1/2" socket in the car.

I can put a *lot* of torque on a lug with a cross lug-wrench.
Stand on one end while lifting the other puts a tun on torque on
the nut, while making sure there is no lateral torque on the
lug.nut/wrench.

--
Keith

On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 15:12:00 -0500, krw wrote:


In article slrneo3ajf.l92.aznomad.2@ip70-176-155-
130.ph.ph.cox.net, says...
On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 14:29:49 -0500, krw wrote:


I've stripped out the stock tire-iron. I've had some fold up.
Most of the stock irons put a sideways torque on the lug and the
iron slips off, rounding both.

Having a 3' hunk of blackpipe in the car
is still a better solution, though.

Having a good (cross) tire iron; priceless.

A good cross type tire iron won't generate enough torque. Nowadays I always keep
a 20-24" breaker bar and a 1/2" socket in the car.

I can put a *lot* of torque on a lug with a cross lug-wrench.
Stand on one end while lifting the other puts a tun on torque on
the nut, while making sure there is no lateral torque on the
lug.nut/wrench.

I was talking about situations where the lugnuts have been overtorqued by a
impact hammer.

In article ,
says...
Mike Hartigan wrote in
.net:

In article .com,
says...
DK wrote:

Walmart torques my nuts at least 25 ft lbs higher than spec. Discout
tires over torques more than 40 ft lbs.

I wonder why? Do they think over torquing is better/safer?

Given that they're going to do it wrong, I'd rather have them over
torque than under torque. It's safer to lose a bolt than the whole
wheel.

What if they warp the brake rotors?

That gets expensive.

Not nearly as expensive as losing a wheel.

And it seems that brake rotors are finally getting cheaper. I
recently bought a pair for my son's Stratus at Auto Zone for $15
each.