i had my rear tires changed recently and the place i brought her to used an impact gun to put the lugs back on.. i asked the tire dude what kinda torque specs the gun has and he gave me a blank stare.. i told him to please be careful not to tighten the lugs up so much, and he replied that he didnt want me sueing him for when my wheels fall off.. anyways, i brought her home and loosened the lugs (which was very hard cuz they were so damn tight!) and torqued them to 80ft/lbs.

fast forward 2 weeks.. im (180lbs) driving along with a young lady in my seat (about 100lbs) and i hear a "boink".. hmm mustve ran over something.. no biggie.. about a minute later, "boink thud boink". hmm wtf was that?? it sounds like an overly obese person's pant buttons snapping.. then the final "BOINK!!" and now my car is starting to wobble like crazy. i immediately pull over and check out the situation.. i sheared off 4 out of 5 lugs on my passenger side rear wheel!

http://www.christopheryee.com/~bri/i...lugs%20002.jpg
here's a pic of one of the lugs i found on the side of the road.. notice how the stud is still stuck in the nut :(
http://www.christopheryee.com/~bri/i...lugs%20004.jpg
i had to flatbed her all the way back home.. when she got off the truck the wheel spun on its last remaining lug and is now sitting on the floor :( . i called honda care and theyre going to have a tow truck for me soon.. i guess its as good as time as any to get an oil change, replace my top strikers, and do the TSB054..

ugh.. what a nightmare.. how the hell am i gonna get my car onto the flatbed to get to honda??

-b

Most asswipe dealerhsips and shops still have a hard time understanding that wheels demand a torque wrench and NOT a damn air-gun...

I always bring my torque wrench with me, loosen and re-torque before I leave such places...

Makes me do this. :(

what dealer did that for u?

im in nyc also

Are they gonna pay for the dammage ???

it was a tire place out in northern jersey.. ive contacted them and if honda doesnt cover this under warrantee, then i'll be going after them.

Brian, Holy CRAP! That much have been some scary shit. I am going to redo all my bolts tomorrow. Thank God you stopped before any serious damage was sustained.

wait so im confused,

you never use a impact gun to take/remove the lug nuts from our wheels even if they are stock wheels? or do use a impact just to put the nuts on and finish off the rest with a torque wrench?

chris

you should never use an impact wrench period. it'd be okay if they used it to take the lugs off, but when they put it back on, ask them to do it by hand, then use a torque wrench to tighten.. seems like our s2000 studs are very fragile :(

b

A device called a torque tube is available. It fits between the impact wrench and the socket and keeps the torque from exceeding a preset amount. They are color coded but don't last forever. If tire places used them, they could safely use impact wrenches.

its called a torque stick - its made by snap-on. I'm sure other manufacturers have come up with their knock offs.

if you did loosen up your lugs and then re-tighten them to spec, then that blows out my first thought - cross-threading lugs onto the studs.