My new torque wrench

I'll do anything on my truck except replacing my rear drum brakes..I took my truck to a friend's tire shop and had them replaced last week..My friend installed the lug nuts on one side and this new kid did the front/ rear on the passenger side...Maybe 7 days later, I removed all 4 tires at once...There were aluminum shavings all over the place from both front & back on the passenger side...No stud damage at all, but they ruined both aluminum wheels because that kid didn't even torque them tight enough to keep the wheels from backing off...I'm not going to try to get compensation from my friend either...I should have torqued all four wheels with my wrench before they lowered my truck..Something for you regular street guys to think about..

 

So, what kind of new torque wrench and wheels did you get?

 

I bought an older Snap on from a friend and ordered two more wheels to replace the ones that were screwed up...I'm having to watch my wallet of late..

 

Even if you aren't asking for compensation, as the business owner your friend would probably appreciate that info since an employee like that could cost him the business.

 

This is something I've been thinking about..I definitely won't be letting him near my tires &wheels again...But he does cut me killer deals on lots of other stuff..For instance ( and this is the worst one of all ) but he charged me 40 bucks to mount those rear brakes..Aside from ruining two of my wheels, that's a great deal ! I still am mulling over letting him know though

 

I would definitely let him know, you don't have to be rude or mad about it and he'll probably appreciate it. Otherwise chances are it will happen again to someone else, and could very well be dangerous if a wheel falls off on the highway or something.

FWIW its also very possible that they were torqued to spec but with the wheels not sitting square, or unevenly not in a star pattern which can give the same result. You are also supposed to check/retorque the lugs after 50-100 miles with aluminum wheels. Obviously most of the time its fine, but it only takes one time to be an issue. I always throw the torque wrench in the backseat after I have the wheels off/on any vehicle and check it after a bit of time. Usually are able to get a tiny bit more movement to the same torque value and have had one instance out of hundreds where they were quite loose.

 

also, aluminum rims have a tendency to oxidize, between rim and rotor, and that "rust" crumbles up causing a recently installed wheel to come loose, I always grind it off with a sanding disc or wire wheel. every wheel I have seen "fall off" or loose the oxide build up was never cleaned off. I own a shop, and any wheel that comes off gets the rim cleaned and wheels torqued, no excuses, no short cuts. I don't need to have a call from my customer saying they had a wheel come loose, and to date that has never happened and I don't plan on it ever happening.

 

I actually keep a basic Harbor Freight torque wrench in the truck so that even if I get a flat and have to use the spare, I can still get the lugnut torque right. I think I paid only $26 for it during black friday. Beats trying to guess the torque using the factory wrench.

 

You DEFINITELY need to let your friend know. A tire shop that also does brakes. The new kid may be claiming to know more than he actually does. That’s a recipe for a huge disaster. Imagine a brake job done wrong, a fatal accident because the brakes were done wrong, a small business owner liable or criminally negligent for a for it.