So I took the KJ in for the recall...

[KJ zGal]

...and everything would have gone smoothly had the dealer not found the lugnuts torqued so tightly that they had to be soaked and DRILLED OFF. Charged me $115 and told me to take the receipt with the notes on what they had to do back to Monro where I last had the tires rotated. I'd have been totally screwed if I'd gotten a flat tire, because there's no way I would've gotten those lugnuts off. I'm going to attempt to get the money from Monro since it's within the 90 day/4,000 mile warranty, and if they refuse, I plan to write a very nasty letter to the regional offices...or something. I'm just severely peeved...but at least the ball joints are replaced!

 

[LibertyTC]

That is not fair or fun, sorry to hear about that.
This is such a common problem .....so many uncalibrated air tools cranked up, when they should be using a long handle torque wrench at the correct settings.
I think a $115 refund is in order.

 

[loves_off_roading]

That ***** I don't know why people have to put them on so tight. When I did my last tire rotation they all came off easily except for 1. It took a lot of swearing and a half hour to loosen it up.

 

[2003renegade]

I got a call from the dealer saying i needed mine replaced, so I called them back telling them i'd recently replaced them( 2 weeks ago) and they are covering what i spent on the ball joints! hurray!

 

[belvedere]

Sorry to hear that, Gal. Hope Monroe reimburses you.

 

[brucebotti]

...and everything would have gone smoothly had the dealer not found the lugnuts torqued so tightly that they had to be soaked and DRILLED OFF. Charged me $115 and told me to take the receipt with the notes on what they had to do back to Monro where I last had the tires rotated. I'd have been totally screwed if I'd gotten a flat tire, because there's no way I would've gotten those lugnuts off. I'm going to attempt to get the money from Monro since it's within the 90 day/4,000 mile warranty, and if they refuse, I plan to write a very nasty letter to the regional offices...or something. I'm just severely peeved...but at least the ball joints are replaced!

That is one of my pet peeves. That's why whenever I have tire work done, the first thing i do when I get home is to loosen the lugs and retorque them to OEM spec. There's nothing worse than having a flat tire, and not being able to loosen the lug nuts. Good Luck with Monro.
Bruce

 

[Dave]

I hate those places or when anybody else touches my jeep. The only one I trust is All-Tech Automotive in Ballston Spa. They are out of your way but have good tech's and are worth it if you have to bring it somewhere.

You should make out ok getting reimbursed with the paperwork for the repair. Let us know.

Dave

 

[omGoddard]

I was trying to change the oil filter in my old Grand Prix once (requires removing pass. wheel). Last shop had the lugs on so tight I had to use a cheater bar on the 4 way.

I was leaning on the cheater pipe with all 260lbs when the lug stripped and I planted my face off the passenger fender. The filter did not get changed that day.

 

[LibertyTC]

4 way's suck. Try and get a long handle iron. I carry a 18" steel pipe to fit over the stock iron just in case. Makes we want to get some light anti-seize on the last few threads, and torque em once a week.

 

[BigRich201]

yea u gotta watch out with them tire shops. they dont use torque wrenches anymore they just use the impact gun on em and thats it.

 

[Clyde Frog]

My lugs that are on right now were gunned on and when I went to my local car parts store to look for replacement lugs (I missing many of the chrome covers so I'm just replacing them all because it annoys me), I tried to get one off to bring inside and compare. Well, got my tire rod on the nut and it wouldn't budge. I JUMPED on the damn thing and bent my freakin rod. So I'm going back this week to get 1) a new tire rod thingy 2) my nuts loosened. I'm glad I realized it before I found myself with a flat on the side of the road!

 

[kb0nly]

I rotated my tires in the driveway Thursday, a four way and standing on one side... Damn things were on TIGHT... Next time i get back by the shop that did the tires i will give him some heckling... But overall they still came off easy enough that i won't complain too much. I would guess he put them on around 100-115 ft lbs.

 

[ThunderbirdJunkie]

They had to drill them?
Doesn't sound right. There's no reason for them to have to drill them unless there are extenuating circumstances. They're either not giving you the full story, don't know what they're doing, or wanted to take you for a ride.

Have worked on a few cars that needed lugnuts removed in questionable ways, but in 99% of cases, just having lugnuts on tight won't require drilling.

 

[LibertyFever]

I'm guilty of using an electric impact wrench whenever I put on my wheels in the driveway and have never used the torque wrench and I've also been stuck on the side of the road unable to change a flat tire because a garage used an air driven impact wrench to rotate the tires.

It's usually a sign of a good mechanic/garage if you see them actually use a torque wrench when they rotate your wheels. The only way to avoid the problem is to ask for them to properly torque the lug nuts.

 

[TigerClaws]

Did they freaking weld the lugnuts there ? I've never seen a lugnut needing to be drilled out either ... and i've seen old rotten cars on rock piles ...You better make sure you wont need a TAP and DIE kit to fix that ...

 

[KJ zGal]

Okay, so correction, as I just looked at the receipt to see what exactly it said they did. The lugnuts WERE too tight, but that wasn't what they drilled out...

You must be registered for see images attach

That's what they did.

Too bad they couldn't have spelled "way" and "too" correctly =P

 

[sevenhelmet]

The last time I used an impact gun on my wheels, I screwed up so badly that I had to replace 3 studs and clean up another 2 with a tap and die. I also stripped the threads out of 4 of my lug nuts and had to hunt around the shop junk pile for spares. One of the remaining studs will only work with a rusty old lug nut I found. Even a brand-new acorn nut won't fit that stud, so eventually it will need to be replaced.

Needless to say, I felt like such an idiot that I only use a lug and torque wrench now. I don't let power tools touch my lug nuts anymore. There is a safe, correct way to use an impact gun, but I just don't want to mess with it.

 

[ThunderbirdJunkie]

Okay, so correction, as I just looked at the receipt to see what exactly it said they did. The lugnuts WERE too tight, but that wasn't what they drilled out...

OH, ok. So they were probably cross-threaded.

The last time I used an impact gun on my wheels, I screwed up so badly that I had to replace 3 studs and clean up another 2 with a tap and die. I also stripped the threads out of 4 of my lug nuts and had to hunt around the shop junk pile for spares. One of the remaining studs will only work with a rusty old lug nut I found. Even a brand-new acorn nut won't fit that stud, so eventually it will need to be replaced.

Needless to say, I felt like such an idiot that I only use a lug and torque wrench now. I don't let power tools touch my lug nuts anymore. There is a safe, correct way to use an impact gun, but I just don't want to mess with it.

ThunderbirdJunkie has used nothing but an impact on his lug nuts for removal and installation since October of 2005.

It wasn't until he let a tire tech rotate his tires a few months ago that he lost a damn lug nut cap](*,)

 

[tjkj2002]

One big mis-conception is that removing a lugnut can make it strip,totally false(I know it does not apply to the OP),it was crossthreaded when put on last.

Now Have I broken wheels studs before? Yep but only taking them off from other idiots crossthreading them before me.I use my IR Titanium impact to remove lugnuts,it's always on the lowest setting which is about 400lbs-ft of torque.I always start every lugnut by hand and at least 5-6 threads and zip them the rest of the way on with my Snapon cordless electric impact.With a fresh battery and my flip socket my electric impact will only tighten them to 80lbs-ft unless I rap on them for over 5 seconds,verified on a test machine,and most vehicles have at least a 80lbs-ft lugnut torque.Then I lower the vehicle and use a calibrated Snapon torque wrench set at the OEM specified torque for the vehicle.Then they all get re-torqued by another person.The last 2 steps are company policy and must have 2 sign-offs for wheel torque.

Never had a issue yet.

 

[Clyde Frog]

It wasn't until he let a tire tech rotate his tires a few months ago that he lost a damn lug nut cap](*,)

Kick.gif

I can't help but say that I giggled a tiny bit at that.