I've Will Never Do That Again...what A B**ch!

gstephen · January 5, 2008

Owning a tiny four banger Saturn for so long, and doing all my own service, I figured I would treat my truck to a quick tire rotation and then I'd head out for lunch. Boy was I wrong. There was nothing quick about it. First off, the hydralic junk I bought at AutoZone couldn't budge the big girl (It said two tons on the sticker; sure). And then the bar I use to raise the truck was less than 2', so there was no way I was going be able to use it to raise the rear. I was at a crossroads. Do I throw the one front wheel back on and head over to Sears for a real jack, or do I continue laboring with that toy GM gives you. I never saw a jack I had to wind up before. With three flimsy pieces of metal. I usually throw a decent hydralic in the trunk and forget about it. Anyway, what had taken me twenty minutes with the Saturn, took me two hours with this truck. And boy are those wheels heavy.As I know they are going to be even heavier with the BFG AT's I am going to start having rotations and brakes done at my mechanic. Is there a tool or socket I can buy and hand them so that his guys don't scratch the heck out of the rims when they try to guide the impact wrench onto the lugnut? It isn't the impact wrench doing the damage as much as it is his hitting the rim trying to set the socket on the nut. If anyone knows of such a thing, please share. If not, let's invent our own.

gstephen · January 5, 2008

Owning a tiny four banger Saturn for so long, and doing all my own service, I figured I would treat my truck to a quick tire rotation and then I'd head out for lunch. Boy was I wrong. There was nothing quick about it. First off, the hydralic junk I bought at AutoZone couldn't budge the big girl (It said two tons on the sticker; sure). And then the bar I use to raise the truck was less than 2', so there was no way I was going be able to use it to raise the rear. I was at a crossroads. Do I throw the one front wheel back on and head over to Sears for a real jack, or do I continue laboring with that toy GM gives you. I never saw a jack I had to wind up before. With three flimsy pieces of metal. I usually throw a decent hydralic in the trunk and forget about it. Anyway, what had taken me twenty minutes with the Saturn, took me two hours with this truck. And boy are those wheels heavy.As I know they are going to be even heavier with the BFG AT's I am going to start having rotations and brakes done at my mechanic. Is there a tool or socket I can buy and hand them so that his guys don't scratch the heck out of the rims when they try to guide the impact wrench onto the lugnut? It isn't the impact wrench doing the damage as much as it is his hitting the rim trying to set the socket on the nut. If anyone knows of such a thing, please share. If not, let's invent our own.

As I was typing this someone on the Classic board was saying the same thing. He suggested these

Anyone have any experience with these?

BurroWDMS · January 5, 2008

They make nylon wrapped (coated?) impact sockets that you can use so you don't damage the wheels. I've seen them at Harbor Freight and other tool places. The link you posted is torque limiting sticks, those only guarantee that they don't over torque the lugnut with the gun. Discount Tire uses those so they don't strip the stud.

Having lifted one of these 20" wheel combo packages, I feel your pain. I think I read somewhere it's in the neighboorhood of 85 pounds!

I had to have my truck in for a replacement part at the dealer (truck was vandalized), and I paid the $19.95 or whatever it was to have the dealership rotate the tires and reset the TPMS. Well worth it

edit:

http://www.justoffbase.co.uk/Alloy-Wheel-D...e-Sealey-SX031D

There is one example of the sockets I was talking about.

Scramble · January 5, 2008

If it's the impact wrench itself hitting the rim, then try something like that ^. If it's the socket you're worried about, try a coated/lined socket. They use them alot on "bling" rims to stop damage during wheel changes.

Example http://www.mytoolstore.com/astro/asthan16.html

pm26 · January 6, 2008

And boy are those wheels heavy.As I know they are going to be even heavier with the BFG AT's I am going to start having rotations and brakes done at my mechanic. Is there a tool or socket I can buy and hand them so that his guys don't scratch the heck out of the rims when they try to guide the impact wrench onto the lugnut? It isn't the impact wrench doing the damage as much as it is his hitting the rim trying to set the socket on the nut. If anyone knows of such a thing, please share. If not, let's invent our own.

Heavy wheels? You should try to rotate them on my deuce and a half! 200 lbs a piece and 10 of them. 350 ft-lbs for the front lug nuts and 450 for the rear ones!

BTW, do not use an impact air gun on your lug nuts, period. Use a good size breaker bar and a socket to loosen them and a decent torque wrench to evenly torque them to 140 ft-lbs. Uneven tightening of lug nuts with an impact wrench is the number one cause for warped rotors.

srlbotanical · January 6, 2008

Any time a shop touches my wheels I ask them to hand torque only. I don't want any kind of impact gun on my rims...

RyanZ71 · January 6, 2008

I let Discount Tire take care of the rotations and tire stuff, they've always been fantastic about things and they hand torque everything.

svensk · January 6, 2008

I let Discount Tire take care of the rotations and tire stuff, they've always been fantastic about things and they hand torque everything.

Ditto, I spent a fortune on my Mich LTX M/S from them and they give me lifetime rotation/balancing. I stand there and watch them hand torque the lugs.