Lug Removal Using Torque Wrench

[Eddystone]

Will I go to hell for using a $12 (with coupon) torque wrench in this manner?

Maybe (symbolically speaking). I don't trust when I read 'cheap' before a torque wrench. These tools are all but reliable when poorly made. By not reliable I mean, you will have a lug at 100 ft. lbs. and the next one at 75 ft. lbs. or worse. Not good when it comes to wheel lugs which need to have all very similar torque numbers (think lugs that loosen up while driving).

It is a good idea to get a torque wrench for the wheel lugs. Keep in mind that because of corrosion on the wheel lug seat, the torque for these lugs may be hard to set uniformly on all 5 lugs. This adds to the imprecision of a torque wrench.

A used quality torque wrench is not much and it's a good investment for safety.

Don't forget to check the lugs after a short drive in the city after some strong braking (strongly advise not to take the highway before this check). And also never add any lubricant on the lugs or at the lug seat on the wheel. Even better clean the lugs off with some wire brush and some acetone before putting them back.

The car is 700 miles away. So, I won't be doing work on it regularly. I tend to think that a torque wrench that is out of calibration will read consistently if incorrectly. If it is reading 100 at one lug and 75 at the next, it is defective, not out of calibration.

[Eddystone]

I'd vote for getting a good size 4 way lug wrench. Force of your body to loosen stubborn lugs, and the quick spins to get them out and back in quickly. Less time someone's knelt down, vulnerable, on the shoulder of a road the better. The other thing is if Tire places or shops are hammering your lugs back on, I wouldn't use them. I went through that before having stripped threads and broken studs. there's places that don't do that. Even Walmart of all places finishes the tightening properly with a torque wrench.

I have never in my life seen anyone use a torque wrench in "final" tighten of lug nuts. It's always ZZZIIIPPP and that's it. Fortunately, the only time they get to do that is when I get new tires or an alignment.

The quick spin angle is an important consideration.

[scot850]

Problem with most 4 way lug wrenches are they are imperial sized not metric. Also the ones I have found are usually too thick to fit into the lug bolt recess on Volvo alloys, and if they do, the scrape them to hell.

I recently had to swap the summer rims off my wife's SUV after it had been to the dealer. Torque should have been a MAX. 80 ft/lb. I had to use over 300 ft/lb to get them loose. Even my electric impact wrench barely got them off. I had more luck with a long breaker bar and appropriate 19mm socket. I now check the wheels after any dealer visit and have an extender lug wrench and socket for all the cars.

Neil.

[PS78]

I'd vote for getting a good size 4 way lug wrench. Force of your body to loosen stubborn lugs, and the quick spins to get them out and back in quickly. Less time someone's knelt down, vulnerable, on the shoulder of a road the better. The other thing is if Tire places or shops are hammering your lugs back on, I wouldn't use them. I went through that before having stripped threads and broken studs. there's places that don't do that. Even Walmart of all places finishes the tightening properly with a torque wrench.

I have never in my life seen anyone use a torque wrench in "final" tighten of lug nuts. It's always ZZZIIIPPP and that's it. Fortunately, the only time they get to do that is when I get new tires or an alignment.

The quick spin angle is an important consideration.

I was pretty surprised myself to see them finish the tightening by hand, but they did on 2 vehicles I had tires installed on.
Angle is important. I start them in by hand and then turn them in. I know that came off sounding like the wheel of fortune twirl spin lol. It's just what I'm used to, I've never cross threaded a lug.

[PS78]

Problem with most 4 way lug wrenches are they are imperial sized not metric. Also the ones I have found are usually too thick to fit into the lug bolt recess on Volvo alloys, and if they do, the scrape them to hell.

I recently had to swap the summer rims off my wife's SUV after it had been to the dealer. Torque should have been a MAX. 80 ft/lb. I had to use over 300 ft/lb to get them loose. Even my electric impact wrench barely got them off. I had more luck with a long breaker bar and appropriate 19mm socket. I now check the wheels after any dealer visit and have an extender lug wrench and socket for all the cars.

Neil.

I've had mine along time, and I don't recall where I purchased it,maybe pep boys back in the 90's? but it's metric and has nylon on the outside of the heads so no scrapes.

[RickHaleParker]

It's a $12 torque wrench being used for nothing but the occasional wheel removal and nothing else. How far off could the calibration be versus my own usual "feels about right" method?

Any torque wrench would be better then a guess. However I reasoned you where more concern with keeping the wheels on, then getting them off cheap. If the torque wrench get knock out of calibration to save the cost of a breaker bar, the reason for getting a torque wrench in the first place is defeated. That is the way I see it.

It is a click type your looking at. You could teach him to set the wrench on the highest setting to break the lugs off. Then reset it to torque the bolts on. I do have the 1/2" Pittsburg Pro from HF, they go to 150 ft. Lb. Most Volvo lug nuts are spec 85-100 ft.lb. If they been torque to spec, you should be able to break then loose with the wrench set to 150 ft. lb. with out excessive force. Does that sound like a workable solution and acceptable risk?

[j-dawg]

The problem is mainly having something that will get the lug loose after someone has torqued it to 200 lb-ft with an impact gun. The factory lug wrench in my V70 is useless for that. A throw-away $12 torque wrench would get these off and then back on in a reasonable tight and equally tight manner.

True dat - I snapped the factory wrench clean in two trying to break a lug by the side of the road. But I think a breaker bar, with no ratcheting mechanism, would be much more reliable than a clicker torque wrench.

I had an 1/2" HF clicker break via the ratcheting mechanism. A breaker bar has one moving part and you probably can't break it before you break the wheel bolt. So I think the breaker works better for breaking and good enough for tightening.

A beam-type torque wrench has no moving parts except the handle pin. If your needle is still pointing to 0 when you're done, you didn't break it. If you want to break bolts loose with a torque wrench, that's probably the best type to use.

I don't trust when I read 'cheap' before a torque wrench. These tools are all but reliable when poorly made. By not reliable I mean, you will have a lug at 100 ft. lbs. and the next one at 75 ft. lbs. or worse. Not good when it comes to wheel lugs which need to have all very similar torque numbers (think lugs that loosen up while driving).

When I was bolting my cam cover down a few months ago, I was using a Craftsman beam-type wrench in the interest of accuracy, but beamers don't ratchet and can be hard to read. It's like thirty bolts, so I checked my cheap HF clicker against it on a few bolts. I found that the clicker was within a few percent of the beam and very consistent - extremely repeatable click-to-click, though resetting the torque would introduce a bit of variation. I'm definitely comfortable using them to torque wheels.

[oragex]

I just realize the title says "removing" the wheel lugs. My bad. Sure, anything that has a long enough handle is good to remove the lugs. As you mention, if some Tommy mechanic put the impact on those lugs, it will take more than 3 visits at the gym to get them loose. I use a 1/2 ratchet with it's socket, and place a 2ft long bar on the handle. Got the bar from the hardware store, they have even longer than 2ft. Of course, better not use a 5ft bar to torque down the lugs, but to remove them the longer the better

[ZionXIX]

Sometimes those torque wrenches are on sale for $10. I grease the lights and add 5lbs to the torque value and check them after a drive. At that price you can afford the 25 inch breaker bar.

[jvl]

Maybe I'm an amateur, but it wasn't untill the Volvo that I started using a torque wrench for the alloys.

On older cars, I've always used my own hands + judgment, I did always make sure that all nuts where tightened evenly.
When doing a repair in a shop, I would now ALWAYS use the torque wrench, but for the occassional flat tire I would rather use a breaker bar. As said above, you could write an instruction that says 'lifting the bar should be about as hard as lifting a [bag of groceries] or another comparison that is easy to remember.

Maybe, you could give your son a small toolbag with a few tools that are real life savers when stranded?
I'm thinking duct tape, big and small tie wraps, a pair of gripping pliers, adjustable wrench, knife, flashlight, high visibility jacket, tow rope, breaker bar + a few sockets?

Joost