I have an ongoing problem and need some help.

A few years ago I became afflicted with RA (Rhuematoid Arthritis) which stopped me from be able to do any of the work on my truck myself ('09 F-150).
I decided to get my service work done at the local Ford dealer. They have been very good with everything. I get my oil change/service done there every 6 months using their "works" package which is a great deal for ~$45.

This works package also includes rotating the tires.

The second time I had the works package, the service guy told me they had to replace 2 lug nuts as they were destroyed when removing them. OK....

The next time one more lug nut - the guy even said the tech was mad because he broke 2 sockets in the process. Then I told him that their shop was the only one who has touched my truck in the past year or so. At that point I also brought up about them over torquing the lug nuts. Oh no he says - we are very careful about that.

Last week I had a tire leaking that I wanted to get repaired. For convenience sake I went to Wal-Mart since that is the only place where you don't need an appointment and the price is good. Well I never got it fixed because they said the lug nuts were seized and they couldn't get the wheel off.

Now getting pretty mad - the next day I took my 4' cheater pipe on a 1/2" drive breaker bar and got them all to break free. Doing this pretty much did me in because of my RA - was in severe pain for the next 2 days because of it.

So what am I supposed to do? I just can't change out my wheels/tires myself. I thought I was doing the right thing be going to the Ford dealer to have all my service work done. The only other option around here are pretty much backyard mechanics who rent a garage and open a "business". I won't bring my vehicles to this type of place.

I just don't know what to do going forward - any ideas? This is so frustrating!

It may be a no-no.....but when I got those 6 lug nuts free, I put some anti-seize on the faces of the lug nuts and the threads and torqued them properly. I need to get this tire fixed so thought when I go back next week they should be able to get those lug nuts off.

 

Go back to the stealership and raise Hell! Explain that they are the ONLY ones that have touched the wheels and lug nuts on your truck and demand that they fix them, ALL of them! I've had the same problem several times at tire shops and they all CLAIM that they don't over torque the nuts but they all do it. I have yet to see a torque wrench in any tire shop.

If stealership won't fix the problem then your only choice is to take it else where and have it fixed and then try to sue them in small claims court.

Other than that you can pitch a bitch on Face Book and on forums like this and name the dealership and the location and warn others about what to expect from them.

 

Many guys now use Torque Sticks which are like extensions made from a torsion bar that absorbs the beats after a certain level of torque is applied. As long as they use the correct one, that's perfectly fine.

It's them other guys that use the same big stick for all or who don't use one and just hammer them home that cause the problems.

I don't have T-sticks, I just use a long torque wrench.

 

Torque sticks are not the same thing as a torque wrench. If you put a big beefy impact behind one, you're going to over torque them every time

As a professional in the dealership environment, I personally only use a torque wrench. I use my smaller 1/2" impact on the lowest power setting, usually hits about 90ftlbs, and then I hand torque each nut to the spec from there.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. It seems like there is no real solution for this. I've been over it and over it in my mind plus with a couple friends.

My obvious first choice would be to not have them touch my wheels from now on and do it myself like I've done all my life. But since I posted this my RA got really bad again - I just physically can't do it anymore. And I am the one who brought up my daughter that the word "can't" doesn't exist.

I went back to the dealership and talked with both the service writer and the shop foreman - the shop foreman did most of the talking. I went in with a positive attitude - I don't believe that ranting and raving will get you anywhere. After I asked the foreman to look back at my records he acknoledged that there have been issues with my lug nuts being to tight.

He then went on to tell me that they use calibrated (?) torque sticks. He also went on to say that I am not the first customer with an F-150 with this complaint and he knows I won't be the last. He then said that he himself owns an '11 F-150 and has the same issue.

Not wanting to get into a heated argument which would have no good ending, I simply asked what am I supposed to do - especially if I get a flat out on the road. He said the best he could do in that situation is to call them and assured me I would be taken care of.

I really don't feel like I was fed a line of bull - but on the other hand I didn't see any kind of resolution. He did say that when this happened at the tire shop that he wished I had come directly there with my truck (1/2 mile away).

So what I did was loosen all the lug nits and but some anti-sieze on both the threads and on the faces of the lig nuts. The foreman said he strongly recommended against doing this (on the face). I just shrugged my shoulders and said that is the only way I will be able to get them off after being in your shop.

One thing he mentioned - true or not? - was that while he has seen this many times with '99-'10 F-150, since the style change in '11 he hasn't seen it once. Possibly something has changed with how these nuts are made?

 

Way to go. Instead you bring it to the dealer who cant even figure out how to torque lug nuts.

 

See my above post. Torque sticks are not equivalent to a torque wrench

 

Torque sticks are only as good as the user. Same as a torque wrench. You can set them all day long but if you keep turning it past the click you've defeated the purpose of the tool.

I totally understand your frustration and your not being able to do it yourself. Honestly I'd find a neighborhood kid that wants to make a few bucks that'll do wat you want, at your house and you can watch them do it. Heck, they may actually learn something in the process.

 

Ask to see that calibration certificate for each of their torque sticks! It's not a pre-printed form letter, every calibrated item will be serial numbered and a separate calibration certificate will will issued for each item and it will be dated and signed and will quote a source such as the National Institute of Standards for the instruments used for the calibration. Calibration generally expires in one year and the items have to recalibrated every year.

In short, the moment that he said "calibrated" he was blowing smoke up your a$$!

 

Torque sticks are not a substitute for a torque wrench, but they do allow one to run the buts down to a safe value fast before final torque with a proper torque wrench. You're right, they aren't ..... but if one stops as soon as the first few clacks, I am told it's not far off and that it's the long hammering that goes over.

I have a buddy who uses them at his shop always and I like his mount & balance machines so I do swaps there some .... but he stops at first clacks but then he goes around twice and I'm not sure what his stick colors mean. I don't trust them so I do my own when there either by hand with a 4 way or just snug with air and finish with my T-wrench.

I accuse him of using them as a crutch while he says they are a safety device. He's always hustling to save time between long winded conversations. Next time I'm there, I have to inquire now, maybe do a "test" even?

On the flip side, I have another buddy who is in his 50s and his dad who is near 80, (I also use their tire machines but the shop is more crowded and sometimes they are out on wrecker calls which is their primary deal) and they both use a air wrench to get them snug only and they both to this day go for the same long handle 350 ft lb Snap On clicker kept in it's drawer in it's "nest" and dial it up and do each nut to a spec without fail. I don't know if they even own a tourque stick?

 

Perhaps carry one of these on board so you know for sure you'll be able to change a tire if need be.
http://www.ingersollrandproducts.com...impactool.html

 

By using a standard Torque wrench, you also learn muscle memory, so I tend to know if it "feels" Right as far as torque levels go too, incase of a failure or a difference in calibration

 

Okay...so what is the torque spec on a Ford 20" Chrome wheel???

 

What year?

 

2009 F150 is 150ftlbs