I was having one of those days where things go all wrong, but then everything right - almost making you think it will all even out - then everything went wrong. For reasons I won't go into here I needed 4 tires fast, stopped by the Ford dealership I frequent, and they had 4 that they could fit me with and had me out of there within 40 minutes. I always remove my locking lugs before I go for tire rotations, but didn't have time today, so just gave them the key.

When I get home, I decided to re-torque the wheels like I always do. Come to find out that I guess they didn't hold the key very tight when the put the locking lug nuts back on, because two of the nuts I can't get off by hand after loosening (telling me somehow some of the threads on the bolt got bent a little), but I can get off easily enough with the torque wrench. Then, as I was re-tightening one of the locking lugs, it snapped in half (maybe from the stress of being overtorqued). Not to mention when they returned the key to me, they had lost the metal cable that comes with it that keeps it from rolling all over the place.

I guess there's really nothing I can do, I mean I guess I didn't suffer "damage" as I can still get the nuts on and off, but now I've got 4 that I can loosen and then unscrew with my hand and one I've got to use the wrench on for quite a few more turns.

The whole thing just erks me....thanks for letting me vent...

 

Actually, your experience with the dealer sounds pretty common. Just not a good job. Maybe good enough, but not really good.

I cringe when ever I have anyone work on my truck.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new tires.

BOB

 

F150BOB

The scary thing is what are they doing that nobody notices. Hardly anybody re-torques their lugs after their tires are rotated, so for my 1 find there are 999 other people out there that don't know about the damage. I'm sure there are plenty of warped rotors, scarred wheels, or lugs with damaged threads that no one will ever notice, except when something needs to be replaced and then the customer pays for the damage the dealer created.

I have to check the rest of my lugs (not just the locking ones) as the difficulty in turning doesn't start immediately. In other words, if I put the locking lug on I can turn it for a while, but when it hits the middle of the lug bolt I need the lug wrench (I don't need to put any effort into the wrench, but I can't turn it with my hand). This tells me that maybe ALL my nuts were over-tightened, scarring the threading on the bolts.

I'm dreading another tire rotation, I don't think the threads can take much more pounding before the nuts don't come off anymore. Just out of curiousity, on the rear axle, are the lug bolts part of the axle shaft and flange housing, or are the inserted into pre-drilled holes? i.e. if I needed a new lug bolt would I have to get a new axle shaft or could they just insert a new bolt into the hub I've already got welded to the flange?
Actually, your experience with the dealer sounds pretty common. Just not a good job. Maybe good enough, but not really good.

I cringe when ever I have anyone work on my truck.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new tires.

BOB [/QUOTE]

 

For essentially the same reasons you describe, I rotate my own tires at home. Furthermore, when I need new tires, I put the vehicle on the stands at home, remove the wheels, and take them in my other truck to the tire store. I then install the wheels/ new tires on the vehicle myself. I know this sounds fairly **** and a PITA, but afterwards I rest assured that the lugs are not cross-threaded and are torqued properly. I have been doing this for years, ever since a lug nut was cross-threaded so badly and torqued so tight that it could not be removed with an air wrench and had to be basically air hammered to pieces to be removed.


SM