A few weeks back, I found a stick-on wheel weight lying on my garage floor inside of my right front wheel. I took the car to a tire shop soon after to have it re-balanced, even though I had no symptoms of an out-of-balance wheel/tire.

Fast forward to today, I found a lug nut lying in my driveway, checked my car, and found a lug nut missing from the right front wheel. I put it back on, pulled out my torque wrench set to the F-Type spec of 92 ft./lbs., and then checked all the other lug nuts on that wheel. ALL OF THEM were loose, so I jacked the car up, backed them all off, re-seated the wheel on the hub, and torqued them back down to 92 ft./lbs. I then checked the other 15 lugs on every other wheel, and they were all exactly the right torque spec, but none of them had been removed by the tire shop.

In the past, I've not trusted tire shops to appropriately torque the lugs whenever I've had wheel/tire work, so I've always checked, and usually everything is good. For whatever reasons, I didn't do that this time. I did give the tire shop the appropriate spec.

If you don't have one, get a torque wrench and check! My experience today could have been ugly.

 

Glad you found it in time...the very first thing I do if anyone touches my wheels is air pressure and making sure the lugs are torqued to spec.

 

That's what I've always have done as well, but I almost always find all OK, except that tire pressure is often out of spec. In this case, the one time I didn't do that, a lot was wrong. If one lug fell off and the rest were loose, it was only a matter of time before one or more others backed off.

That's why I posted my experience here. Complacency/laziness can hurt you. I suspect many here don't even own a torque wrench and have never changed a tire.

 

I hope that's not all you gave them! That could have been a disaster!

Did you call to complain?

 

Not yet. On the other hand, why bother, because they'll deny it. However, if I ever go back there (unlikely), I'll bring it up.

 

Driving home last summer I passed a local tyre fitting shop. There was a car stranded in the middle of the road with all 4 of its wheels jammed at odd angles in the wheel arches.

It appeared to have been driven out of said tyre fitting shop without any lug nuts fitted...

 

Case rested.

Since I only had one wheel removed, my shop had the same failure rate, but at least they installed the lugs. They just forgot to torque them down properly.

 

I checked mine this morning before going to work. With a new car you would assume the torque would be correct but you know what assume means. I have the precision instruments PREC2FR100F its only $120.

 

Yes, I'm sure they are torqued correctly from the factory because that's automated and double-checked in QA, but I'm glad my cautionary note rang the right bell. You're very wise.

It's an issue when a wheel has been removed later that you haven't checked yourself. That was my mea culpa.

 

What size socket is needed for the OEM lugs on the F-Type? I assume this would be the same across the range of models.

edit: nvm, found answer in another thread: 19mm

 

19mm.

 

Hmmm; my dealer had my wheels off and I expect they are a bit more diligent than ma and pa tire shop.....but maybe I should check anyway. Hoist and torque wrench in hand!

thanks for the reminder Foosh....hope you're enjoying that 'vette. I have two friends with them now (both C7 Z06's) and they love them.

Cheers,
Dave

 

My dealer "threw in" a set of security wheel lugs....when I set about removing them prior to a track day I had a hell of a time removing one of them.....only to find when installing the normal lug nut with my torque wrench the stud twisted off ( at less than 92# ) resulting in a replaced wheel hub....and me not having the car available for the 2 day track event. Can only quess how they put on the security lug.
I have a set of torque sticks and use a 80# stick with my trusty Harbor Freight impact wrench followed by a proper torque wrench....not sure how many tire shops even both with a torque stick/ torque wrench.

 

I check them with a clicker type I got at Lowes and a beam type to check the calibration from time to time.

 

Jag lugs seat flat with washers (known as Mag Style) vs most that are acorn style and seat in at an angle. Perhaps that has something to do with them coming loose easier.

Plus lug nuts get dirty/greasy over time. Perhaps every year or two replacing them make sense. http://www.ebay.com/itm/282123646623...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

Thanks for the note, Dave. I'm loving the C7, and in particular, the M7! I really missed rowing my own gears.

 

Also, check your lug bolts/washers for corrosion. Being ****, I moved my security bolt to under the growler's chin on each wheel, and discovered corrosion on 1 bolt in the process:

 

I do t think I have ever heard "trusty" and "harbor freight" in the same sentence. Perhaps you meant "rusty harbor freight?"

 

I had the beep-beep Craftsman electronic torque wrench and have decided to go to the Precision unit - PREC2FR100F.

Almost bought the 1/2" unit, but it only has 5lb increments, and the 3/8" has 2lb increments.

Added these to the garage.

 

The Jag has not been to the tire shop yet. Whenever I take my other cars in, I always watch them torque the wheels and confirm the lbs used. I had a bad experience years ago....