Loosening lug nuts for shock/brake replacement. Seller had just installed all new tyres. Worker (won’t say mechanic) must have been too lazy to hand torque. Had to stand on Jag wrench to loosen every nut. At 215 lbs and 18” out, that is 322.5 ft-lbs. Last wouldn’t budge, so gave a bounce. Result in picture.

 

I once had a shop put my rear lug nuts on so tight I had to loosen them with a 4 ft 3/4 drive breaker bar. Half the studs snapped but luckily they were relatively easy to replace. After that I vowed to do as much as possible myself, too many shops don't know what a torque wrench is or what "tighten by hand" means. When I get my tires rotated or balanced I specify 70-75 ft-lbs BY HAND. If another stud snaps they're paying for a new stud and lug nut.

 

I just had all my tires balanced to get rid of a front-wheel vibration. I told the kid I wanted the lug nuts hand-tightened. He pulled out a torque wrench and bless his heart did it the right way. The poor fellow had to reposition the tire on one of the front wheels three times to get the "road force" numbers down to an acceptable range. The other front tire would balance but when repositioned three times on the wheel the "road force" number would not budge from 29-30 against a desired 10 or less. Ultimately they shifted those tires to the back and put the better handling/running tires on the front.

These tires probably have no more than perhaps 6k 5k on them and were made in early 2017. I'll probably just run them another year or two then replace them. They're Bridgestone Ecotopia units that must have been put on by the little old lady who owned the car before it was traded.

 

That is the most frustrating thing to come across. Idiots disguised as technicians who screw up the simplest work. Be sure to check the threads for stress....that meaning, they put the lugs on so tight, it literally stretched the threads so the lug nut fails to reinstall properly (seemingly cross threading) and/or have stress marks on the post and have to be replaced.

I recently had a simple R&B done on my Dodge work van. I wanted to check the brake pad wear and found the idiot had put a Chevy lug on it and I snapped the post getting it off. I went back and the store replaced it, no questions. But 2 hrs waisted of my life I won't get back.