The Automotive Thread
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jeb6294
Well-known member
It's a Jeep. Just take it through the regular car wash candy ass.
blybrook PE
Veteran 10k Spammer
So one of the admin staff stops by my desk and asks if I can look at her truck about 45 minutes ago. Her husband swapped out the winter tires for summer (removal of studded tires) the other night and was apparently really proud of himself, but she had a weird knock and wobble on the way to work this morning once she hit 60mph. She knew it was coming from the left front tire, so I head out to take a look and the tire isn't sitting straight. Grab a hold of the wheel to check for a bad bearing and the whole rim starts moving as the lug nuts weren't tight. I tested the lugs with my fingers and find that they're not even finger tight. Not good; she's really starting to freak out at this point and her husband is in one of the bush communities, so he wasn't available to contact for adequate chiding purposes by me or the ever growing crowd as I was making repairs.
I ask her where her lug socket was because these are fancy rims and have them stupid special locking lug nuts. She has no clue, so we tear apart the interior of the truck, finding only the original stock components that are of no use what so ever. I start digging through my toolbox and find that a 3/4" 6 sided socket will work; albeit not the right tool for the job and a little loose (probably metric, but I don't carry those). I also get out my bottle jack since she doesn't even have a jack in her truck that can reach the frame or axle housing and I knew I had to lift the wheel to recenter things properly. Her husband is becoming more of an idiot to me by the minute as he apparently had to borrow a jack from his work to change the tires in the first place.
Once the wheel was reset on the hub, I lowered the truck back to the ground and asked her how her husband tightened the lugs; she responded with a wrench. I asked if it was a torque wrench and she said no, just a standard socket wrench. I'm just glad she knew the difference. I went around and checked all of the lugs and re-torqued them all to 120 ft-lbs, finding only one other loose lug out of 18 on the remaining wheels (right rear). I've already advised her to chide her husband when she gets the chance to get the appropriate tools in the truck should she need them in the future. I also showed her my bottle jack, an Home Depot 12 ton model that sells for around $40. Thankfully, she responded that she'll go buy a jack on the way home tonight and dig through the tools at home to find the appropriate socket for the lugs and get it in the truck. I also recommended she buy a torque wrench and keep it where she can re-torque the lugs after changing the tires.
Since I've been back to my desk, I've recommended she either start calling her husband "wobbles" or "lugs" until further notice. Some people just shouldn't be around vehicles.
I ask her where her lug socket was because these are fancy rims and have them stupid special locking lug nuts. She has no clue, so we tear apart the interior of the truck, finding only the original stock components that are of no use what so ever. I start digging through my toolbox and find that a 3/4" 6 sided socket will work; albeit not the right tool for the job and a little loose (probably metric, but I don't carry those). I also get out my bottle jack since she doesn't even have a jack in her truck that can reach the frame or axle housing and I knew I had to lift the wheel to recenter things properly. Her husband is becoming more of an idiot to me by the minute as he apparently had to borrow a jack from his work to change the tires in the first place.
Once the wheel was reset on the hub, I lowered the truck back to the ground and asked her how her husband tightened the lugs; she responded with a wrench. I asked if it was a torque wrench and she said no, just a standard socket wrench. I'm just glad she knew the difference. I went around and checked all of the lugs and re-torqued them all to 120 ft-lbs, finding only one other loose lug out of 18 on the remaining wheels (right rear). I've already advised her to chide her husband when she gets the chance to get the appropriate tools in the truck should she need them in the future. I also showed her my bottle jack, an Home Depot 12 ton model that sells for around $40. Thankfully, she responded that she'll go buy a jack on the way home tonight and dig through the tools at home to find the appropriate socket for the lugs and get it in the truck. I also recommended she buy a torque wrench and keep it where she can re-torque the lugs after changing the tires.
Since I've been back to my desk, I've recommended she either start calling her husband "wobbles" or "lugs" until further notice. Some people just shouldn't be around vehicles.
Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
Ble_PE
I need a beer.
Na, he's still living in the wrong part of the country for that. Give him time...
Master slacker
Something awesome.
But he could be on the leading edge of a trend for the area!
but his goal was to wash the top. :dunno:
Bly, call me a hack but I have never torqued a lug nut in my life. I just put them on f'n tight.
Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
Dexman PE PMP
Internationally PMP'n his PE-ness
I don't even own a torque wrench.
Before my first race with the Mazda, my buddy torqued the one wheel we had off. He's the lead mechanic at a local Audi dealership. I asked him WTF he was doing, and he couldn't believe that I always just used a T bar and not a torque wrench. When I was about to leave for the second trip up the mountain, the flag guy waves me to stop. Sure enough, one of the torqued lugnuts had backed all the way off and was laying on the ground next to my wheel. All the others that weren't torqued were still tight.
Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
I bust his balls with Audi jokes all the time, but he's actually pretty dang good at what he does, and is an electrical troubleshooting whiz. I bring my race cars to him when I need goofy alignments done.
blybrook PE
Veteran 10k Spammer
The local tire shops use torque sticks with the impact guns. I've had more loose lugs than I care to think of. I only started using a torque wrench instead of the t-bar or my breaker bar after getting one so f'n tight, no one could back it off. That and I snapped the lugs on another rig before I got to where I thought it was tight enough.
After starting to use the torque wrench, I've not had one single problem with a loose lug nut or snapping off the lug itself.
After starting to use the torque wrench, I've not had one single problem with a loose lug nut or snapping off the lug itself.
I wonder if the thieves are bored NASCAR pit crews...
http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/williamson/wheels-and-tires-stripped-from-48-cars-at-dealership
http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/williamson/wheels-and-tires-stripped-from-48-cars-at-dealership
The theives must have had a good sized truck . You'd need something substantial to transport the blocks to the site and the tires out.
Shame on the dealership for not have any video surveillance.
