I was torquing lug nuts wrong for YEARS until a guy at a swap meet in Daytona pointed it out

I always did the star pattern by hand, then used my impact to finish. This older guy watched me do it on a buddy's car and said, 'Kid, you're pulling the wheel off the hub before it's seated.' He showed me to do the star pattern in three steps with a torque wrench, starting at 40 ft-lbs. The last click at spec seats it perfectly. I felt like an idiot. Anyone else have a basic habit they had to unlearn?

3 comments

3 Comments

kimr7423d ago

Wait, you used an impact wrench at the end?

jennifer83323d ago

Saw a video where they said that can strip the threads real fast lol.

rubyk2623d ago

Ugh, YES. It's like people have totally forgotten what a hand tool is for. I see this everywhere now, just grabbing the most powerful tool for the tiniest job. That need for SPEED just breaks stuff. It's not just tools, it's everything. We're all in such a rush we skip the basics and then wonder why things get wrecked.