2015 Chevy Sonic - lug nuts

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Jan 13, 2013
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Last week , Wife has a blow out on / at the sidewall on the RF tire . She called me & I went to try to change the flat .

The sonic has a mickey mouse scissor jack & a lug wrench less than a foot long . The lug nuts must have been installed with a BIG impact wrench , set on HIGH .

Could not loosen the lug nuts with the lug wrench or a big 4 way wrench . Called a cousin to help and we eventually used a 24" HF break over wrench and a SAE socket ( wvwn thought the lug nut was metric ) .

Cousin suggested I join triple A ( AAA ) . Not a bad idea . Think road service is also available with my auto insurance company .

Also thinking about looking at cordless electric impact wrenches at HF . I have a 1/2" drive deep impact socket set for my corded electric impatt wrench . I think I also have a 3/8" short impact socket set ?

Would probably need a setup for the sonic and the Buick .

AAA would be a reoccurring expense . The tooling would not be a reoccurring cost .

Suggestions ?
 
Break all the lug nuts loose and torque them properly. Once you do that you should be able to get them off with the available lug wrench. One of the first things I do when I get home from having tires mounted, although Discount Tire does the final torque with a clicker type wrench, if I do it, I have no one to blame by myself.
 
Check to see if you indeed have Roadside Assistance on your auto insurance policy. If not, see how much it is to add to the policy. No real need to have both, AAA & RSA on your policy IMO. However, only you can answer that question.
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Do you know the lug nut torque figures on both cars? I like to set my own torque on my wheels ESPECIALLY when I get home even after having service done by a shop.

HF has an electric impact gun(1/2" - 1200 ft/lbs/tq) that is supposed to be really "SKOOKUM" according to AvE Tool Reviews.
 
I wouldn't rely on an electric impact. As soon as you need it, it'll be dead. Heck, if it did work, it may break a few studs.
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The 24" HF breaker bar is a good buy. Wheel chocks and their 1.5 ton aluminum jack may be a good idea too.

As said above, break your lugs and retorque to spec.

If you think you and your wife would benefit from AAA, get it.
 
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I've always made it a habit to loosen and re-torque lug nuts or lug bolts as on German iron anytime I get new tires or someone else touches my wheels.
The supplied lug wrench should then work fine.

I would rather carry a longer breaker bar set up rather than something you need to keep charged and hope it works when and if you need it.
A 12V corded impact probably doesn't have enough power to remove over tightened lug nuts. It might remove properly torqued ones but not ones over tightened.

And another thing to bring up is all you guys should teach your significant other, daughter(s), maybe your pajama boy sons how to change a flat tire and remember check the spare tire air pressure twice a year.
 
As @dlundblad said, the HF breaker bar is a better choice if you only plan to use it in emergency situations when the tire shop over tightens the nuts.

Of course, if you plan to do other jobs, a 1/2" cordless impact is always a good purchase! Personally, I would recommend a cordless system that is expandable and available at more than one store. HF tools are decent quality these days, but better deals can be found elsewhere with sales and coupons.
 
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Originally Posted by dlundblad
I wouldn't rely on an electric impact. As soon as you need it, it'll be dead. Heck, if it did work, it may break a few studs.
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The 24" HF breaker bar is a good buy. Wheel chocks and their 1.5 ton aluminum jack may be a good idea too.

As said above, break your lugs and retorque to spec.

If you think you and your wife would benefit from AAA, get it.


The 24" HF break over bar is what we used .

In 50 years , I have never used a torque wrench on a lug nut / bolt . Just get them tight , but not gorilla tight .

HF has a corded 12 VDC impact wrench . Wonder about that ?
 
If the lug nuts are over torqued then they are possibly damaged Look cloely to see if they have a area with the diameter decreased, (necked down). I have seen wheel studs fail from this. 3/4 ton 8 lugs, 2 were broken, all were necked down.. The idiot who torqued them that tight, worked on school buses for a living.

Rod
 
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Originally Posted by Chris142
My suggestion is to use tire stores that properly torque lugnuts. Also go to HF, lowes etc and buy a long breaker bar and a socket. Keep those in the car.


This. I don't go to a certain store because I had a terrible time with them when I bought new tires. When it came to rotate the tires, I found they had screwed up further by torquing the lugs on so tightly I couldn't even budge them with my 4-way lug wrench. No way was the stubby factory wrench going to have any effect. Had to get my air impact out to get them off, and I was cursing at how I would have been stuck if I'd had a flat on the road. I stowed the 4-way wrench in the back because you can get much more leverage than the factory wrench.

Now I always check the lugs after I buy tires.
 
Originally Posted by Chris142
My suggestion is to use tire stores that properly torque lugnuts. Also go to HF, lowes etc and buy a long breaker bar and a socket. Keep those in the car.


Agreed. I'll never understand why people keep going back to shops that tighten lug nuts with impacts. Not a great way to earn my business.
 
Originally Posted by Chris142
My suggestion is to use tire stores that properly torque lugnuts. Also go to HF, lowes etc and buy a long breaker bar and a socket. Keep those in the car.

This is the LF tire / wheel . Last time it was touched was at the body shop / mechanic . A lady ran a stop lite and hit the car while my wife was driving . Kind of folded the tire / wheel in a bit .

As I have said , we used my 24" HF break over bar . Had to stand on it to break the lug nuts loose .

I think I mentioned , I have HF deep impact sockets .
 
I can understand why shops overtighten the lug nuts. How many people with alloy wheels go back to the shop after 100 miles to retorque the lug nuts? Yet it must be done.

I too have had to stand on breaker bars to loosen lug nuts.
 
^ Having watched them do it, they usually just grab the impact wrench and tighten till it stops, the quickest, laziest way.

That often results in at least double (++) the spec'd torque, quite overkill to mitigate any issues with not tightening them 100mi later.

Use an equally strong impact wrench to get it off, and it comes off, but with the sheared off lug still in it. It gets even more fun if the hubs don't have clearance to get the new studs in while installed so you're taking the hubs off too.
 
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FWIW Discount Tire uses a torque wrench every time, but I still go through the steps of torquing them to spec myself. Call it OCD or what you will, I then know that it is how it should be and if a wheel falls off, its my fault.
 
We have AAA.

I also re-torque lug nuts after they come back from any service that touches them.

I also keep a socket and a 17-18" breaker bar in each car. We personally find 24" breaker bars overkill, if the lug nuts are already torqued to spec. Vehicle supplied emergency jacks in vehicles.

At home is the 1/2" cordless impact and bottle Jacks as well as floor jacks and wheel chocks. If I'm coming from home to help, I'm bringing out the Most appropriate, easiest effort tools.

Number 1 cause of "breakdowns" for my wife and I are flat tires. In the last decade this may have happened 5-6 times. Number 2 is a dead battery (Twice). Number 3 is the charging system (alternator) going out (once).

Calling AAA vs. doing it yourself vs. calling someone from home is a case by case decision. It's nice to have options.
 
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