chenxingha

I have been using a 2-foot long ion pipe with OEM wheel wrench (those that came with vehicles) to loose and tightern wheels for the last 20 some years. The ion pipe helped to loose very tight wheel nuts and then I would put the nuts back on and tight them as much as my body can do. I even saw people on roads standing on top of the OEM stock wheel wrench using their body weight to loose/tighten the wheels. In my years I had my share of breaking the wheel lug bolts a couple of times.

As I was asking for advice on the forum more than week ago regarding using impact wrench, I was adviced not to continue the ion-pipe practice, not even using impact wrench, and instead I should get torque wrench to loose/tightern the lug nuts. So last week I went to Sears and purchased a Crasftsman Microtork (3/8" drive) wrench (adjustable, max. 150 ft-lb torque) and a Craftsman 19.2 volt cordless (1/2" drive) impact wrench (max. 200 ft-lb torque).

The Microtork wrench worked perfectly with the lug nuts - adjust it to the desired torque (mine at 76ft-lb for the two 2000 RX300s under the roof) and tight the lug nuts until I hear the click. Now tight specification, loosing the lug nuts is no longer hard as before. I can also use the Craftsman 19.2 volt cordless impact wrench to the lug nuts off (but not to tightern them on).

The key here is that over torque the wheel nuts beyond the specs may cause damage to the wheel bolts that may not be visiable, especially when tools are used in properly (like standing on the OEM wheel wrench, or use ion-pipe extension, etc.), and leave potential safety issues.

The Craftsman Microtork wrench costs about $70 and it is worth every penny. The Craftsman 19.2 volt cordless wrench seems very powerful - loosing the wheel nuts, which were previousely tighterned with the help of the 2-foot ion pipe, was easy and quick. I am eager to challenge its torque power with the rusty underbody exhast pipe bolts/nuts.

Thank you for the expert advices from these forum (see my post on impact wrench about two weeks ago). Now with the two new tools I change wheels like a pro.

salimshah

Torque wrench is the right instrument to properly torque (per spec). Even if it has longer beam, it should not be used to undo the nuts. Use a breaker bar.

In general, getting extra leverage by pipes and other things should be avoided. In a pinch I have used the pipe too, but I know that the ratchet/pawl mechanism can give under torque beyond the what the tool was intended to handle.

When you exceed the specified torque you can potentially break the stud, strip the threads and over compress the rotors and for sure make it unnecessarily hard to undo. Under extreme stress (way over torqued) the studs can snap on a sharp bump (impact) and the wheel can come off.

Rotor warpage has been attributed to over torquing the wheel nuts.

Theory of proper toque: As you torque the nut-bolt, you are producing tension in the bolt (as things get squeezed together). This tension keeps the nut and bolt head pressed and locks them, thereby preventing them form being un-loosened.

Salim