its a thin piece of metal though, doesnt take much effort for it to deform sadly

 

A Craftsman beam torque wrench is around $20 and will take the guesswork out of it. Don't bother getting the digital readout junk, it will break. I picked up this Precision Instruments twin-beam clicker for $130 online. If you get this, professional mechanics will be impressed, and your grandchildren will be using it, it is not delicate. Bring it with you to the tire store if they don't use one, insist they use it or go elsewhere, preferably somewhere that uses torque wrenches. NAPA and other parts stores have lugnuts for your car, M12 x 1.5 thread, 21mm hex, about 1.5" tall matches factory nuts, maybe $4 each. Bring one of your lug nuts in to compare.

 

I find the click type wrenches too delicate and too easy to throw out of calibration by getting bounced and knocked around. I own the GearWrench electronic torque wrench, no fiddling around twisting the stupid thing to the right torque number and it is spot on. Gives you torque readout in real time as you go, along with a series of LEDs that go from green, yellow red as you get closer to the set torque and finally a satisfying beep when you've hit it. Digital all the way... though yeah maybe cheap digital ones are worse than good low tech beam ones.

Whatever you do I wouldn't be using a tire iron on a regular basis and trusting that at all.

 

hmmm... i guess the price is worth it but I honestly dont make that much so hopefully I can find a decent one for about 50$, which is the around the amount i would spend... Would you suggest snap-on? I know craftsman is a reputable brand tho

 

I still have my $20 beam-style Craftsman. It will never go out of calibration, never need servicing, always as accurate as you want to take time for. Torque wrenches that click or give audible signals are more convenient and really nice in awkward places where you can't easily read a beam-style, but they are not all that much better for simple lug-nut torqueing.

Snap-on is over-priced for most things, but almost everything they sell is high quality and comes with an excellent warranty. They sell my Precision Instruments wrench for twice the price, with a different color blow-molded case.

Craftsman quality has gone down, and they no longer have a good warranty, but they are decent. I'm surprised at how much better Chinese stuff has gotten. I'm not sure who makes Gear Wrench or where it's made, I don't see it used much in shops but the stuff I've seen has been good. I love my flex-head combination wrenches from Gear Wrench. But their torque wrench is really spendy.

 

I agree with others. Ditch the lock. It will cause nothing buy trouble. If you insist on getting one, then get one that surrounds the whole lug (like the gorilla ones).

 

hmmm alright I'll get a torque wrench from craftsman or snap-on thanks for the help! do you know if its fine if i use an impact on the regular lug nuts? its the 6 point ones so as a pepboys employee said theyre less likely to strip than the 12point ones

 

Yea i'm definetly ganna switch but first i need to buy them! Do you mean the ones like audi? where they cover all lug nuts?

 

6-point are better, impact-quality sockets are going to hold up better but I've used standard sockets with an impact wrench. I have impact and air socket wrenches, but by the time I pull out those and the hoses I can put four wheels on with hand tools, and I never bugger my tools, wheels, or nuts by hand.

Craftsman has a lug socket set for $20, all the common sizes and a short extension, impact quality.