FYI, don't use an impact wrench (gun) when removing the Lexus wheel locks. This never happened to any of my previous cars before but this time the key got messed up. The tire shop paid for a replacement ($21.50). I went to my Lexus dealer today and they had to test fit a bunch of keys. I was told by the service guy there is no part # so that people cannot just buy them. You'd have to bring your car in if you loose or break it. Just a heads up.

 

Every car that Lexus sells with the wheel locks installed comes with a small card in with the owners documents that has the key code on it. You can then order a replacement from McGard.

 

Impact guns should never be used on wheel locks. I never use them on any wheel lugs. It is also very important to use a torque wrench on all the lugs. I always re-torque the lugs after anyone touches them.

Koz

 

I agree with Koz , get yourself a good torque wrench.

 

I guess I should've read the manual. It's not surprising the service guy doesn't know about the key code in the manual. I don't have a torque wrench but I make sure the lugs/locks gets torqued. All my previous cars had wheel locks and this never happened.

 

Quite honestly, I would never let a tire shop using an impact gun on ANY of my lugs, even those without locks. Sure they'll tell you that their guns are precisely calibrated, or that they use "torque stix" rated for the correct torque value, but the bottom line is that they use the gun because it is fast. And by doing so, they risk warping your brake rotors by uneven tightening (and possibly over tightening) them. I insist that they use a torque wrench, set to the manufacturer recommended number of ft/lbs.

 

AMEN to that. Any tire shop that uses a impact gun should be avoided at all costs.

Years ago some dumb *** kid used an impact gun to install the tires on my VW VR6 and used it on the tire lock lug as well. It took three guys taking turns to get the wheels off by hand as the tire lock lug was ruined and you could not put a lug wrench on it. They had to hammer some sort of universal tool on each locking lug and slowly unscrew it. It took almost three hours to them to finish the job. BTW: This happened at America's Tire store in Fountain Valley, CA. LOOK OUT if your around that area...

 

I guess I've been lucky since an impact gun have been used all the time on all my cars.

 

All the Lexus service departments use impact wrenches. Kind of hard to avoid. I'm not about to tell the tech how to do his job.

 

Torque "stix" are better than adjustable torque wrenches. They're called fixed value torque wrenches, and because they are not user adjustable, they last longer, provide more consistent operation, and require far less frequent calibration. They're also cheaper to purchase, so the TCO is much lower than using an adjustable wrench. Since almost every Toyota product uses 76 ft-lbs, I would buy a fixed value torque wrench and label it Toyota for my shop.

Far more important is using a correct pattern, which I have only seen a few times in tire shops. Yes, I come home and completely rework all the lugs after a shop has serviced them because they never do it my way.

I use air tools at home all the time. If you are diligent and ensure the lock tool is fully engaged in the pattern, all is well. But I never use air for the install, only for removing. That said, there are aftermarket lug nuts (Muteki comes to mind instantly) that use an extremely thin walled tool. This tool should never be used with an impact device of any kind because it is very easy to crack.

 

Just to be sure we're talking about the same thing, I'm talking about those brightly colored socket extensions where the metal in the shaft supposedly twists to absorb excess torque. Have those really been tested (other than by their manufacturer) to be more accurate that a traditional torque wrench?!?

 

No, I'm not talking about those. I agree, I wouldn't trust those things especially with an impact behind them. A fixed value torque wrench looks like this:

It has interchangeable heads, so you can keep the cost really low.

FWIW, the biggest reason torque wrenches fail calibration is because they don't meet spec over the entire range of operation. Fixed value wrenches don't have a range, so they only fail when they are genuinely worn out, and they go much longer between calibrations than adjustable units do. They are unbeatable for repetitive tasks.

 

That makes sense, I'd have no problem if a shop wanted to use what you've pictured. Around here, when tire shops talk of torque stix, they are referring to ones similar to those I've pictured above. They put them on the end of their impact wrench and hammer away. I won't let them use it on my car.