When I changed the control arms, I forgot to tighten up the lug nuts. I drove probably 2 miles a day for a week before noticing, and they required about 1 -1.5 turns each to tighten up. The studs are fine, but could this have ruined my wheel bearings? Also, I got an alignment during this time, does this mean it was bad?

 

Checking the lug nuts is one of the things on the pre alignment check list.

Yes your alignment is junk.

 

I highly doubt you did any damage.

I've done the same thing several times. I complete some mind-bendingly difficult service on one of my cars, take it down off the jack stands, the service was an unqualified success, then I forget to torque down the lug nuts. I drove my 928 for several weeks and at least a hundred miles with all the front lug nuts finger tight. Eventually shaking and clunking alerted me to something being wrong, and as I prepared to take the wheels off to inspect the suspension and bearings, discovered the lug nuts were loose. Tightened them and everything was fine.

Bryan

 

Yes the alignment is probably null and void, really the alignment guy should have noticed the loose wheels though... Check the wheel lug nut holes to see if they are egged or rounded out from the wheels banging back and forth. If they are noticeably wallowed out at all you should get different wheels.

 

When you say they were not tightened, how loose were the wheels?

If they were tight enough that you didnt get or notice wheel wobble while driving, they probably didnt damage the wheels or studs. I dont think anything would happen to the whl bearings.

And again, if they were more than finger tight, the alignment shouldnt be affected.

 

To me tightening lug nuts is a very serious procedure that can have drastic impacts on your car. I torque every wheel like it was a cylinder head. Use a star pattern and gradually increase the torque on each lug. It usually takes 3 rotations before I reach the proper torque setting. This is even more critical if you are putting cold wheels on a Hot hub. And please please never ever ever use an impact wrench to torque your lug nuts. If you have to be lazy and use one at all put it on the lowest setting and only use it till they are barely over finger tight. Oh, spend a $80 and buy a torque wrench and learn how to use it. ~90ft/lbs is not very much. A moderately strong person should be able to losen the lugs with a 3/8ths ratchet. And I recommend using anti-seeze compound as well.

Given the fact that none of the lugs vibrated off of the car they were probably on tight enough. After properly tightening the lugs did you notice any new vibrations in the front? Does the car pull one in any direction? If not then you are probably ok. Slap your wrist and move on.

 

In my case, my saving grace was the BBS wheels on the car. They have a centercap, so the lug nuts couldn't actually get all the way off.

Bryan

 

Thanks for the advice, I will go back and try to get a free re-alignment, seeing as they should have checked the lugs. They only required another 1 or 2 turns to tighten up, but the clicking was pretty bad. I noticed no difference in steering feel before or after.

 

What is the torque for the alum nuts?

 

The torque spec for all passenger cars will be ~90 lft/lbs. I know people that torque to ~80 and some to ~100.

Things that will occur from too much torque on your lugs are... Streteched Studs, Warped Hubs, Warped Wheels, Broken Studs, and stretched threads on lug nuts. Some of these may not occur for a while and others could occur after only a couple of tire changes.

I broke at least two Studs on my RX-7 when I was using a standard 4-way to change tires. I put as much force as I could on each lug when I tightened them. I would then break off the studs when I removed the lugs. Trust me, spending $80 on a Craftsman Torque Wrench or another equivilent will me much cheaper than spending the time and money replacing a wheel stud or two.

 

Porsche spec: "Light-alloy wheel to brake disk (M 14x1.5) 130Nm/96 ftlb"

 

96 is correct, recheck after 50 miles if wheels off car, and before each track session...

 

For whatever it's worth, someone once tried to steal the wheels off my car and the front passenger wheel was held on only by the wheel lock. Unfortunately, I didn't find that out until after a 140-mile road trip at 70-90 mph.

No damage.

Sometimes you really do get what you pay for...

BB.

 

To end this story, the alignment shop gave me a re-do for free, no problems. Thanks everyone.