Rob Edwards

A couple of weeks ago we were working on Ron Perry's car and I 'helped' by stripping one of his rear wheel lugnuts. (Lessons learned: #1- if the FIRST lug is tough to take off, all of them are probably overtightened. #2- A 1/2" drive IR2131 at 90 psi with a shallow 6 point impact socket will hammer for about 2 seconds before rounding off the outer half of the aluminum lugnut, which leads to #3- Use a deep socket on aluminum lugnuts, engage the whole length of the nut's flats.

Anyhoo, I ordered up a set of Sears' lugout sockets: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...ord=lug+socket

There are 3, which are double ended and have a 1/2" drive hole in the middle. One end is for 6-point bolts, the other is for 12 pointers. I was in Ron's neighborhood tonight so I stopped by. We tapped the 19mm socket firmly onto the rounded bolt and turned it out with a breaker bar in about 5 seconds. No drama, no drilling, no cursing, no nothing. The socket is thin-walled enough to fit nicely into the deep and narrow lug holes on Ron's stock dish wheels.

I'm back up to zero car-ma points with respect to Ron's car. Phew.

SharkSkin

Rob, good to know... I'll put a set on my Christmas list.

stolarzj

I just picked these up, it's a pretty nice set and they will not scratch the wheel or the end of the lug nut. http://www.tooltopia.com/index.asp?P...OD&ProdID=8027

69gaugeman

Just so anyone wants to know, always use a large breaker bar with a socket that covers the full length of the nut, with as long a handle as you need.

Elastic windup and vibration mean that material moves (especially aluminum). Also you can easily wind up breaking the nut at junction of the hex and spherical seat. That is even more fun to fix. Not that you can't do that with a large breaker bar too.

dr bob

I think Rob was suggestingthe Sears tool as an option for folks that have damaged lugnuts. In this case, there was some overtorqueing by a tire shop that wasn't picked up until it was time to take a wheel off. The socket wasn't all the way on, and the lug was too tight and the hex end was damaged.

The plastic-sleeved sockets can be easily adapted from standard sockets by adding a heat-shrink sleeve. For those of us who are religious about lugnut finish, we use the plastic-lined sockt that 928Int'l (and others) sell t protect the nnut, and put the heatshrink on the outside of that to protect the wheel finish. Locals who are by the ranch here should remind me if they'd like a piece of that tubing. I still have a few feet of it on the shelf and you are welcome to grab some.

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The root problem is tire shops that insist on using an impact. Don't let them. Explain that the lugnuts are aluminum, and that they are not cheap, and thet they are ruined wheen an impact is used to loosen or tighten them, and the tire shop needs to be willing to replace them with new ones if they decide to use an impact anyway. A reminder with $$teeth in it is usually good enough, but be sure that it's noted on any shop orders.

I've watched the local tire shop use a torque wrench to "verify" the lugnut torque after using the impact to tighten the nuts. This is a CYA effort by the shop to make sure they don't get a bill when one of your wheels falls off. I've seen the guys pull on the wrench until it clicks, then another bit 'just to make sure'. I questioned teir procedure and technique. They started to give me a lecture about how they do things, but I stopped them mid-stream and explained how it works and what they are doing wrong. They are a lot like alligators though-- single focus, all mouth, no ears, and a brain the size of a walnut. So now the Porsche wheels get removed at home, chauffeured to the tire store and back home for careful prep and installation.

The cool little Makita electric impact gets used a lot as a nutrunner on wheels at my house. But initial loosening and final tightening are always with a bar and a torque wrench, respectively.

perrys4

Rob didn't do anything wrong, I would have stripped it also. Someone at a tire shop over torqued the lug and it had to come off. Thanks again for helping me out Rob!! That socket made easy work of that lug. I assume you were able to get the old one out of the socket?

ew928

Maybe everyone that goes to tires shop should bring along one of these.
Last time I went to have the rear tires replaced, I asked to have them hand torque the lugs after inquiring how they tighten the lug nuts. Was told they use the torque stiks.
Someone did tell me that the torque sticks work against the hammer strikes of the airgun to limit torque.



These nuts had previously been 'tightened' by some airgun fanatic. 3 of the 5 nuts took quite a few minutes of me bouncing up and down on a breaker bar before they would release. Few years later after a few lug nut on/off cycles, I went to tighten the nuts and they would 'spin' after about 80 ft/lbs. That nice feeling one gets as one tightens the nut and then it frees up. Pulled the coils out of the nut.

PS. I don't go to the airgun happy tech no more. Also got a fresh batch of alloy lug nuts since I now can't trust the rest of the fasteners.

SteveG

I've seen the note (and heeded it) about not using an impact wrench. Just another thing we picky Porsche nuts have to deal with, but I think Bob's method of taking the wheels separately to the shop is the best solution. I carry a HFreight 12V tool if I get caught on the road, but at home I use a soft socket and I can set the torque.

shmark

+928 no one torques my nuts but me.

dr bob

That coned face of the lugnut is supposed to have a little anti-seize or grease on it to cut down on the chances for galling on the way on or off. Mine come off often enough to just use a little synthetic grease on them. They are easier to clean off than with anti-seize on them, as are the user's hands and his tools.

Best remover I've found for anti-seize seems to be dishwashing detergent like Dawn, should the question ever arise at your house.

S4ordie

Hmmmm all of this has me thinking I'd just like to replace all of my nuts (except two) with new alloys. Suggestions as to who has them and how much?

Thanks to all

RevAgent

928 Int'l and 928 Specialists both carry them.

86'928S MeteorGrey

Thanks for the product review Rob!

RKD in OKC

I always put a daub of anti-seize grease on the studs before putting the lugs on. Works as advertised.

Joe '87 S4

What is the proper torque number?