What's made you grumpy today?

[Cheest]

What made me grumpy? Whoever tightened the wheel lug nuts on my pickup at the last tire rotation and went insane with the impact wrench made me grumpy.

I dropped the truck off at Costco for new tires on Monday. Mrs.Cheest and I went across the street for a bite to eat. We weren't there for fifteen minutes when I got a call from the tire shop at Costco telling me that they can't get the lug nuts off. The nuts are steel covered and some are swelled from internal rust. They are also over tightened. The lugs are supposed to be tightened to 150 ft lbs. The guys at the tire shop only have battery impacts and they couldn't loosen them with a breaker bar. They told me they couldn't do anything and would take any help I could give them. They had new lug nuts available for a buck a piece, so I bought 24 and told them I'd get the old lugs off as I seem to have better tools.

Hay Sous Aitch Christo, what a project. So far, I was only able to get one nut loose with my good impact, which has a 300 ft lbs rating. I used an 18" breaker bar with a 5' cheater and got another six nuts off before I snapped my breaker bar. So, into town for a new breaker bar and a more powerful impact. The new impact is rated at 1200 ft lbs. Well, the new impact ain't doing anything, either, so it looks that my 35 year old compressor is no longer up to the task. The 50' hose isn't helping. I did the next 16 nuts with the new breaker bar and the cheater pipe. That's 23. There is one effing nut left to do and it is boogered up so bad that no socket I have fits it. Looks like some time with a Dremel and small carbide burr to make a socket fit and cross my fingers. Try again Friday to get the tires mounted.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

What made me grumpy? Whoever tightened the wheel lug nuts on my pickup at the last tire rotation and went insane with the impact wrench made me grumpy.

I dropped the truck off at Costco for new tires on Monday. Mrs.Cheest and I went across the street for a bite to eat. We weren't there for fifteen minutes when I got a call from the tire shop at Costco telling me that they can't get the lug nuts off. The nuts are steel covered and some are swelled from internal rust. They are also over tightened. The lugs are supposed to be tightened to 150 ft lbs. The guys at the tire shop only have battery impacts and they couldn't loosen them with a breaker bar. They told me they couldn't do anything and would take any help I could give them. They had new lug nuts available for a buck a piece, so I bought 24 and told them I'd get the old lugs off as I seem to have better tools.

Hay Sous Aitch Christo, what a project. So far, I was only able to get one nut loose with my good impact, which has a 300 ft lbs rating. I used an 18" breaker bar with a 5' cheater and got another six nuts off before I snapped my breaker bar. So, into town for a new breaker bar and a more powerful impact. The new impact is rated at 1200 ft lbs. Well, the new impact ain't doing anything, either, so it looks that my 35 year old compressor is no longer up to the task. The 50' hose isn't helping. I did the next 16 nuts with the new breaker bar and the cheater pipe. That's 23. There is one effing nut left to do and it is boogered up so bad that no socket I have fits it. Looks like some time with a Dremel and small carbide burr to make a socket fit and cross my fingers. Try again Friday to get the tires mounted.

I really feel for you. This used to be a really common problem over here however seems to be much less common now. I've noticed torque wrenches often being used for final tightening in many establishments.

 

[portland_bill]

I really feel for you. This used to be a really common problem over here however seems to be much less common now. I've noticed torque wrenches often being used for final tightening in many establishments.

Same torque setting for everyone though.

 

[Sylvester22]

Hm...Today it has been 2 weeks, since I bought a 1.4tjet Bravo, the most expensive item I've ever purchased, cost me years of hard earned saved money.
After 3 months of daily search, I'd settled with a Bravo. I was happy....for 20 minutes. As the car broke down as soon as I got home.

I've been trying to fix it, cheers for the help fellas, spending even more money on it, but seems the issues keep piling.

I have driven it properly ONCE, due it stalls every few miles. Even then the engine died at the end. I'm trying, but loosing my sh*t more and more with each day

Seller said, if I can't fix it myself, and needs to go to a Fiat service, he'll pay half of it. Well....let's hope for it.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Same torque setting for everyone though.

I think you may be right there! Also, I doubt if they ever back them off during the day so probably wildly inaccurate too!

 

[portland_bill]

A bright, but very frosty morning. With it comes the fog, there's an area close to here that has fog before anywhere else, and more often.
After a few minutes, I started counting. 85% have either no lights, or just their daytimes on. They've abdicated responsibility for lights, mostly driving grey cars, in grey fog, on a grey road. Of the other 15%, a few are running sidelights, so having added some red twinkles to the rear, have diminished the front lights from bright daytimes to dim parking lights.

Then one of my partner's carers asked if it might be something simple that her rear fog light didn't work. Having seen her arrive without lights, there's a clue there. I asked if her headlamps were on, as they needed to be on for the rear fogs to work. She looked stunned, and just teplied, "they're automatic". "But are they ON?" No! Thankfully she left with them on, and added the rear fog, despite it not being foggy in our street, but probably an improvement.

 

[Cheest]

I spent 5 hours on that stupid lug nut yesterday to no avail. All I have to show for it are a sore back, sore knees, and some metal slivers in my hands. And a broken but still very tight lug nut. Today will probably be a repeat but I must succeed or cancel tomorrow's tire appointment until later next week. Too many things are booked for the last week of November and first week of December to have to be dicking with this.

Regarding headlights and foggy days, it's the same here.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

I think you may be right there! Also, I doubt if they ever back them off during the day so probably wildly inaccurate too!

You can buy fixed torque, torque wrenches for things like industry where you only want a set torque, or one example I can think of is bike and electronics tools that have a fixed torque so you can’t over tighten parts.

If they have a decent torque wrench and it is “locked” so the setting can’t be moved, I wonder if or by how much it would wander if continually used at the same torque figure for long periods of time.

I think it would move a little over time but I don’t think it would be drastic.

Probably more concerning is say one car that needs 120ft/lb and another that only has 90ft/lbs and they both get done with a wrench set at 100ft/lb

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

You can buy fixed torque, torque wrenches for things like industry where you only want a set torque, or one example I can think of is bike and electronics tools that have a fixed torque so you can’t over tighten parts.

If they have a decent torque wrench and it is “locked” so the setting can’t be moved, I wonder if or by how much it would wander if continually used at the same torque figure for long periods of time.

I think it would move a little over time but I don’t think it would be drastic.

Probably more concerning is say one car that needs 120ft/lb and another that only has 90ft/lbs and they both get done with a wrench set at 100ft/lb

Ahhh. preset type torque wrenches which rely on springs - which must be the vast majority - should always be returned to zero when not in use. This is because a compressed spring will "relax" if stored under compression. You can see a very crude example of this in an older car where the front suspension springs have "relaxed" over the years, resulting in a lower ride height when compared to a new one. This was dramatically evident on Becky when I rebuilt her front suspension including new springs. Leaving a torque wrench permanently locked up - perhaps at 120 ft lbs as you suggest - will quite quickly result in the nuts/bolts being under torqued - as to exactly how much this would vary I'm really not sure. I always back my wrenches off unless I'm going to use it again within a very short space of time and certainly by the end of the day.

 

[HughJarsse]

Ahhh. preset type torque wrenches which rely on springs - which must be the vast majority - should always be returned to zero when not in use. This is because a compressed spring will "relax" if stored under compression. You can see a very crude example of this in an older car where the front suspension springs have "relaxed" over the years, resulting in a lower ride height when compared to a new one. This was dramatically evident on Becky when I rebuilt her front suspension including new springs. Leaving a torque wrench permanently locked up - perhaps at 120 ft lbs as you suggest - will quite quickly result in the nuts/bolts being under torqued - as to exactly how much this would vary I'm really not sure. I always back my wrenches off unless I'm going to use it again within a very short space of time and certainly by the end of the day.

As apprentices, we were always told to 'relax' the torque wrench when finished with, and also, when setting another reading, to always 'zero' the torque wrench before setting from one reading to another, to allow the spring to 'relax' otherwise it could confuse the settings, and possibly become incorrect.

 

[porta]

Ahhh. preset type torque wrenches which rely on springs - which must be the vast majority - should always be returned to zero when not in use. This is because a compressed spring will "relax" if stored under compression. You can see a very crude example of this in an older car where the front suspension springs have "relaxed" over the years, resulting in a lower ride height when compared to a new one. This was dramatically evident on Becky when I rebuilt her front suspension including new springs. Leaving a torque wrench permanently locked up - perhaps at 120 ft lbs as you suggest - will quite quickly result in the nuts/bolts being under torqued - as to exactly how much this would vary I'm really not sure. I always back my wrenches off unless I'm going to use it again within a very short space of time and certainly by the end of the day.

Depends on the torque wrench, I can preset my digital one, and it will give the reassuring click wehn it reaches it, it then returns itself…I thought I’d have to reset it every time, but it just tells you the torque applied rather than setting/preloading a spring

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Depends on the torque wrench, I can preset my digital one, and it will give the reassuring click wehn it reaches it, it then returns itself…I thought I’d have to reset it every time, but it just tells you the torque applied rather than setting/preloading a spring

Yup, my digital one's like that but it has no spring it uses some sort of strain gauge. Mine "beeps" when the preset figure is achieved.

 

[The Panda Nut]

What made me grumpy? Whoever tightened the wheel lug nuts on my pickup at the last tire rotation and went insane with the impact wrench made me grumpy.

I dropped the truck off at Costco for new tires on Monday. Mrs.Cheest and I went across the street for a bite to eat. We weren't there for fifteen minutes when I got a call from the tire shop at Costco telling me that they can't get the lug nuts off. The nuts are steel covered and some are swelled from internal rust. They are also over tightened. The lugs are supposed to be tightened to 150 ft lbs. The guys at the tire shop only have battery impacts and they couldn't loosen them with a breaker bar. They told me they couldn't do anything and would take any help I could give them. They had new lug nuts available for a buck a piece, so I bought 24 and told them I'd get the old lugs off as I seem to have better tools.

Hay Sous Aitch Christo, what a project. So far, I was only able to get one nut loose with my good impact, which has a 300 ft lbs rating. I used an 18" breaker bar with a 5' cheater and got another six nuts off before I snapped my breaker bar. So, into town for a new breaker bar and a more powerful impact. The new impact is rated at 1200 ft lbs. Well, the new impact ain't doing anything, either, so it looks that my 35 year old compressor is no longer up to the task. The 50' hose isn't helping. I did the next 16 nuts with the new breaker bar and the cheater pipe. That's 23. There is one effing nut left to do and it is boogered up so bad that no socket I have fits it. Looks like some time with a Dremel and small carbide burr to make a socket fit and cross my fingers. Try again Friday to get the tires mounted.

Wow!!!

 

[The Panda Nut]

A bright, but very frosty morning. With it comes the fog, there's an area close to here that has fog before anywhere else, and more often.
After a few minutes, I started counting. 85% have either no lights, or just their daytimes on. They've abdicated responsibility for lights, mostly driving grey cars, in grey fog, on a grey road. Of the other 15%, a few are running sidelights, so having added some red twinkles to the rear, have diminished the front lights from bright daytimes to dim parking lights.

Then one of my partner's carers asked if it might be something simple that her rear fog light didn't work. Having seen her arrive without lights, there's a clue there. I asked if her headlamps were on, as they needed to be on for the rear fogs to work. She looked stunned, and just teplied, "they're automatic". "But are they ON?" No! Thankfully she left with them on, and added the rear fog, despite it not being foggy in our street, but probably an improvement.

Shes a bundle of laughs but you make a serioys point. Im afraid I woul give them all a fine and 6 points on their license if it were up to me. Probably a week in jail too. Automatic lights...... They dont work in daylight.
Possibly understandable........

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Shes a bundle of laughs but you make a serioys point. Im afraid I woul give them all a fine and 6 points on their license if it were up to me. Probably a week in jail too. Automatic lights...... They dont work in daylight.
Possibly understandable........

Automatic headlights is a good illustration of why all this automation and electronic "interference" is a bad, and maybe dangerous, aspect of modern cars. Using them makes people forget about them. My new Skoda has automatic lights and I've tried them but decided I don't like them so I just twist the switch as I've always done.

Our visits out to my son's house involve driving out there in daylight but, in winter, the return journey is done in the dark. Before driving off I always visually check the lights by walking round the car, done it for more years than I can remember. Brake lights are easily checked when you've got a bus behind you - or anything which reflects their light so you can see it in the mirrors. Just common sense and observation.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Automatic headlights is a good illustration of why all this automation and electronic "interference" is a bad, and maybe dangerous, aspect of modern cars. Using them makes people forget about them. My new Skoda has automatic lights and I've tried them but decided I don't like them so I just twist the switch as I've always done.

Our visits out to my son's house involve driving out there in daylight but, in winter, the return journey is done in the dark. Before driving off I always visually check the lights by walking round the car, done it for more years than I can remember. Brake lights are easily checked when you've got a bus behind you - or anything which reflects their light so you can see it in the mirrors. Just common sense and observation.

Dont knock em. They work well for tunnels, for leaving thepub, and when your so tired you would forget.......

But, auto wipers are a real safety plus. So quick if you get swamped by an hgv chucking sheets of water at you.

 

[Cheest]

Froze my kiester off this morning screwing around with that damn lug nut. And it's still laughing at me. After I thaw out and have our traditional Thanksgiving turkey* dinner, I'm going back outside and drill out the stud. The stud is already boogered up, so no loss. I'll sign a waiver, if need be, at Costco tomorrow to get the new tires installed, then pick up and install a new stud.

*I really don't care for turkey.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Automatic headlights is a good illustration of why all this automation and electronic "interference" is a bad, and maybe dangerous, aspect of modern cars. Using them makes people forget about them. My new Skoda has automatic lights and I've tried them but decided I don't like them so I just twist the switch as I've always done.

Our visits out to my son's house involve driving out there in daylight but, in winter, the return journey is done in the dark. Before driving off I always visually check the lights by walking round the car, done it for more years than I can remember. Brake lights are easily checked when you've got a bus behind you - or anything which reflects their light so you can see it in the mirrors. Just common sense and observation.

Has the Skoda got automatic main beams ??

That’s fun and gets interesting

 

[porta]

Automatic headlights is a good illustration of why all this automation and electronic "interference" is a bad, and maybe dangerous, aspect of modern cars. Using them makes people forget about them. My new Skoda has automatic lights and I've tried them but decided I don't like them so I just twist the switch as I've always done.

Our visits out to my son's house involve driving out there in daylight but, in winter, the return journey is done in the dark. Before driving off I always visually check the lights by walking round the car, done it for more years than I can remember. Brake lights are easily checked when you've got a bus behind you - or anything which reflects their light so you can see it in the mirrors. Just common sense and observation.

I don’t think it’s that modern, look at maestro and Tipo dgt drivers, just ‘assumed’ lights were on

 

[StevenRB45]

Has the Skoda got automatic main beams ??

That’s fun and gets interesting

The Toyota has these...I'm still on the fence if they are a help or hindrance.

They work 98% of the time as indeed do the auto lights. But occasionally they do randomly decide to main beam someone.

Of course not been flashed though as at least with them being halogen and also projector there's no obvious change in the light signature (Citroën a second set of bulbs light up) a mirror just alters the beam pattern.

I think as a result people don't realise they are being mainbeamed as it's still about half as bright as the usual eye scorching led set ups.

Auto lights in fog...yay at least the Citroën has drls on the rear, no such thing on the Toyota so I fully imagine at some point my wife will be driving around DRLs only.