Frozen Lug Nut

[DMCMW Dave]

don't overtighten the OEM lug nuts and make sure they are properly torqued!
David Teitelbaum

And take them off more than once every 25 years.

[David T]

This car appears to have been very well taken care of. Always garaged and 3K miles. The present owner (2nd owner) said it sat for only 4 years. The lug nuts are beat up enough for me to think the wheels have been off at least several times. ALL of the lug nuts were supertight. I think this is just a case of a shop severely overtightening the lug nuts with an air impact. Fortunate I was able to get all of the others loose and only have 1 to deal with this way!
David Teitelbaum

[tgraham]

I think this is just a case of a shop severely overtightening the lug nuts with an air impact.

I hate it when shops do this (and they generally do, in my experience). I know it saves (them) a minute or two of time, but the lug nuts are usually on there so tight that you have to use an impact gun (or a large breaker bar) to get them off again! If an average person cannot get the lug nuts off using the stock tire iron (and perhaps some choice words) on the side of a road, then I consider it a massive fail for the shop that put the wheels on.

Just one of the reasons why, when I have tires installed, I take them a set of wheels and no car

Travis

[Bitsyncmaster]

If you can't get it off then it must have >200 ft/lbs if torque. It that does not damage anything (not counting the bolt and nut), why do they only use 60 ft/lbs recomended?

I use 70 ft/lbs but even that seems to light.

[David T]

If you go to a tire shop and a wheel falls off afterwards they will fire the guy that worked on the car. No one ever gets fired for overtightening the lug nuts. In fact, the shop stands to make more money if they have to deal with a situation like this! Overtightening alloy rims can actually make them fall off. If they don't crack, the metal will deform under the overtightened lug nut and loosen. The bottom line here is any reputable shop will torque the lug nuts. Not all shops do. Draw your own conclusions. You are never getting them loose with the toy they give you for a lug wrench if they are overtorqued. In the dark, in the rain. Don't bother anyway, the spare is probably flat!
David Teitelbaum