30 seconds to think and make sure all your tools are out and bolts are tight before it leaves the bay, is always good practice.

we all remember this old video. watch it once and never forget to torque your lug nuts ever again:


(maybe they should use it for a cdn tire training video)

For those of us who do not have a torque wrench... what's a best practice to feel safe when bolting on your wheels?

I've always done the star pattern with the lugs... I have an electric impact gun that tightens to approx. 80-100lbs-ft...and then i'll take a regular tire iron and tighten. although I've NEVER had a problem with this method and I've done it nearly 100 times ... I think its time to invest in a torque wrench.

i've read/been told by others if i don't have a torque wrench, then finger tighten the nuts, tighten with the tire iron, then a 1/4 turn more... is this what it says in the owner's manual?

having said that, the first time i had to change a flat to an emergency spare on the side of the road and i followed this, but by the time i got home things had loosened up and one of the lug nuts was gone on a 4x100 pattern. what i failed to do was drive on it a bit and then tighten again, but i was afraid of overtorquing it and have a lug nut seize on the stud.

Both subjective, depending on who's doing it, their strength and experience.

Best advice would be to practice and check with a torque wrench, to see if you're too loose or too tight. Perfect time when you swap to/from winter wheels. In an emergency situation, I wouldn't hesitate to overtorque by up to 20ft/lbs.

It's no secret that the "techs" that work at crappy tire are dumb high school kids..I knew plenty of them. Worst place to take your car.

haha such a coincidents that this is being discussed.. look what i witnessed on my way home from work 20 mins ago!

f150 rolling thru cloverdale (64th and 168th) and his wheel goes flying off! wonder if he was coming from Canadian Tire..

http://i1154.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1380670588

Emergency, yes. Having your wheels come off is bad.

But what a lot of people don't realize is that hand-torquing your wheels is a huge factor in warping brake rotors. Arms are crappy measurement devices, it's really easy to put 20lbs more on one lug than the previous one. This loads the rotors unevenly, so when it heats up it relaxes to a bent position.

Anyone who is in the habit of removing their own wheels should invest in a torque wrench.

tighten those wheels as tight as you want on that golf and it would have still fallen off if the mechanic forgot to put a cotter pin back on after he checked the brakes which he probably forgot to do

yeah... picture shows the rear brake shoes exposed, which means the drums are still bolted to the wheel... somebody didn't put the cotter pin back in to the rear wheel bearings when inspecting the brakes, and the drums feel off as a result... terrible...

Damn, good eyes.

I'd say that's a lot more forgivable and likely than forgetting to torque the lugs.

slow things leaving trails is right up your alley, are you a mechanic at can tire?