Wheels over torqued?

I have a little wee plastic impact. I can over tighten the nuts with it. Go until the nut bottoms out and give it about 2 seconds. Doing that I get about 1/4 turn on the wrench, but they always turn.

When I get wheel work done I tell the guy to do it like above, and I want to see him do it.

 

Here's the part I don't understand. I get what you are saying about the driver being a know it all, etc. But, if that torque wrench is set at 450 or even 500 lbs, how is it going to over-torque anything, no matter how many times he goes around them? Doesn't it just click out? Or did he have it cranked up past that? Also, I'd be very interested to know exactly what happened with the wheels when you first had the problem. I had 2 different sets of trailer wheels come loose last winter (caught them at home, but everything was wrecked, hub, wheels, etc.) I never could pinpoint the cause, neither of them had been off for months. I don't actually think the nuts themselves moved, they were quite rusted. But with 11 year old trailers, and those wheels off and on who knows how many times, I am thinking it was a case of stretched studs. Have since bought new trailers, and about to get my own torque wrench. Tire shops around here are bad for zapping the nuts on tight with the impact and then making a show of using the torque wrench to show that they've "done their job". In the last year I have seen several cases of wheels off, or loose incidents, as well as 3 wheel fires, the most recent was on a loaded fuel super b. Fortunately the fuel didn't spill or ignite. Didn't want to get side-tracked here, curious about your situation.

 

I've never seen a torque wrench in a tire shop

 

Don't you love airwrenches?

 

The only place I've ever seen them used is at a TA.

 

Couple other things to remember when putting wheels back on... The mating surfaces between the hub and drum, and drum and wheels must be clean. Even a small layer of rust or dirt will get crushed in between and eventually turn to powder and fall out creating a small clearance which will cause loose nuts. During a brake job you will always find rust and scale built up that needs a quick going over with a wire wheel or scraper. Also, when tightening and torquing wheels the brakes must be released because when they are applied there is enough brake force to slightly bell-mouth the drum and distort the flushness of the drum to hub mount and the drum to wheel mount.

 

T/A, Goodyear, Loves, many places are going to them because of people over torqueing and wheels coming off and the liability that ensues.

 

Seems like when you set a torque wrench to a certain point that it clicks. Then when you go back around all 10 lug nuts just to make sure you didn't miss one you can actually feel it tightening just a tad before it clicks again. Not very much but just a little you can feel it tightening. That's why mine get torqued to 450. This OC driver re-torquing several times a week it'll over torque it sure enough. If it was set to 500 ft lbs then really it doesn't need any more. Certainly doesn't need to be bumped a half dozen times again with the torque wrench. Then again for all we know this guy might be one of those who thinks 600 is even better.