seriously. they don’t have to be overtorqued to get stuck on there. ugh spouting off about a place and it wasn’t even their fault. This happens everyday here in the rust belt.
Oh shut up. Like you know anything…
Most shops use torque sticks, I doubt they overtightened them. I’m gonna guess that corrosion, age, and your lack of an impact gun are the main reason for the lugs breaking. I wouldn’t go bashing a shop when you can’t be sure they are the problem.
my saturn lugs always got stuck on every year for some reason. I always had the stock steelies too with the plastic caps on all the lugs. We actually lifted the rear tire off the ground trying to get the lugs off. I use a torque wrench to put them on so I blame saturn.
neverseize is your friend… gob it on there.
In conclusion every mechanic, advisor, and service manager agrees you have no argument.
i’m not remotely convinced that this is their fault. taking your car back there might only accomplish having to pay them to fix however many other studs break off when they remove the wheels.
u do all the work on ur car n u dont have a jack to change a tire with??
sounds like they might not be at fault if they snapped while comming off. i could see it being there fault if they snapped WHILE tightening them.
they were prolly just super rusty from all the winters
well, im still extremely angry. there is just no way that it should have taken that much force to get them off, it never has, but then again, i never take my car to places to get it fixed, i do all the work on it myself. not saying i know everything about cars, cuz i definitely dont, im just saying that it really didnt seem right. also, on the lug nuts, there is a pretty decent indentation from the wheel itself on the bottom of it (where the lug makes contact with the wheel).
also, the day that i got these put on, i was in the shop for close to 4 hours!(was one of the first ones in there at 9am as well). i had an appointment and they had the tires in stock, 4 hours is a bit long to change tires. this place wont be getting my business anymore.
How much torque is it for a standard lug nut, just generally?
depends on the size/pitch of the stud. I think most subarus (M12/1.25) are in the 75ftlb range. My 1ton van (M14/1.5) is 140ftlb.
On topic, there is definitely something else going on here for all 4 studs to snap off. You said that there is an indent in the lugnut from the wheel? These sounds odd to me. Perhaps the fit between the lugnut and wheel doesn’t match anymore allowing the wheel to be slightly off, or move slightly. there had to be some significant stress on those studs for them all to snap.
i think he was referring to getting tires mounted and balanced, not just taking a wheel off.
that is EXACTLY what im thinking right now. thank you.
the lugs are the exact ones for my car. i got them from the stealership.
indeed. thank you for clarifying that. must have missed it.
Well i use my 300ft lbs impact on my honda and jeep and have never had a problem sooo i dunno.
In the future you should go to Paul at Swerve. Great guy, great shop, great prices.
that is probably the max reverse torque. I know i bought one that was rated at ~600ftlb rev, but it’s only ~400ftlb forward. If i put it on the low setting, compressor at 90psi and seat them without really driving them on there to a stop then it’s about 75ftlb, FWIW.
Also you can buy a 1/2" torque wrench at Harbor Garbage for <$50. Probably not the most accurate thing in the world but probably better than guessing.
90Lbs is what I usually use. It depends on the application.
Just to add something here…if you haven’t taken the other side off yet…do not use a breaker bar on them…Go to a shop that has a powerful impact gun (like swerve 
) to get them off or at least try. You jumping on a breaker bar is not exactly putting the power where it’s needed. You are stressing the shit out of the lug stud this way. You really really need to try an impact gun on the other side before you end up with a bunch of broken studs on the other side.
edit: And not a pussy impact gun either…700 ft/lbs+ reverse torque at least. Sears impact gun owners take a hike.