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Caveat emptor. You share a road with me and many others, know the risks and mitigate them or get off the road.
Agree. But how exactly would one ever have known something like that? Unless someone who DOES know cars mentioned getting the lug nuts checked after new tires, those of us who are not mechanically inclined would have no way of learning the importance of this.
I bought new tires last year. I am 57 and that is the first time in my life I ever bought four new tires at once. The tire guy didn't say to check the lug nuts, nor did I see it written or posted anywhere, and I am the type who usually does read fine print.
Agree. But how exactly would one ever have known something like that? Unless someone who DOES know cars mentioned getting the lug nuts checked after new tires, those of us who are not mechanically inclined would have no way of learning the importance of this.
I bought new tires last year. I am 57 and that is the first time in my life I ever bought four new tires at once. The tire guy didn't say to check the lug nuts, nor did I see it written or posted anywhere, and I am the type who usually does read fine print.
Now I know--because of this thread.
Exactly. WHo would think to recheck torque on the lugs without being told? I'm sure my mom or dad wouldn't go retorque their wheels after getting new tires.
I've heard of this happening before, so every time I get new tires, I hit them with a torque wrench when I get home, and then recheck 50 miles later. I actually have a torque wrench in my trunk
Which again brings up the question. Do shops offer to check the lug nuts for free in 50 to 100 miles?
Every tire shop I've dealt with gladly does so. Generally, they'll check tire pressures and condition too as a complimentary service, too. Even if you didn't buy the tires at their store.
Especially the national franchise/affiliated tire shops, like Tires Plus where the OP had their work done.
As we have all seen, the potential for bad outcomes from loose lug nuts is an issue.
I'm amazed at the lack of vehicle awareness some posters have described here. Just once I had lug nuts left loose on an Audi that I had, was heading out on a move, had new tires installed at I think a Sears location. Idiots apparently took my instructions to "hand torque" to mean "finger tight". But I could feel and hear the rattling only a few miles down the road, pulled over, saw what was wrong, grabbed the lug wrench from the trunk, tightened the lug bolts, and that was that. Didn't do the lugs or wheels any good I'm sure, but no noticeable damage. I probably didn't drive more than a mile after noticing that something was wrong.
Now I do all tire work myself. Even before my pal bought mount and balance machines, I would take the wheels/tires off the car myself, take them in for mount/balance, then put them back on the car myself. Too many numbskulls with rattle guns have over-torqued, and very commonly don't use a proper torque pattern. Now I do the mount and balance myself, generally doing the balance to within 4 grams. Know what? When I do it myself and do it right, there is NO vibration all the way up to 90 MPH or more, at least none due to balance issues (I buy quality tires from Tire Rack, and seldom have out of round issues - if I did find them, I will know the tire is at fault and figure out how to get replacement(s)). The grease monkeys at the local "quickie-do" tire shops just spin up once and slap a few weights on, don't re-check the balance, and will only get within an ounce (28 grams) by dumb luck. <Trump mode> Tire store grease monkeys, listen up: "You're FIRED!" </Trump mode>
The tire shops, and Costco, have always told me to have the lug nuts rechecked after 50 or so miles. Costco bascially asks me to come back within a day or two for new tires or rotation, and they make a point of saying so to all of the customers, as it's happened at many different locations for me.
When I was a child, my mother had the front wheel go flying off the station wagon when she picked it up from the service department of the mechanic. They did not tighten the lug nuts that were on the wheel, and she got perhaps three miles or so before the wheel bounced off the driver's side front and went rolling along into a stone wall. Being the calm-under-pressure physician that she is, she merely slowed to a halt from her usual under the speed limit drive on a residential street, and my brother and I hopped out to go get the wheel, while she called back to the service station. It turns out that someone pulled the car out of rotation too early and it was one of the owner's sons, so he couldn't fire him, but he did make it clear that the situation would be addressed. He was happy that she had not been speeding, and I remember her laughing as she said "Bob, it's a Mercedes diesel headed uphill, do you really think I could have been traveling at a high rate of speed?" I always remember that, and as a result, tend to be cognizant of getting the torque checked, though I do know Costco reminds people of that during the checkout process for a rotation or replacement of tires.
It's good that Tires Plus is standing behind the mistake and is going to fix the wheel. Most businesses don't want negative attention, and will work with a customer when they have made a mistake. It's less expensive to their reputation to replace your wheel and to have you leave satisfied than to deal with negative reviews, consumer complaints, small claims, etc.
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Are those cheapo Harborfreight tire balancers any good?
Mounting tires onto rims is one of the few things I do don't myself but was wondering if it was worth it to invest in the tools to DIY.
I've literally never ever been told to re torque my lug nuts. Maybe it's some type of sexist thing andbecause I am a female no shop has ever told me to do something like that but I have never ever heard that. The reason I say this is because my tire came off on the freeway today doing 80 miles per hour. And it was because the lug nuts came off and I have just had my tires recently replaced. Luckily there was no accident my tire didn't come completely off of my vehicle but it came off enough to do some damage! My Xterra is still on the side of the freeway! And I cannot say that I even know a person that is thoroughly gone around their vehicle and checked the lug nuts prior to driving the vehicle. If you are all being honest with yourselves, there's not one person in this thread that could say that they frequently check their lug nuts. You check the oil the transmission fluid sometimes the washer fluid nobody checks their lug nuts be real about it. Anyways thank you for your post and your information, I'm glad your son wasn't injured!
The shop isn't liable at this point. He drove for more than a week and several hundred miles if not more.
While the shop may not have tightened the lug nuts properly (we really don't know given the information in your post) it is common knowledge that they should be checked after 50-100 miles to make sure they are still tightened to spec. It was up to your son to keep an eye on things, to prevent further damage.
This did happen to me once... And I was the one working on my car. I was in a rush after changing the rear brake pads and I'd swear I tightened every thing to the proper torque specs... But two days later and about 100 miles later, my wheel is making strange noises and I see that I've lost 2 lug nuts and the rest are loose and tearing up the wheel. It's my fault that I didn't recheck my work and keep an eye on them.
I'd say chalk it up to a lesson learned. It's your son who should be handling the maintenance of his own car, not you.
The tire shop will say that maybe someone was trying to steal you tire and was scared off before they got them. I always look at everything on my vehicle every time i get work done at a shop. On time i noticed they scraped my bumper an took paint off. Now i tak pictures of my vehicle before i leave it at any shop and thee pictures are time stamped that way they can’t dispute anything.
I've literally never ever been told to re torque my lug nuts. Maybe it's some type of sexist thing andbecause I am a female no shop has ever told me to do something like that but I have never ever heard that. The reason I say this is because my tire came off on the freeway today doing 80 miles per hour. And it was because the lug nuts came off and I have just had my tires recently replaced. Luckily there was no accident my tire didn't come completely off of my vehicle but it came off enough to do some damage! My Xterra is still on the side of the freeway! And I cannot say that I even know a person that is thoroughly gone around their vehicle and checked the lug nuts prior to driving the vehicle. If you are all being honest with yourselves, there's not one person in this thread that could say that they frequently check their lug nuts. You check the oil the transmission fluid sometimes the washer fluid nobody checks their lug nuts be real about it. Anyways thank you for your post and your information, I'm glad your son wasn't injured!
Tire shops use a torque sticks attached to their impact guns. So to say that reputable tire shops just use impact guns is wrong, they don’t want to keep having lawsuits over stripped or broken tire studs.
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