Rear lug stud breakage

[bbarnes]

My son has a 2008 Prius that he's had since July of 2008. He has had the tires rotated and balanced numerous simes since then and almost EVERY time the service provider has broken a stud. It is always on the left rear. It has been serviced at 3 different places and the only one that HASN'T busted a stud is a Toyota dealer.

Has anybody else had an experience similar to this?

[efusco]

Never had the problem, but I'd demand they not use the hydrolic wrench any more.

[richard schumacher]

Sounds like somebody isn't using the correct torque wrench.

[cairo94507]

The correct torque setting is 76 lbs. for the lug nuts. I have watched the monkeys at the local tire shops use a nice expensive torque wrench and when it "clicks" indicating you have reached the proper torque, they just keep turning about another 1/4 turn. I did not let them torque my wheels like that. I immediately went to the manager and had him watch his employees from the office as they repeated this several times on some other cars. He said he would train them properly in the use of a torque wrench. I do not trust them and I stand right there when they torque the lug nuts to avoid them breaking studs.

[JamesBurke]

torque wrench? Never seen one used in any shop even if they had one which most do not. Bet they went 125+. My truck like most is 75 to 125. 100 is what I use. Alloy wheels can fracture or deform from over torque not to mention all the other studs may be fractured also and fail going down the road(think Nascar). If you rotate yourself you can check balljoints, bearings, brake ect.

[Shawn Clark]

You have to specifically request hand torquing and give them the spec. Whenever I've neglected to do that they overtorque the things. It's not our best and brightest working in shops, particularly tire shops. (I find it difficult not to use particularly strong language when describing them.) They tear up the lugs, damage the nuts, and make it nearly impossible to remove a wheel if you have a flat, want to rotate, etc. It's really great when one of these clowns puts a tire on so tight that your wife can't remove it during foul weather in an emergency. Makes you want to kneecap 'em with a tire iron that they've made useless for its intended purpose.

I've made it a habit to bust loose and hand torque anything that I didn't watch them put on. (If I check a couple and they are fine, then I won't do the rest.) When I haven't done this the rotors soon warp. And when I go to remove the tire...it gets ugly. I had one on a truck that was so bad that my tire wrench failed first--twisted when I exceeded its yield strength. I couldn't believe the lug survived that as I expected it to shear (didn't care at that point.) Between both feet pushing on one side of the cross and both arms pulling on the other I was putting a lot of torque on it--enough that I could feel muscle fibers going <ting> in my upper back.

[brick]

Reminds me of the time my wife took her last car in to have a flat repaired. The kid working on it just put the bolt in the impact wrench and then inserted the bolt in the hub and pulled the trigger. Not before or since have I seen such a catastrophically mangled set of threads. I yell at someone about once every five to seven years and that was the day.

Sears. Don't go there. Ever.

[Patrick Wong]

Originally Posted by JamesBurke

torque wrench? Never seen one used in any shop even if they had one which most do not. Bet they went 125+...

I usually buy tires from either America's Tire or Costco. In California (have personal experience in Silicon Valley as well as OC), both retailers have their staff use torque wrenches to tighten the lug nuts and the invoice shows the correct torque setting.

The installer uses a torque wrench. Then the supervisor rechecks all four wheels with a torque wrench. I haven't noticed any issues with over tightening. However, tire pressure is another story...

[jayman]

I've never snapped a stud or had any problems with wheels I've PERSONALLY put on and properly torqued. Those done by impact gun monkeys, well, another story

[dsulliva45]

Originally Posted by bbarnes

My son has a 2008 Prius that he's had since July of 2008. He has had the tires rotated and balanced numerous simes since then and almost EVERY time the service provider has broken a stud. It is always on the left rear. It has been serviced at 3 different places and the only one that HASN'T busted a stud is a Toyota dealer.

Has anybody else had an experience similar to this?

I have had a similar experience. I had new tires put on at non dealer garage, several lugs worked loose, and when they tried to retighten the stud broke off , 3 of them.
I talked to Toyota dearler he said only way that would happen is if lugs were not tighten and it caused the studs to weaken and break.