I had the Toyota dealer do my first 6 months' service. It went well excepting that the edge on one wheel conver was dropped on the concrete and shows it. I used my expensive SnapOn dial torque wrench to remove each lug nut to see if they were torqued correctly. One was torque just below 50 ft lbs, a second was to 90 ft lbs, two were at 60, and the rest from 70-80. 75 to 80 is correct. I retorqued them all to 80 ft. lbs. I used a $10 Harbor Freight torque wrench, which is quite accurate for the price. If you are using a torque wrench, it is important that the handle be forced at the correct place and that the wrench be moving when it "clicks." If it not moving,the applied torque will be lower than the calibration on the wrench.
One would think that the lowest category of grease monkey would be able to rotate a set of tires without screwing up, but as you discovered, that's sometimes not the case. Your dealer got it wrong. I once had a Chevy dealer rotate tires on my full sized pickup (I had a coupon for a free rotation). When the next rotation was due, I tried to do it myself as I've normally done before. But I had to use a 6-ft cheater bar to get the nuts off of one wheel. I went back to the dealer and they found that they'd torqued the nuts to 240 ft-lbs instead of the specified 140 ft-lbs. Had I needed to change a flat tire while on the road, I never would have been able to remove the flat tire (no cheater bar). Also, the extra 100 ft-lbs of torque could very well have damage the studs possibly causeing a wheel to come off. The dealer first claimed that they couldn't have over-torqued the nuts because they use a calibarted settable torque wrench. What they didn't take into account is that such a wrench is too complicated for the average moron to operate. The dealer went out of business a couple of years ago. Then there was the time I asked Costco to do a 5 wheel rotation on that same Chevy pickup. Before I let them start, they assured me that knew how to do it according to Chevy spects. Well, they didn't (they used the wrong pattern; one not approved for any circumstance, so far as I know). I had to have them do it over. I now rotate the tires on the pickup myself even though Costco would do it for free if I asked. The only way you can make sure that something is done right is to do it yourself.
There was a saying that it is easier to loosen a bolt than to tighten it, so I am not sure you can accurately measure what they torqued it to by using the wrench to loosen it. There was clearly an issue in your case because each nut was not the same! They aren't supposed to use an air ratchet to tighten the bolts, but time and time again I see almost everyone use them. There must be a way to make it not tighten so tight, because some places do seem to do a pretty good job at keeping the nuts tightened properly. (I can crudely tell when I go home and loosen then retorque each bolt one by one by how hard I have to push to loosen each.) I'm not sure I clearly understood why the wrench needs to be held in a certain place, although I've read it many a time on the instructions that come with torque wrenches. What the solid "bar" of the wrench feels/measures at the pivot seems to me to be the same wherever you may apply a force on it. You will need to apply a greater force as you get closer to the socket, and less as you go out toward the handle, but what is required to make the correct torque at the nut would be the same wherever you held the bar, wouldn't it? (In my experience Costco, or at least the ones around me, does a good job at applying the right torque.)
After my dealer rotated my tires one time I broke my trusty 3/8" Harbor Freight (cheap) breaker bar at the knuckle joint trying to loosen the lug nuts. I ended up having to get the correct 1/2" breaker bar to get the lug nuts loosened. (Harbor Freight replaced my 3/8" breaker bar under lifetime warranty !) Along with overtightening the oil filter and drain plug are the reasons I do my own service now. Sam's, like Costco, is very good about using the proper torque sticks when tightening lug nuts. One of the reasons that I prefer purchasing Michelin tires from them along with Road Hazard Warranty.
It's hard to believe any professional at a dealership could screw up something as simple as a tire rotation; but it happens all to frequently. If they are to loose you could be going down the road and say "hey look someones tire just rolled past us" moments later the sparks start to fly from under you car! To tight and eventually when you brake you will feel the pedal rising and falling with the warped disc's! Like a smart person said in an earlier posting "If you want it done right; do it YOURSELF!" Get yourself a good torque wrench and at the very least when you get home from the dealership re-torque all the wheels then you will know for sure the correct torque is applied. (I need to change my picture to reflect the v5 we just got)
I understand that dealerships, tire stores and chain service centers over-torque to limit liability in the event that a lug backs out a little or comes off. However, the wide range of torque applied to the lugs is incredible to me and indicates a significant lack of training and/or craftsmanship. OP, you used your expensive torque wrench to loosen (in my circles you NEVER use a torque wrench to loosen) the lugs and the cheapy HF wrench to torque? Sounds a bit crazy, amigo.
You don't seem to understand the three types of mechanical torque wrenches. While one should NEVER use a "click type" torque wrench to remove a bolt or a nut, as long as one does not exceed the capacity of the torque wrench or apply a "jerking" motion to the wrench, usig a dial or a beam torque wrench is fine for measuring "release" torque.
You want to know why million dollar athletes still take batting practice and do zillions of free-throws? Easy. They call them 'fundamentals' for a reason. That's because they are. "Professional" wrenches either get paid by, or their work performance is measured by the job. Faster wrenches turn out more work...make more money for the dealership (or themselves.) Even the most anal of these will screw up on occasion---at best. At worst?...you'll get the guy (or gal) who is just coming off a weekend bender...or just had a fight with the CFO...or just doesn't give a crap. If they put the lug nuts on tight enough so that they don't work themselves off (German torque specs: Goodentight) then 99.44 percent of their customers will never know the diff. In fact...the next guy or gal that works on the car will certainly not notice that the lugs are too tight, since you need a special wrench to measure break-away torque, and what's the point? As long as their air tool will remove the offending lug nut, then nobody will ever be the wiser! OK...so here's the deal...as 'splained to me by a friend who is a wrench at an indy shop. It's not so important to get the torque to within a MCH of the "specified" value as it is to get all six (or five, or four) of them torqued equally, within the limits of the bolts. Usually...the dealer will use one of these gollywog colored clutch sockets...and usually...they work fairly well. Still......whenever I have tires rotated or replaced, I'll drive the vehicle home. Then I'll break the lugs loose and refasten with a Mark-1, Mod-0 torque wrench. Dial-type, Craftsman. You really don't need this level of precision, $9.99 Harbor Freight beam wrenches will work juuuust as well for this application! AND...you can loosen bolts with them too. Unless the bolts are wildly misstorqued? It's just not going to matter all that much---even on a Prius with its paper-thin rotors and feather weight alloy rims. In fact.....rotor and rim warping, and all of the other evils of badly miss-torqued rims haven't really been a problem for any of the Prius models from my experience......and if there's one mod that Prius drivers really love to indulge themselves in, that's RIM replacements and/or snow tire swaps. The only reason that I re-torque the lugs is to make sure that they're tight enough, inspect the threads (and LIGHTLY apply anti-seize) so that I can get the tire off on the side of the road with the cheesy tool that's in the spare tire kit. So....the take-away from my perspective? If "Joey Bagadoughnuts" replaces one of your rims, and if you have a couple of wrenches? Check his work. As mentioned above, you "really" don't want to loosen lug nuts with a dial torque wrench. Re-tighten them with whatever wrench you prefer. Using a dial torque wrench isn't rocket science. Snug the bolts with the breaker bar...say hand tight plus about another 20-30 lbs. Then use the torque wrench so that it will 'click' when you're in mid-stroke at the desired tightness. Relax and enjoy the pride of doing the job correctly. If you don't get the hang of it....let Joey do it. 99-percent of time? He'll get it close enough, and life is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too short to worry about the 1-percenters. It's MORE important to check oil level and tire pressures after Joey works on your car!! Either way? I wouldn't lie awake at night boring holes into the ceiling with a worried gaze. Really. It's LUG NUTS! Before alloy rims and disc brakes? They just used to tighten them as tight as they could. It's not that critical!!!
Snap-On is okay with using their clickers for CCW torques. Just because you can doesn't mean you should Maybe I am too old skool... Some BMWs will exhibit a front end shimmy if the lugs are not accurately torqued. The E39 chassis is incredibly sensitive to under or over torqued lugs (they demand 8o lb/ft).
Wrong ! Incorrect torque can easily cause damage to your brake rotors. Plus, you should re-torque your wheels after 50 to 100 miles after removal and reinstallation. Wheel torque is not a trivial issue.
