Changing a car tire nowadays!!! Should it be this hard??

Hello
It seems that the wheel lug nuts on car tires get overtightened way too often these days so you have to call for help!
Therefore I was determined to check out all the wheel lugs on the 2007 Camry to see if I could remove them if I had a flat on the road?
The answer was Certainly Not!!
Here are the agonizing steps I went thru!
1. Did not even try the lug nut wrench that came with the car.
2. Had a cross bar wrench that I could loosen some but not all 5 to get even one wheel off!
3. Got more loose with the air gun but not all!
4. Had an icon breaker bar wrench with a 21 mm socket so I could loosen a few more lug nuts but not all!
Some of the wheel lug nuts were distorted and the breaker bar did not seem to grip them properly to get enough torque on them!
5. Using a Maddox impact set and a rubber hammer, I banged it on those tough ones and got the grip I needed to get those lug nuts off!
Thank god but see pic of ripped lug nut? I cannot put that back on! Also had to bang the lug nut out of the impact socket on the bench vise!
6. Purchased non OEM lug nuts at Pep Boys
5 packs of 4 for $7.49 each
https://www.pepboys.com/white-knight-12mm-x-1-50-toyota-medium-mag-w-washer-lug-nut/product/222260/2007/TOYOTA/CAMRY/4-2362 2.4L DOHC?quantity=1
7. Looked up torque specs for Camry
76 ft-lbs but many mechanics say more is needed when using aluminum wheels instead of the old steel wheels of yester year!
8. Using a 90 ft-lbs red torque stick on the new lugs, I spun them on with the air gun,
Now ran two important tests.
1. Yes I can get the lugs off with a crossbar wrench if I got a flat somewhere and change my tire!!
2. Ran car on highway to assure tires were on securely even at high speeds.
See pics
1. Standard Cross Bar wheel wrench
2.Icon Breaker Bar and 21mm impact socket
3. Maddox wheel lug impact removal set
4. Distorted and torn wheel lug after finally removing it with breaker bar and Maddox impact removal socket
5-6 New non OEM wheel lug nuts for Toyota from Pep Boys $7.99 for set of 4
7. Installing new lug nuts with red 90 ft-lbs torque stick on HF Earthquake XT impact wrench.
8. Manufacturer wheel lug nut torque spec
9. New lug nut specs

 

We gotta find you a hobby Brotha! Lol

 

They may have been over-torqued, soft rims, and possible spalling on the lug/nut are very possible.

Better to find out now than when sitting on the side of the road.


That said, we have roadside service included with our insurance in case Chazsbetterhalf needs help on the road, and I'm not available.

Otherwise.. eatonpcat might be right.

 

Maybe I am old school. I never needed help changing a tire but now that I am older, I do have AAA. Yes they do have a very large breaker bar and can change most tires. However it can take them a long time to get there! Like you said knowledge is key and I am glad to know this now and straighten it all out before I get stuck on the side of the road! I am also disappointed that with all the professional tools like torque wrenches and torque sticks for air impact wrenches that many AAA guys and auto shops do not use them and the wheel lug nuts get overnighted WAY to often!! :-(
So just want people to be aware that this can happen to any of us. :-(
After knowing this, I purchased an Icon Breaker Bar and Impact socket for my son & daughter’s car so they can avoid being stuck for a long time somewhere. My daughter can even get a friend to help change a tire in a pinch with this cool tool!
Icon 1/2” breaker bar
1/2 in. Drive 25 in. Professional Breaker Bar with TPR Grip
1/2” drive impact 21 mm socket to fit her car lug nuts
Harbor Freight Tools – Quality Tools at Discount Prices Since 1977

 

Many "mechanics" would be wrong too...and likely the cause of all your headaches there. Also can be the cause of warped rotors too.
Set your lug nut torque to factory specs, they are the ones that designed the wheels and sized the lugs...makes no sense to overtorque things. If the wheels come loose after you did your 50-100 mile retorque, then they weren't on right...likely had rust/dirt/corrosion on the hub not allowing them to seat properly...that and maybe rusty (or damaged threads) lugs/nuts that didn't torque properly.

All the tire dealers that I know of that have a reputation for quality work won't allow those things on the property. They are notoriously inaccurate/used improperly...good enough to run the nuts down, buy certainly not for final torque (especially if its your name on the sign out front!) I always final torque by hand with a torque wrench...in the recommended crisscross pattern...especially on aluminum wheels!
I always make sure I can spin the nuts on by hand too...if you can't then either things need lubed a bit (a tiny bit) or the threads need chased. I will sometimes use a tiny dab of never-seize, but only enough to very lightly lube the threads, and always make sure there is none gets on the taper of the wheel and/or lug nut (which could allow an over torque situation)
A tiny lil dab where the wheel fits tight on the hub is good too...gotta make sure there is no excess though, don't need that getting on your brakes! I'll actually paint if on with a brush, but a very dry brush, so as to not have that aforementioned "excess" to squeeze out. Then mount the wheel, remove again to check for any excess that needs wiped up, then do final install of the wheel.
My 2 ¢, which is only actually worth about 1 these days...

 

I had to change the tire last year on my 2018 Focus and didn't have any issues using the standard equipment that came with the car. I do remember not being able to get the lugs off a tire back in the 80's and cussing whomever put them on.

 

After multiple tire changes and the same wheel studs, the threads will stretch everytime they are torqued. Eventually you will get to a point where you have to over torque the nuts to keep them on safely. When it gets to that point, change the wheel studs and nuts. And with the car being 2007 I think it's time for new studs.

 

Those lugs with the plastic cap are a big issue for lots of makes. My F150 has those and I bought Mcgard's to replace them.. I also have a breaker bar from China Freight and impact socket

 

stupid covers on lug nuts to make look pretty - things swell wrench/socket don't fit unless you hammer it on/ if you get it/them off have beat them back out of socket. Escape 2016. Two piece nuts - oem save a couple pennies cost you a tow.

 

Swollen lug nuts have been a problem for quite a while now. If you are regularly rotating it should be picked up on before it’s a problem.

 

Had a long nosed service manager who left the biz for a bit then came back. He told me I was trying to rip a customer off by telling them they needed lug nuts. “How can they go bad?” I asked him why we keep over ten sets for each model in stock? He never did apologize for that one.

 

^^^

 

don2222 get a breaker bar with right size impact socket. Then 2 to 3 foot piece black iron pipe and jump on it.. all garages overtighten as supposedly need to be retorqued after 50 miles on aluminum rims

 

I was just talking to the local Toyota Dealer Service Manager and he said the humidity gets into the OEM wheel lug nuts with the decorative chrome covers that all the manufacturers use nowadays (That explains the title of this thread!) and makes them swell and also can make them rust inside! Nothing more reliable than the old lug nuts all cars used in the past. One of my friends put these old ones on and only puts the new fancy chrome ones back on when he sells the car! Great idea!

 

Along the lines of "can't get my wheel(s) loose" one of the places I worked in the past had a lot of flat tires on any vehicles inside the plant...some of the managers drove their personal vehicles inside so they didn't have to walk so far...one day at about quitting time one of the managers (that we liked) came into the shop with a tire that was going flat, fast! We jacked it up and used the big air gun to zip his very rusty lug nuts off (XL F150, so steel wheels with all steel lug nuts...none of those 2 piece "chrome" things) but the wheel wouldn't come loose...beat on it with increasingly bigger BFH...finally dropped it off the jack with the nuts on very loosely...still didn't pop loose! So next step was to drive it around the parking lot with loose lugs...no luck! So then the owner said "here, I'll get it" so he goes out into the parking lot and whips the wheel around while mashing the gas...kind if a donut/drifting type move...STILL didn't come loose! So we air it up and he books it to the tire shop a couple blocks away (it was our quitting time by then) turns out they couldn't get it either...they tried the old "heat n beat" with no luck...ended up popping the tire off the wheel while it was still mounted to the truck, then took a cutting torch and cut the wheel in half!

 

Thanks
The Harbor Freight Maddox set with my HF heavy duty 1/2” breaker bar did the trick. I banged on the 22 mm socket and that grabbed the lug nut hard so I could get it off. It really tore up the crappy old chrome covered lug nut. Lol

 

reminds of a friend van, took 2 of us 3.5 hours just to get the wheels off- rusted on to the hubs. That included the flame wrench and a BFH with a long handle. dang near knocked van off the jack stands beating wheels so hard. 4x4 wood across wheel so as to hopefully not destroy rim. got it done- what PIA.

 

We change tires winter and summer never sieze is your friend

 

I always put a drop of oil or two on each lug nut when I put them on. I think they tighten up better and come off easier. But I am not a mechanic.

 

NASCAR just announced the cars will have aluminum wheels instead of the steel wheels.
Therefore they know having the old 5 bolt steel lug nuts would be a REAL problem holding the wheels on securely!
Therefore they invented a large single bolt system specially designed to hold Aluminum wheels on securely!
Now why didn’t any of the automakers think of this????
See
NASCAR moving to single lug-nut design for Next Gen car
vid 1

Vid 2

Reason for new NASCAR wheels
NASCAR NextGen Wheels: The Scientific Argument for a Single Lug : Building Speed