I'm going to the dealer tommorow to have my tires rotated. I was just wondering what to watch for when they do it. Do they have to tighten it to a certain amount or do they go until the machine stops turning. Also can it be tightened by hand instead of machine? Thanks guys.

--SHP

 

I always ask for hand torquing and that I want to watch them do it. If they act odd about it, I ask them if they will replace my rotors for free? That always opens them up to it.

And dont listen to that crap about the torque socket on their air tools. Those *might* have worked when they first got them, but most of those are totally out of calibration from being used on airtools. I got 110+ from the last shop that tried to set their socket at 85.

I bring my own wrench and will volunteer to tighten them, but they always decline for liability reason, but it shows them you arent just being an a$$ and that you are serious about having the right torque. (and not throwing $300 out the window on a $20 rotation)

 

I go to Discount Tire. They rotate them for free and always torque them the right way. The technition signs off on his job on the receipt with the amount of torque he put onto your wheels

 

FREE!!!. Really why is that?

 

Im not trying to sound like an azz, but the stock wheels are not that high in quality and what not that they would need that much attention such as torquing the wheels. Like I said, dont mean to sound like an azz.

I mean I know what Tim means when they set it to 85 and it torques it to way above 110, that is more cause impact wrenches can never be accurate. I understand how when it gets that high you can barely get it off when a hand tool.

Dixit

 

The concern is that the torque be between 72 and 87 foot pounds so the rotors don't warp and ruin the brake pads. A $20 tire rotation can end up costing you several hundred for parts plus take time that could be spent polishing and waxing.

 

i've got bad experiences with dealer tire rotations. The first time it was under the recommended limit and now it's over 110+ and I couldn't take it off when I got a flat on the freeway. The first tow truck guy had to call in a second guy with an air gun option to take it off.

 

both CostCo's I goto do it by hand. When you pick up your car, you get the receipt and on the upper right corner it tells you what the front and rear specs are. And I saw them do it by hand. A week later, I've gone back to make sure the lugs were on good and they were tightened to spec. Very good people!
oh yeah, free lifetime rotation and flat fix.
Jae