I just came back from the dealer for a warranty problem and of course they refused to fix it cause of the stillen rsb I got ... but that's a whole different story.

I can't seem to take off the rims now cause the air gun at the dealer put the nuts on too tight. I've tried the usual T-bar and a big 1 foot long socket wrench... but I still can't get it loose. Do I need to hit the gym or maybe there is some other tool/method that can get the job done. BTW, I did a search already for this... so please don't flame.

 

What always works for me is to get the t-bar or breaker bar in place at about 90 degrees and then kick the sucker down with your foot a couple times.

 

Or call Ken Caminiti, the Roid Droid to help ya.. I had the same problem, if you dont use air tools with wheels , you are screwed..

 

oh, all right.. i'll try that... thanks alot.

hey kloogy, isn't just okay to torque them back down to about 80 lbs? Whadda mean "screwed" without the air gun?

 

I said that because anywhere you go, thats what they use to tighten those things. When I put my springs on I used my dad's air tools to do all the work, and therefore, my wheels are bolted on TIGHT ! Im getting my wheels put on this week, so I will make sure they dont over torque them !

 

you might have a problem.. last time I took my car to the dealer, they jam the nut into the bolt.. and use an airgun on it.. it totally killed the thread on not just one bolt, but three...

 

Both my mechanic and the guy at the performance shop I go to said that you shouldn't use air tools, just a torque wrench tightened to 80 lbs. Since I am not a mechanic, I have no idea why..just padding on the info.. I would guess tire shops, etc use air tools strictly for speed.

 

What was your warranty problem that they wouldn't fix.. and how does the RSB effect it.

 

ditto.

 

my car keeps clunking when make a left turn into driveways, dips, or speed bumps. So I turned my wheel all the way left and noticed that the tire is slightly rubbing against the inner splash guard.. plus the clunking was getting annoying. I took it in to the dealer... they said the clunking was because of my fstb.. so I went home and took it off and then went back. They drove it.. said there was no sound.. I drove it and showed them. They held my car for two days saying they would work on it, while I was driving a rental. They called me on saturday to tell me that the clunking is because of my rsb and not because of the front sway bar bushings or the 2k max tsb for the right strut mount. This dealer just refuses to fix any tsb period.... i'm not surprised.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Larrio
[B]

Could your FSTB be hitting the manifold like mine was. I had to sit there and adjust the SH@#T out of it till it didnt hit anymore. Another faulty mod. What kind of FSTB do you have.

 

get an L shaped one, put it in the screw, and the jump on it

 

overtightening those lugs will KILL your rotors fast..

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by kloogy
[B]that's what I thought at first cause I read the post where you had that problem. The clunking noise was still there even after I took off the stillen fstb and took it back to the dealer.

 

I would make sure the RSB bolts are tight. I had the same problem with my RSB and i was sure that I had tighten them. In the process of unscrewing the nuts, I found it odd that they were too easy to unscrew so I tighten them more. I test drove the car and no more clunking noise I am not sure if this is the source of your problems but just thought you might want to try it. I am curious as to the torque spec of the RSB.

 

Torque spec of RSB is as tight as you can tighten it.

 

Yes, totally. I torque mine to 100 ft-lbs and no problems with warping the rotors or being too difficult to take off.

Tony

 

I always use a breaker bar (long 1'~2' wrench) with a regular socket to get maximum leverage. This is needed after having a tire repaired, even if you specify you want it "hand tightened". People generally ignore that request. If you torque them yourself to 80 ft lbs, you'll have no trouble getting them loose with a breaker bar.

 

I do 80, but even at 100ft-lbs my grandmother could still loosen the lugs.

*that* tight has got to be 120+... not good

 

well, since I can't take off the rims still, even though i've been jumping on the silly t-bar... I just got under there and tightened 3 out of the 4 bolts on each side of the rsb and now the clunking noise has gone away. I'm still a little concerned about the over tightening affecting my rotors, so I think I might go borrow some sort of tool from a auto shop and see what i can do.

 

U need to hit the gym

 

dude, I might have to since I'm having no luck taking that darn thing off.... but i'm sure i'm not THAT weak.

 

I use a hollow metal pipe and insert it over the rachet that i used to tighten the lug nuts. If you have one try it. Maybe you can insert it over the t-bar.

 

A trick a friend of mine told me to use when I had my '68 Mustang:

A little WD-40 won't hurt;

Raise the offending corner of the car off the ground slightly;

Take a deep socket, slightly larger than the nut you are trying to remove (needs to be able to rest on the rim, not the crown of the nut, if it's got one);

Take a hammer and, with the socket over the nut, give the end of the socket a sharp rap. Doesn't have to be too hard. Repeat to all of the other lugs.

Lower vehicle and try to remove the lugs with your wrench.

I was amazed at how well it worked since my wheels were on the 'stang so tight that I bent 1 breaker bar, cracked a cheapy socket and broke the weld on the 4-way tire bar that was in the trunk of the car. I thought I was going to have to chisel the bloody thing off. I had just bought the 'stang and was told that it had been sitting for about 8 years.

My friend owns an auto recycling yard and he said they use that method and it removes the worst of wheels.

One thing you might want to do is put a rag or something between the wheel and the contact point of the socket, just to protect the wheel somewhat.

Good luck to ya'.

Albert

 

thanks, i'll give that a try. I've been thinking about using wd40 to see if it would help somewhat.

 

Tighten it to German Specifications....



Goodentight!

 

lol... i'll vemember vhat

 

If you can't even get them loose by jumping on the T-wrench, you'd be SCREWED if you ever had a flat on the side of the road and had to use the stock mickey mouse wrench.

My sister had a flat on her way to college and my mom and her couldn't break free the lug nuts, so they had to call a tow truck just to break free the lug nuts to put the spare on (My mom could kick my ***, since she's 6' tall and does aerobics/weight training 4-5 days a week). The idiot tire guys had put them on with an air wrench and the tow truck guy even had problems.

Try the hammer method on the T-wrench, otherwise just have your local tire shop break them free and then retighten them YOURSELF using a torque wrench. You don't want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere with a perfectly good spare, but not able to remove the lug nuts.

 

yea, I was thinking about that too... i'm gonna try the wd40 and t bar hammer combo this afternoon as soon as it gets a little cooler since it's about 101 F today.

 

101 F

Try 122 F here last Saturday.