Ugh - that thread sucked.
There's nothing wrong with frosty asking about the lugs; but man - you definitely DO NOT need a torque wrench to put the lugs back on after you take your wheels. We also don't need kiddie-fights about it because someone thinks that there will be a huge chain of events that will happen if you don't pay the $5 to have a guy snicker at you since you're too baby to tighten your own lug nuts.
Some of the guys in that thread made some slippery-slope SOB story that makes it seem like not using a torque wrench will be the worst thing in the world to do to your car. Sheesh. Let me guess - I need to go go find a torque-wrench to put my oil filter back on. Let me go get a torque wrench to reconnect the clamp around the negative battery terminal.
Anyway, the same people who pay $40 for an oil change are the same people who absolutely need to have their lug nuts torqued after removal. Or think that not tightening your license plate screws enough can cause your CEL. Heck, I doubt those people would paint their calipers themselves - so it's moot.
Ugh... and people wonder why so many of the "legitimate tech" users who come to M3F only leave thinking this place is full of schmucks. Most forums talk about how to un-tap exhaust manifold studs in the case they break; or they talk about what piston rods are interchangeable to increase the compression ratio. In stead, we have bicker-fests on fucking torquing lug nuts.
Just use the tire iron in a star-pattern when the wheel is still up in the air - but don't go too tight. Then, drop the car, and do the final tightening with the tire iron. Unless your tire iron happens to be 5 meters long and you hop up and down on the very far end of it - you won't do any damage. You think when you go to Firestone for new tires that they torque to 90? Fuck that, they torque that bitch up to 150+ with their air-impact-driver...
:dhl:
