It me! I got lazy/stupid last weekend and did that with 2 of my lug nuts. Was fortunate that it wasn't too bad and my dad had rethreading tools in his toolbox so we could fix it.

Whenever I change wheels I always start with the lock nut, forces me to hand thread it on with a socket in hand.

I still don’t think I’d ever start with the impact though, I’m not that lazy lol. But it’s a good habit if you have a tendency to grab the gun right off the bat. I always hand tighten until each it seated and the hub ring is completely pushed back etc.

Question:

When storing away your summer wheels do you give it a good cleaning OR just wait for spring to clean them up before mounting ?

Obviously with current weather kinda hard to give them a good wash before storing them away.

I clean them before storing. Any time I've waited has resulted in a lot more work cleaning them when I take them out of storage.

+1 to what supa said.

I also store my summer wheels in those tote bags and I like putting them in clean (tire tread and sidewalls too). If you can't give them a good wash. Get an old microfiber towel and your wheel bucket for car washes. Just use that same microfiber to clean the face/barrel, rinse it in the same bucket, then toss the water and towel after. Ive done this before on my workbench in the garage and it saved me from standing in the rain

I'm a put away dirty, wash the wheels in the spring kind of guy.

Because usually when I'm putting on the winters it's not too nice outside, dark, whatever and I just want to get them on as fast as I can.

Conversely, in the Spring I find a nice sunny day, wash the whole car and do the wheels while I'm at it.

I’m a lazy piece of shît so I just send it. But 10000% best practices is to clean prior to storage

same i just wash them when i'm putting back on the all seasons and just wash both sets while i'm at it.

Fall and spring

Lol 14+ years of working on cars and never crossthreaded. Then first day i got an impact i did exactly this.

:facepalm:

I only use an impact drill in the middle of the process.
Loosen with breaker bar, lift the car, then use the impact drill to remove the lug.
Then hand thread the lugs back in a couple of turns, then impact drill until 3/4 of the way in, then use a wrench to tighten until it's firmly seated. Then lower the car, torque wrench.


lol, I've never cleaned my wheels before storage. I just clean the summer set regularly when I do car washes... and I pretty much neglect my winter set.

lol.

chains for tonight? :troll:

You need to ask Santa for a better impact gun.
You won't need to use a breaker bar if you have a better impact gun.
Again same thing when putting the wheels on.

That's a lot of work putting changing a set of wheels.

It's gentler on the lug nuts/key to do that rather than impact them on both ways. That is my process to - adds an extra 30 secs to do the first turn with a breaker bar + socket, if that, to loosen them.

Recommendation of what a good impact gun is?

How much money do you want to spend? I use a Rigid impact gun with a 4 amp battery.
If you wanna go baller, Milwaukee M18's

Nah, constant force from the breaker bar is going to be worse off than using an impact gun that uses a hammering force.

As for gentler on lugs and lock keys, if you are using lightweight lugs, then I'd consider them consumables.
If you are using stock steel lugs, then it's not really an issue. The threads on OEM studs are going to be your weak spots.

BRB getting a Milwaukee

Just get a Milwaukee M12 impact; good price right now at KMS. The M12 batteries are a lot cheaper than the M18 counterpart and able to break open most passenger car and light truck lug nuts.

FYI must be 1/2" drive or above

Also FYI, regular compact impact guns are great for lug nuts but can't do axle nuts, you'll need the high-torque for that (heavier). But the regular compact 1/2" is good enough for most stuff.

What snowball said, get a 1/2".

I have a 1/4 and it works, but doesn't consistently get all the lugs off, especially cause BMW calls for 105 lubs vs 85 for most Japanese stuff.

Ok half kidding on the Milwaukee. I was ignorant and got a Craftsman on sale with a 1.5 amp battery so I'm kinda knee deep into this tool rat hole. First world problems at its finest.

Make sure you get the M12 Fuel line too.

I ironically no longer have a need for my M12 Stubby since I have a Honda now

Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk

i use a m12 stubby 1/2" to take off the lugs.

Bought a decent Chicago pneumatic gun for my dad quite a while ago now (10+ years) has been a trooper ever since, would recommend