Snapped my breaker bar trying to break the lug bolts free

[OneBadAudi]

Why in the hell do shops put them on so damn tight. What do they expect you to do on the side of the road if you get a flat. I had a long breaker bar, wouldnt do it. So i took a pole, slid it over it and snapped the breaker bar and the lugs didnt budge...GOD DAMNIT...Now i have to pay 40 bucks for a shop to change my wheels for me when i could do it for free in about 20 minutes...

Lug bolts FTML!!!!

[woofster]

Oh snap (no pun intended), that's tight!

[mattiouti]

damn! what brand breaker bar? no way it should snap the breaker bar unless its a cheapo one. i would think lugs snap before that does or you are just a manbearpig!

[AudiA4_20T]

damn! what brand breaker bar? no way it should snap the breaker bar unless its a cheapo one. i would think lugs snap before that does or you are just a manbearpig!

lol true that

[michgo]

Whats the torque spec for our cars? 90lbs??

[OneBadAudi]

It was a craftsman breaker bar, i thought the same thing that the bolts would break first but no sir. It bent the bar where the swivel was and cracked it in half....

[akaEsCo01]

Actually, those lug bolts are harder to snap than you think. I take the lug bolt over the breaker bar in a bar fight lol.

Story time, everyone gather around, lol. I was doing a guy's (a fellow AZ member who shall remain nameless) suspension one night, I'm just swapping out old sport suspension for new sport suspension, i figured a couple hours no problem. Boy was I wrong, I try to take the passenger wheel off and no luck on the wheel lock. It broke the wheel lock ket it was so damn tight so I'm like ok, we'll take it to Pep Boys and they'll get it off. An hour or so later we get that ONE lug off with lots of cursing and swearing, using two high power impact guns, a 3 foot breaker bar and two now useless sockets.

Another thing to remember is lug bolts aren't meant to last forever, antisieze them or get new ones at least once every other year

[dirtybrd]

Most passenger cars are around 80ft.lbs.

[rms-s4]

i welded a 17m and 19mm socket onto a broken torsion bar works perfect. and for exactly this reason is why i was torque sticks

[NyteEscape]

damn. i carry a 3ft steel pipe in my trunk, don't know what i would do if that snapped or even bent on a bolt.

[OneBadAudi]

im pullin out the big guns on this one, im goin to go pick up a 4 foot breaker bar.. I am determined to win this battle, 1 loose, 19more to go

[FORCE_FED_DUB]

IIRC VAG specs 82lb/ft, but most shops round up to 90

[imports]

damn thats alot of torque on that thing

[scorneil]

That's ridiculous. I torque mine to 90 lbs. Most shops probably hammer at them with the impact and don't bother with the torque wrench.

[NvrFllw]

I use all my friends tools and everything is already set to Audi specs

[RAI Motorsport]

we use snap on torque stick and take it to 88 lbs., also i warranty out the torque stick at least once a month....after about 20 uses or so they are not as accurate.

[OneBadAudi]

well after thinking hard about it, i went to the trunk and found the trusty pipe for the lug bolts..Put the pole over it, BOOM, popped em right off. Very nice..now i am in the market for new tools..always fun shopping for tools....Suspension is coming pretty soon thank god cuz it looks like a monster truck right now..

[sean1.8t]

I use all my friends tools and everything is already set to Audi specs

you shouldn't ever leave a tq wrench set to anything with tension. it should always be stored at "0"

[NvrFllw]

you shouldn't ever leave a tq wrench set to anything with tension. it should always be stored at "0"

love when people assume things. Where did I mention torque wrench? All the pneumatic tools are pre-set at Audi specs so nothing will get over torqued like lug nuts

[will951]

[sean1.8t]

btw, shops doing anything FTL!

the one's that actually care, will tq things to spec. others will just impact gun it until it wont go anymore.

a few years back my dad was changing the brakes on his F-350. he had to get out a 6 foot pole to get the lugs off. fucking dealership's are retahhded!

[sean1.8t]

love when people assume things. Where did I mention torque wrench? All the pneumatic tools are pre-set at Audi specs so nothing will get over torqued like lug nuts

never said you did. or assumed you did. but it sounded that way. so i was just making sure that info was out there.

chill bro....

[Burtonrider1002]

you shouldn't ever leave a tq wrench set to anything with tension. it should always be stored at "0"

i need to adjust something tonight...

[TahoeA4]

btw, shops doing anything FTL!

the one's that actually care, will tq things to spec. others will just impact gun it until it wont go anymore.

a few years back my dad was changing the brakes on his F-350. he had to get out a 6 foot pole to get the lugs off. fucking dealership's are retahhded!

The stealerships do this on purpose...so you can't do it yourself, and have to take it to them to get the lugs off. It's all part of the f-ed up games they play...

[Ewok_Fetus]

You do realize that when you use anti-seize, you will end up over torquing because it will act as a lubricant?

[scorneil]

thanks for bumping this thread, it reminded me adjust my wrench. thanks sean1.8t

[Burtonrider1002]

thanks for bumping this thread, it reminded me adjust my wrench. thanks sean1.8t

haha i did mine that day when i got home lol

[A4SoftWalker]

You do realize that when you use anti-seize, you will end up over torquing because it will act as a lubricant?

WRONG this one has been covered in other threads about torquing.

The anti-seize actually serves to allow a better smoother tightening action and more accurate torque values.

[Ewok_Fetus]

WRONG this one has been covered in other threads about torquing.

The anti-seize actually serves to allow a better smoother tightening action and more accurate torque values.

I am going to call YOU wrong... The torque charts in technical manuals are almost ALWAYS dry values unless it specified otherwise... So, if you use anti-seize and still torque to the dry specifications, you are over torquing... Looks like someone needs to pick up a book... Or you are just one of those that believes everything you read on teh intarwebz!

[mlchael4]

Just curious,
I have never re-set my torque wrench back to "0" after using...
Do I need to have it re-calibrated??


What are the potential down falls of not doing this?
Thanks in advance.

[MikeWire]

I am going to call YOU wrong... The torque charts in technical manuals are almost ALWAYS dry values unless it specified otherwise... So, if you use anti-seize and still torque to the dry specifications, you are over torquing... Looks like someone needs to pick up a book... Or you are just one of those that believes everything you read on teh intarwebz!

Apply it to the threads only, not to the bolt face or mating area. Then you will be fine.

Read this:

http://www.eng.tau.ac.il/~neliaz/Papers_Files/C27.pdf

Cliff notes: the failure of rotor bolts was not caused by the anti-seize, but was caused by the improper application of the anti-seize.

My source (yes the intarwebz ) http://www.engineersedge.com/wwwboard/posts/13070.html

[Ewok_Fetus]

There is a difference between a bolt asking for anti-seize on threads ONLY and being improperly used on the face and a bolt that asks for NO anti-seize and being applied to any part....

If I were still in the military, I would show you a page from the technical order where it goes into great depth about anti-seize and torque... I was in Quality Assurance for quite some time and became a hardware guru... There are hundreds upon hundreds of times that I have had to work on VERY torque sensitive, multi-million dollar pieces of equipment... I am talking the equipment itself, not the full aircraft...

Apply it to the threads only, not to the bolt face or mating area. Then you will be fine.

Read this:

http://www.eng.tau.ac.il/~neliaz/Papers_Files/C27.pdf

Cliff notes: the failure of rotor bolts was not caused by the anti-seize, but was caused by the improper application of the anti-seize.

My source (yes the intarwebz ) http://www.engineersedge.com/wwwboard/posts/13070.html

[A4SoftWalker]

Looks like someone needs to pick up a book... Or you are just one of those that believes everything you read on teh intarwebz!

IF u are so well read then why can't u make ur point without a personal attack.

I am yet to hear of a properly torqued anti-seize treated LUG NUT/BOLT flying off or otherwise not doing what it was supposed to do. Many thousands of people have used anti-seize on lug nuts/bolts for years no problem.

So u can keep ur rusty old lugs and I'll keep my anti-seized ones.

Meanwhile leave your personal attacks in the trash where they belong u don't know me...

[will951]

haha.....I caused quite a stir in here! Bottom line is that the OP could have saved a breaker bar if he had used it. It's for threads....not a face or taper. If you apply it there....you're an f'n idiot.

[jlaudio]

The stealerships do this on purpose...so you can't do it yourself, and have to take it to them to get the lugs off. It's all part of the f-ed up games they play...

I work for a dealer, and no they don't do that.. alot of air guns torque things very tight

The mechanics themselves wouldn't do something like that, they are everyday people just like you and me