Used to laugh at guys with torque wrenches for lug nuts, now I own three

I had a wheel come loose doing 55 on the interstate last year and that noise alone flipped my thinking. Now I torque every single thing that holds a wheel on, and I finally get why the old timers were so picky about it.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_stella26d ago

Did you keep the old wheel as a reminder or toss it once the new lug pattern went on?

lee.drew26d ago

Wait, you actually changed the lug pattern instead of just keeping the old wheels as spares? That sounds like a whole different level of commitment to torqueing stuff right. I'm still running mismatched wheels on my beater because I'm too cheap to drop cash on a set that all match.

johnson.faith19d ago

You said "too cheap to drop cash on a set that all match" and honestly that's exactly why I kept the old wheels. But here's something nobody's bringing up. What about the spare tire situation? If you're running mismatched wheels you gotta make sure the spare actually fits over those new brakes or whatever you got going on. I had a buddy who kept his old 15 inch spare and then upgraded to 17 inch wheels and the spare was useless. Had to call a tow truck anyway. So yes I changed the lug pattern but I also swapped my spare tire for one that actually matches the new setup. That's the real deep end of the commitment pool.