Lug nut problem after getting new tires

I had 4 new tires put on my Toyota Sienna XLE a month ago. I also paid for an alignment. About 2 days after getting the tires my van started to shake when I applied the brakes. This was not constant, so I thought maybe it was the road service. Over the course of the month it got worse, to the point that the steering column shook so badly that I did not have the van under control. I called Goodyear, and told them about the problem They rebalanced my tires and told me I need my brake rotors resurfaced for $139.50. The thing is just 4 months ago I go all new brakes-pads, rotors everything. I did not have a problem until the tires were replaced. I told the man this and asked for his price to resurface the rotors in writing. I took this to the mechanic who did the brake work, and told him that I thought something was up with the Goodyear place. He inspected the car and said the the lug nuts were not properly tightened. He said it was not his responsibility to take it back to the Goodyear. However, the owner said he would fix my van without charge because I always use them (they don’t do tires). Anyway, they smoothed out the rotors and tightened the lug nuts. After reading some of your other posts, I am worried that something could be really wrong with my van. Do I need to take it get the lug nuts completely replaced because I drove around on them for a month and they were improperly tightened? What should I do at this point, other than never take my van to Goodyear again?

Your guy sounds like a decent sort and if he had found the lugs damaged I’ve no doubt he would have mentioned it. The nuts themselves don’t get damaged.

Enjoy your ride without worry. But be sure to tell everyone you know to avoid that particular Goodyear store.

you are lucky the tires didn’t come off while driving…tire dealers in our area ask customers to return after 100 miles for a re-torque … you probably didn’t damage anything …assume your mechanic changed the lug bolts.

Thank you! Good to know that I do not have to continue to worry about it.

No one mentioned anything about returning at 100 miles for a re-torque. I hope my mechanic changed the bolts. The car drives perfectly fine now. Thanks for the response.

Sounds more like the lug nuts were over-tightened, right? That will cause the disks to warp, resulting in what you felt. In that case neither the studs nor nuts typically need replacing. Sounds like your mechanic treated it correctly.

The mechanic said incorrectly tightened, so I do not know if they were over or under-tightened. I think the problem is corrected. I did not realize how serious a problem it could have been. Thanks for your reply.

The 100 mile retorque is for Aluminum Alloy wheels. Steel wheels do not need to be retorqued. Chances are the Goodyear store used “torque sticks” which aren’t too accurate.

If undertightened, the wheel could come loose (very bad), but the disks would not have warped. The fact that they were warped means the lug nuts were over tightened.

Rotors don’t get warped because the lug nuts are over torqued or under torqued. They get warped when the torque is not the same all of them. Its the difference in torque that causes that problem.

I disagree. Severe over torquing, like with an incorrectly-set impact wrench, will warp rotors.

I would stay with the garage that helped you with your problem.

Also, it’s my understanding that an overtightened lug nut will change the expansion rate of the cast iron in that area. Then when you hit a puddle, for example, that’s when the warpage will occur.

I’ll bet your mechanic would check the torque on the lug nuts for free in case you go back to the tire place for a rotation. My recommendation though would be to let your mechanic do the tire rotation in the future.

Texases is correct. Even if the torque is the same on all lug nuts, overtorqueing those nuts is a frequent cause of warped rotors.