I’m not debating anything and I don’t have an agenda.
You get to decide if I’m going to fix your car. You don’t get to decide how I fix it. I get to decide if I’m going to do business with you. You and I each have criteria for making our decisions and we are free to choose as we please.
There’s no arrogance or attitude in saying “Mr. TireWhisperer, I don’t think we’re the right shop for you.”
Or for a lot of customers, with your way of thinking.
I have to wonder whether it’s any manner of faux pas to explain at a shop that you’ve had lugs over-torqued in the past, and would they mind making sure to just torque to spec rather than just using an impact.
I have a favorite wheel/tire place near me. That’s all they do. Not even alignments. They don’t even have a lift. Just wheels and tires using floor jacks. Nice people. Good selection. Lightning fast service for all things wheel/tires.
I asked the guy who seems to be the head honcho about this torque issue once - he said they use torque wrenches. Then the last time I was there I watched his guys doing a set of wheels/tires. They whacked the lugs back on with an impact, and only then put a torque wrench on. So yeah, they use torque wrenches. But in this case all they did was click (as in, I guess they only check for under-torque, but not so much for uneven torque or over torque).
It’s hard from this side of the fence.
Couple of notes here. The new Matco cordless impact wrenched can go up to 1600 ft/lbs of torque, that a lot more than a 1/2" pneumatic impact can go. A local place that put a set of tires on one of my trucks used those and I could not loosen the lug nuts with any tools I had. I actually broke a Craftsman 1/2" drive 3" extension using a 24" breaker bar with a cheater on it.
I took the truck back with my torque wrench and breaker bar in tow and had them come out a loosen the nuts for me. The guy would loosen the nuts and then run them down and stop without really impacting them but they were still too tight. So I had him loosen three nuts at a time and I would run them down by hand and torque them.
And as some of you pros here would have done, I was kicked out of a Sams Club tire center because they had not only put on the wrong size tires, they were hammering them down with an impact wrench and then going back with a torque wrench, but they were so over torqued, the torque wrench only clicked. When I tried to explain how to use a torque wrench to the manager, I was invited to take my business elsewhere. BTW, they broke two lugs from over tightening. The torque wrench is only accurate if it is moving when it clicks.
That sign evokes precisely the attitude some of us are trying to counteract in this conversation.
Only you…
I hand start my lug nuts and will sometimes reach for my already out impact to run them down. But I set the impact force to minimum before doing so. They are always less than final torque spec doing it that way. So it is possible to use an impact to run them down without over torqueing them.
Most shops are so afraid of loosening after their work, they over tighten. I use a tire shop same as yours- Tire Warehouse. They have no lifts and do everything with jacks. They are very fast and thorough. I watched them tighten and they use an impact to run down but follow with a torque wrench. Never once had one overtightened. But they always ask me to return in a week or less to let them check and re-torque the lugs if necessary- especially on cast wheels. I explain I know how to do it and will do it myself. These are the only guys around that seem to know what the marks are for on Yokohama tires and take the time to use them.
The Toyota dealership I changed to titightens them to the right spec, 85 ft pounds. I bought my last tires from them. A wheel tightened to factory specs is not going to come off. A shop that deliberately over tightens them in fear of them commong off is just displaying their ignorance or their mistrust in the competence of their workers…
When I told him that they must be using the torque sticks to hold down their paperwork, he never replied and I never had any work done there. This was said after I had to return there to have them loosed and re-tighten the wheels. When I returned home, they were still over tightened but at least I could break them free.
When they are done to spec, I can easily change them on the road with the toold that come with the car.
To answer your question. Yes, Everytime the lugs are overtightened on the wheels damage is being done. The studs stretch and weaken and threads are compromised. If you can’t get them to properly torque you are better off going to a reputable shop.
There is a Sam’s club near me and I bought a set of tires there. Went to do my brakes and inspection within two weeks later. Every lug nut was over torqued. Broke 4 studs. Went to Sam’s and they said they always used torque wrenches and said I was dead wrong. That’s the last auto purchase they received from me. And probably the last dollar they got from me.
When everything is nearly perfect, that is true. But how often are used cars in perfect shape? There are a number of reasons nuts can come loose over time- especially early on in the period after work has been done. I’m not going into huge detail- if you don’t believe it, look it up yourself. One of the primary causes IMO is the stud is already stretched. The tire shop is not going to do a forensic analysis of your wheel, hub and studs to see if there is an issue existing that is not obvious to the eye. They might be the last people to touch your car before the nut comes loose and even though the cumulative damage was done elsewhere- guess who gets the blame? It’s naïve to say that if all they do is tighten to factory specs, there will be no problem.
Now you’re getting the idea. Not everyone that walks in the door is a customer. Some are just people with a car that needs work.
If a steakhouse has a reputation for overcooking steaks, I just don’t eat there. I don’t walk in with a grill and tell them how to properly prepare a sirloin.
I do it the same way (though often use my M18 impact as I have a very good feel for it). That’s not what the guys I was watching were doing.
It’s tough to watch someone do something you know is wrong and bite my tongue- especially if yours is next 
I don’t particularly like hammering action on tightening anyway. But that would require getting up and retrieving an air ratchet and I’m getting too old for all that up and down jazz 
I should have made this clear, I did have two bad experiences at two different Sam’s Club tire centers, one I listed above, but they were about 20 years ago and I have not been back since. But as I said in my post about Walmart, they are only as good as the manager so Sam’s Club may have many good managers and do a fine job. They could also have changed their policies in the last 20 years.
I currently buy most (not all) of my tires at Costco. They send their tire techs to a school to get certified and I have never had a problem with them. I have only used one Costco for the last 20 years and the tire manager from back then is still there.
The crew of RMS Titanic were also experts.
Experts in given fields are also human, and prone to misjudgement and making mistakes.
Torquing the lugnuts on a car that specifies under 100 ft lbs, to 150 or above, is, by most assesments, a misttake or error in judgement.
Repeated over-torquing of the same vehicle’s wheel studs by 50-100 percent of spec will over the long term fatigue the studs and they may break. Not to mention warp the rotors.
No dispute, but there’s not really any practical way to force a shop to do this job the way you want them to. Your choices are limited to
If you just let the shop do the job, then correct their torques using your method later, while you may experience some broken studs. its not not that big of a deal to replace broken wheel studs.
