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Hot take: I quit using impact wrenches on lug nuts for a month and my comeback rate dropped to almost zero
I run a small shop outside Tulsa and last month I got three comeback cars in one week, all with vibration complaints after tire rotations. So I did an experiment, I did every lug nut by hand with a torque wrench at 80 ft lbs for 30 days straight. No impact gun on the final tighten, none. In that stretch I did about 46 tire jobs and got zero comebacks on vibration, which never happens. Turns out I was over-torquing and warping rotors on this one model I see a lot, and the gun was just too easy to lean on. My forearms hate me and it adds maybe 4 minutes per car, but 4 minutes beats a comeback every single time. Anyone else here run into a specific car where the impact gun keeps biting you?
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matthew_owens98d ago
Do you notice how the easy way is usually the one that comes back to bite you, not just in the shop but pretty much everywhere? I see it with my own two hands all the time, like how a quick job with a chainsaw always ends up costing more time than if I'd just grabbed the hand saw and done it slow. Same deal with a torque wrench versus a gun, the tool that does the work for you is the one that lets you stop paying attention. Sounds like you basically proved that on your own cars, and 4 extra minutes is nothing when you think about the guy coming back mad and the time it eats up. Good on you for actually testing it instead of just swearing off the gun forever.
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