Both issues are caused by not tightening the lug nuts to specs with a click-type torque wrench. Most commonly they are over-tightened, especially when using air tools. That leads to peeling the threads and deforming the curved contact points on the wheel. Once those contact points are deformed, the lug nuts will never remain tight after that. It's the friction that holds the nuts tight. The only proper repair is to replace the wheel and the nuts. I would highly recommend replacing the studs too.
Related to this, many people put grease on the studs to prevent corrosion, but on imports, that will lead to more problems. Your studs will be silver, light yellow, or light blue. That color is an anodized coating that is a lubricant in itself. Grease will eat that coating away, leading to tearing the threads the next time someone tries to get the nuts off. In fact, whenever someone can't get a nut off because it just spins freely, that is the mechanic who gets blamed for the damage, but in fact, it was caused by the previous person who had them off months or years ago and didn't tighten them properly.
Grease also causes a problem when someone thinks, "if some is good, more is better". This really becomes a problem when an air wrench is used to run the nuts on. That grease builds up in front of the spinning nut, and gets flung out onto the friction surfaces, then it gets stuck between the nut and the wheel. That area has to be clean and dry for the nuts to remain tight. If you insist on using grease, only use a light coating on a few of the threads, then run the nuts on all the way by hand; (no air tools). And don't use grease on anodized studs.
Also, do not use any type of anti-seize compound on wheel studs. That will guarantee the nuts will work loose. An inexperienced mechanic caught pulling that stunt might get one verbal warning, but a second time he will be invited to find a job somewhere else. No shop owner wants to knowingly risk a lawsuit.
The torque spec for your lug nuts is 83 foot-pounds.
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Sunday, December 22nd, 2019 AT 6:01 PM
