Kids car - 2007 Sentra with factory aluminum wheels and original lug nuts. Bought used and tires were dry rotted at 25000 miles.
Dropped off rims at The Tire Rack for new tires. Kid put them back on and torqued to 85. Lug nuts loosen as he drives back to college. He even has a little import mechanic shop look at them. They say that the aluminum powder gets on the threads and loosens them.
He drives 35 miles to Grand Rapids and they loosen again.
I don't believe the first owner ever removed the tires.
Powder story real? Factory lug nuts go bad?
Improperly torqued both times.
Reputable import mechanic shop in Holland, Michigan cleaned them and improperly torqued them?
I wouldn't discount it. Maybe the torque wrench went off-calibration, or they use torque sticks, which are very frequently off. Maybe the wheels are munged from the first time they came loose and the tapered seats aren't a good surface anymore.
I'm not suggesting incompetence, mind you. E36 M3 happens to the best of us. If the lugs WERE torqued to 85 ft-lb, they should not loosen.
It's possible that the studs are stretching, which you can feel with a torque wrench. Another reason to avoid torque sticks. I've had this happen a few times before.
What I have seen happen first hand is the tire monkey will thread them on a thread, hit it with the gun "gently" to thread them the rest of the way and then shrug when the torque wrench doesn't move the nuts at all.
Try a set of new lug nuts. The original set on my Opel GT wouldn't hold torque and kept loosening. Put brand new lug nuts on it and haven't had any issues yet, holding torque just like it's supposed too. I think the threads wear in the lug nuts causing too much tolerance (slop) between the threads and not properly torquing.
That's why I'll retorque them after a drive around the block.
wlkelley3 wrote:
Try a set of new lug nuts.
He comes home from college next weekend. That is what I will do.
He just has to pull over ever 20 miles and tighten them. LOL. Kind like a NASCAR race.
Don't get me started on torque sticks.
When ever the vehicle has been in a shop where the wheels were removed for some reason, I always recheck the torque when I get home.
In reply to iceracer:
I carry a torque wrench with me. I had a tire shop once only finger tighten the lug nuts on one of my old Hondas. I've also been involved in a GTi nearly loosing a wheel.
Check your race cars before you drive them!
This is the most affordable thing to try:
wlkelley3 wrote:
Try a set of new lug nuts.
This is crucial:
turboswede wrote:
That's why I'll retorque them after a drive around the block.
This is very possible if the above do not work:
Knurled wrote:
Maybe the wheels are munged from the first time they came loose and the tapered seats aren't a good surface anymore.
Good luck! 
If the wheels are hub centric, if the hub or wheel has corrosion etc then torquing the lugs does not truly seat them flat against the hub face. If it's off only .010 that's enough for the wheel to wiggle around on the locating snout and the lugs are no longer tight. Wire brush the bejezus out of the snout, use emery cloth on the wheel bore and then use anti seize. [Frank's Red Hot] 'I put that (bleep) on everything.' [/Frank's Red Hot]
Funny, I only put Frank's Red Hot on E36 M3 I'm going to eat. I'm afraid the acid content is too high for aluminum wheels.
Derick Freese wrote:
In reply to iceracer:
I carry a torque wrench with me. I had a tire shop once only finger tighten the lug nuts on one of my old Hondas. I've also been involved in a GTi nearly loosing a wheel.
Check your race cars before you drive them!
thank goodness for my tire shop ... they use torque sticks for 1 reason only ... that they don't OVER-TORQUE the lugs .... then they actually do all the lugs with a torque wrench ... good folk
My gripe was that twice, the shop used torque sticks and over torqued the nuts.
It took an 18"beaker bar with a 12" pipe and lots of grunt to break them loose.
Did I say this happened twice.
