Originally posted by: alkemyst
So out of those 60+ mechanics (and you) no one had custom wheels?
also by your own analogy...so that sniper can control the fps of the bullet?
hate to break it to you, but the only tools that are over-rated are shit tools maybe you are used to using.
also you little torque test is great for one example. Not all wheels torque the same.
Really depends on size and number of studs as well as wheel composition.
I think it's amazing you worked at a Firestone and still didn't know how to properly tighten lugs.
When I was 16 I was fully restoring a 1966 Mustang and already had basic mechanics down.
Yeah, I'm sure MAC and Snap On are shit tools. They're only the best you can buy.
ALL impact guns are over-rated. ALL, without exception. There is no regulation, no standard that everyone goes by. I had a Chicago Pneumatic gun I bought from the MAC guy for years that would remove stuck bolts the other guy's supposedly heavier-duty Ingersoll-Rands would not. Now I have a similar CP 1/2" gun that is pitiful in comparison.
Then again, I don't have the air pressure like back then, either. Many variables.
Not too many customers that bring their cars into a dealership have custom wheels...at least not in the late 80's to late 90's. We didn't sell tires until probably at least the mid-90's, much less wheels. (other than stock replacement stuff....they sell everything there now)
No, not all wheels torque the same, but when you're dealing with one brand only, there's not much difference.
My Firestone days were back in the mid-80's. Things were different back then.
Glad to hear you were "fully" restoring a car at 16...although I seriously doubt you were doing much besides helping someone.
If you want to go that route though, my first car was a 1978 Jeep CJ-7. My dad owned a body shop and I rebuilt it the summer before I turned 16....from a rolled-over, total loss.
I took it from crunched to paint to decals to replacing the transmission, as I recall.
Ironically, I'm currently restoring my 1981 CJ-7 I've had since '86...took that one down to the bare frame.
And of all us techs at that dealership, yeah, some of the techs had aftermarket wheels. Don't recall anyone using a torque wrench on their own stuff, either.....I suppose they could have. The aftermarket wheel industry wasn't really rolling like it is now, though. You didn't have 17's, 18's, and 20's, and even bigger...at least not all over the place like they are now.
