Anyone done oil change on LC/LC without using ramps?

[ultane]

I hear ya, without being able to observe what they actually do during a service, you're never sure what they actually do, other than observe fluid levels. I do place chalk dots on my tires to ensure they're rotated. At my local dealer, when I paid for a 10K (at the 5K mark) they itemized what they added/measured on the job sheet (not that preprinted check list thing) ...... ie tread depth, brake lining, windshield washer fluid etc.......

I watched them from the garage door. I was 10 feet behind Miss Daisy. They didn’t even open the rear doors to check the hybrid battery cooling fan filter. They did not top up the washer fluid (I did so 30 minutes later, after we left) etc, etc. when I was in the parking lot for the Lowe’s lumber store where I bought a 1/2” craftsman torque wrench, a 5-6 inch extension, and a 21 mm impact socket to re-torque the lug nuts. They had put them all on with an impact gun. I asked how tight their impact gun tightened the lug nuts.. He proudly said just over 200 ft pounds. I nearly had a stroke. Then he proceeded to use a torque wrench on each lug nut, moving around in a circle (not staggering/criss-crossing). I politely asked (the idiot) how tight he was torquing them.. 86 foot pounds. . So, later, in the parking lot of Lowe’s, I slightly loosened all of them, and retorqued them all to 93ft#’s. Also started the bleeding the tires to get the tires back down to 33 PSI instead of the 36 PSI that the idiot put in them. Somehow, I need to check each wheel stud to see if the gross negligence of that idiot stretched them, when I find out how to do so.

 

[EOD Guy]

I watched them from the garage door. I was 10 feet behind Miss Daisy. They didn’t even open the rear doors to check the hybrid battery cooling fan filter. They did not top up the washer fluid (I did so 30 minutes later, after we left) etc, etc. when I was in the parking lot for the Lowe’s lumber store where I bought a 1/2” craftsman torque wrench, a 5-6 inch extension, and a 21 mm impact socket to re-torque the lug nuts. They had put them all on with an impact gun. I asked how tight their impact gun tightened the lug nuts.. He proudly said just over 200 ft pounds. I nearly had a stroke. Then he proceeded to use a torque wrench on each lug nut, moving around in a circle (not staggering/criss-crossing). I politely asked (the idiot) how tight he was torquing them.. 86 foot pounds. . So, later, in the parking lot of Lowe’s, I slightly loosened all of them, and retorqued them all to 93ft#’s. Also started the bleeding the tires to get the tires back down to 33 PSI instead of the 36 PSI that the idiot put in them. Somehow, I need to check each wheel stud to see if the gross negligence of that idiot stretched them, when I find out how to do so.

Man that really sucks! I always torque my alum wheels, not really worried about the studs but rather warping the wheel center as some run out tolerances are a little as .0002 before you might encounter what I call brake shutter (steering wheel shakes when you apply the brakes). Back when most wheels were steel, I didn't worry about lug nut torque, but now-days it really is a thing....... LOL

 

[ultane]

Man that really sucks! I always torque my alum wheels, not really worried about the studs but rather warping the wheel center as some run out tolerances are a little as .0002 before you might encounter what I call brake shutter (steering wheel shakes when you apply the brakes). Back when most wheels were steel, I didn't worry about lug nut torque, but now-days it really is a thing....... LOL

I don’t have any shaking, but there is a higher pitch ‘wa wa wa wa’ whine coming from the OEM Michelins when I wam driving down a smooth highway. I wonder if there is some ‘run out’ or something weird like that and the wheels aren’t perfectly straight? I don’t even know how I am going to get to the bottom of this.

 

[justaprado]

bought a set of ramps, used them to get familiar with the underside. then changed the oil without using the ramps. the lower height is easier to just hold the catch pan right up to the drain plug - no splash.