Had my new snow tires put on to the car today, and one of the lugs broke when they torqued it. I asked to see the torque gun and its setting, and it was set at 80 ft lbs, which I think is on spec for the Prius. The lub nut was not cross-threaded -- still turned on the broken lug. Seems to me the lug was simply defective. Discount Tire will pay for repair by a nearby shop. My question is whether the repair is pretty much like doing it on a non-hybrid, or do the regenerative brakes or something else make it more complex. I don't want someone not used to Prius's to foul it up if special knowledge / experience are necessary. Any help will be greatly appreciated, as I'd like to get it fixed asap, but don't want to go into it blindly. Thanks, Rick
Replacement of the lug is similar to any other car. BTW, tightening torque is 76 ft.-lb. If 80 ft.-lb was really used (and no calibration error was present) then the lug should not have broken. Since you have a 2009, I imagine that you haven't had much need to remove/replace tires so far. Maybe the failure was due to a manufacturing defect...
Thanks ... I have to agree with you. Tires / lug-nuts never off before. It comes down to a mfg defect, which makes me concerned about the rest of them, and about fixing this one correctly. So, I am hoping someone familiar with the wheel assembly can help me decide whether the Speedy Muffler can fix it [where our Discount Tire sends these], or whether there's something about the wheel system [eg, the regenerative brakes getting in the way or whatever] that dictate that I should take it to the dealer because it requires a lot of knowledge with the Prius.
Regenerative braking is done via MG2 on the drive train. The wheels are not directly involved, so the repair should be like any non-hybrid.
Thanks -- I somehow missed it when you said it in your first message. Guess my son is right ..... I'm getting too old to double-task (wrapping a few last presents).
Thanks -- I had no idea of how it was set up ... I'm still tempted just for curiosity to call the dealer and ask if they'll cover it as a warranty item..... any guesses?!
Just make sure they don't have to dismantle the brakes to fix it. Bleeding the brakes requires the Toyota diagnostic tester to command the brake computer to operate the brake valves, at least for the rear brakes as there is no connection from the brake pedal to the rear brake cylinders in fail-safe mode. The front brakes should also be done using the diagnostic tester, although the procedure seems to be that you remove the motor relays, which causes the brake computer to go into fail-safe mode, then you bleed the brakes by pumping the brake pedal as normal, then reinstall the relays.
The dealer will probably say the tire guy over torqued it but why not give it a try. You may get lucky and you won't know until you make the call. Good luck!
Well, before I saw your post, I had it fixed by the local shop. Didn't take them long, and they said having a rear drum brake [broken lug was on passenger rear wheel] made it easier. With it fixed, everything seems to be in order, including braking ... so I'm guessing they didn't have to dismantle the brakes. I never did call the dealer, but now wish I'd done that first. Rick
