This isn't the first time by any means, but before I bought my '04 last January the dealership did put on 4 new OE tires on so I know that's the last time the wheels have been off of my truck.

I decided to pull each wheel off to do some undercoating and get her ready for a good-old New England winter and I'll be damned if I couldn't budge ANY of the lug nuts, not a single one. I even tried with an 18" breaker bar with no success, so I used another 18" piece of heavy pipe to extend the breaker bar and even then I thought for sure the whole setup was going to snap right off. Eventually every lug nut did come off but I'm amazed nothing broke. And can you imagine if I had a flat tire and had to change it myself, how the hell do they expect you to use that little wrench in the jack kit?

I always torque my wheels using a torque wrench. I can't remember the number of times shops have overtightened the lug nuts on my vehicles!

What happened to quality? How difficult is it to use a torque wrench?

Laziness and lack of quality control on the dealer's part

They must have used an air impact wrench. I'm a believer in torque wrenches too. Doing it yourself is good for peace of mind and easier on the equipment.