Guy I work with had the misfortune of having a wheel fall off his Jeep for this very reason. He had his Jeep to a local Sears auto center for new tires, they used an impact to tighten the lug nuts. He got quite a way from the store when one wheel come off. Not long ago he decided to take his truck to the same place, told them to use a torque wrench instead of an impact. They didn't listen and he got about 10 miles away were he noticed several of the studs gone when he stopped at the store. He called Sears and they had his truck hauled back where they had to replace the studs at all 4 corners.
When I install a tire on any vehicle I use a torque wrench, no impact and no just hogging them down because I'm a man and I know tight is tight. Yea I'm a man and I know if I tighten them down manly tight I may have over done it and created stress fractures in the stud that will lead to failure.
I think the whole take away from this thread should be awareness. Any bike or trike owner needs to have a certain awareness on the simpler mechanics on his or her ride. On a trike with aluminum rear wheels part of that awareness is checking rear wheel lug nut torque periodically, especially after removal. I have yet to tighten a lug nut on my dads Triglide, or the Triglide I used to own and not get a little when I check them 50 - 100 miles later with the torque wrench. Even then we still check them after long rides or before leaving on a long trip, its just like checking tire pressure.
