Loosening lug nuts

[adey]

I'm aware that final tightening of lug nuts should be done with the car on the ground (not on jacks) when you're not using air tools... but how about loosening?
The rears can be loosened with the car on jackstands because you have the Ebrake, but how about the fronts?
Would it hurt to loosen (break) the lug nuts with the car on the ground, jack it up, then loosen them all the way? Or is this not a good idea?
TIA
-AD

[Hubie]

Actually you want to loosen and tighten lug nuts on the ground mostly because of safety reasons.  The torque can be enough to pull/knock the car off the jack or jack stands.  When tightening lugs you want to put them on as tight as you can so that the wheel doesn't wobble. Then lower the car just enough so that the wheels touches the ground and compresses the suspension a little so the tire will not move.  Then you torque and put the car down.  You don't want to put the car all the way down because you want the wheel to sit on the hub as centered as possible.

[adey]

excellent. Thanks for the info. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':thumbsup:'>