i've been helping my dad fix up an old bike. it had a bolt-on rear wheel but the front is quick-release. his rear wheel had a busted spoke and someone rode it for a long time with the broken spoke apparently and the wheel was tacoed beyond reasonable repair, 2 different LBS's said it'd be better just to get a new wheel. he wanted the new wheel to be QR too, so we had his freewheel moved to a QR wheel.

the problem is the wheel is kinda loose. when putting on QR wheels i was always told to not overtighten them, to finger-tighten the nut with the QR arm straight out and then close the QR, and the arm should leave a small indent in your palm if it is the right tension. but when I do that and then sit on the bike and start to pedal the wheel turns left and hits the frame. to get it to not do that i have to tighten the nut with the QR almost all the way open and then close it really really hard and then it is tight enough to ride without the wheel turning into the frame.

is something wrong with the wheel or is it sometimes normal to have to really really tighten a QR?