Must torque wheel bolts ???

Will be changing tires soon and was wondering if it's necessary to torque the front pinch bolts (16 lbft) and the axle bolts (43 lbft)
as well as the rear wheel bolts (80 lbft) ?

Would it be unsafe to just "tighten", I don't have a torque wrench, guess it's time to buy one, eh?

Thanks, Robert.

 

A clicker torque wrench can be off by as much as 15%, so be careful of any that claim high accuracy as they will likely be "optimistic" accuracy numbers. It is always better to use a (calibrated) torque wrench.

Wrenches that measure all the way down to 16 ft/lb, will often not go high enough for things like wheel bolts/nuts, so you will often end up buying two wrenches. That said, a quick look on Amazon shows at least one Sunex wrench that says it will do from 10 lb/ft to 150 lb/ft.

I would tighten the pinch bolts to German torque (Guten tight), then I would rent/buy a torque wrench adequate for the axle and wheel.

Mind you that I have one beam type wrench for low torque, one clicker for less delicate work and a high end digital for things like engine building.

Jose

 

Thanks DaHose. If I borrow one from a local parts store, would it be calibrated? I might just buy one and have it calibrated here at work (FedEx). The ones we use here in A/C maintenance are calibrated once a year at our in house facility. I had a cheap generic click type for my autos and it broke a couple of years ago. We use snap-on here at work, any other "good" brands you'd recommend that won't break the bank? Sunex, Proto, Craftsman etc.? Thanks, Robert.

 

I you use snap-on in your shop, ask the rep to put you on a payment plan and grab both a 3/8" and a 1/2" wrench, they do it here in Oz all the time for tradies... That way you get the wrenches you need, without breaking the bank in one hit...

 

If it's an occasional use tool Craftsman will do just fine. If you can borrow a Snap-On even better. Wetspot's suggestion of a 3/8" & 1/2" is excellent advice. I would add if you buy make sure your torque wrenchs cover a realistic range. Example: a decent 3/8" should go as low as 5 ftlbs to 75 ftlbs. While a 1/2" should be somewhere between 50 ftlbs to 250ftlbs. Most quality tools will come with some kind of certificate stating accuracy.

Stay away from wrenchs that seem to cover a huge torque range. Thats where you'll find the inaccuarcy.

 

I agree with Arnzinator on having two wrenches with appropriate ranges. My preferred brands are something mainstream for general use. The high end Snap-On is indeed high quality tooling, but Craftsman, Proto, Husky and mid-range Snap-On clickers are really all comparable. Clickers are so standard that everyone buys from common manufacturers nowadays. Quite honestly, even the Sunex and Harbor Freight wrenches would likely be just as accurate. I do wish that my wrenches had flex heads, so I would recommend that feature, but you won't find clickers with flex heads at the lower price range.

If you want a wrench that will stay calibrated for a very long time, has a flex head and handles less than gentle use, look into a split beam wrench from Precision Instruments. My digital is a GearWrench and I bought it off Amazon.com for $170. The calibration certificate was expired, so it can't be sold to aerospace without a re-cert., hence the low price. It was still correctly reading torque (checked with my beam wrench) and digital wrenches are truly within 1% accuracy. An interesting item being sold now is a digital adapter that can turn your regular wrench into a torque wrench, or be used to calibrate your mechanicals. They just slip onto the head and a drive end is connected to the load cell.

New wrenches do come calibrated, but it would be a great idea to have your in-house service double check.

Jose

 

Use torque wrenches on critical engine assembly components, but not so necessary if working on wheels. It's a simple matter of experience and FEEL and can be done easily if you have a bit of practice. It's not at all likely you'd over-torque anything there except the smaller pinch bolts. For those, a good 3/8" drive 1' long driver and lower arm strength is sufficient, just don't put your weight on it.

 

I don't bother with torque wrenches for the applications you mentioned. I can tell by feel if it's tight enough.

 

Sctatch a small mark or use a paint spot on the bolt and the surface it mounts against as reference, then re-tighten until the marks line up. That's your feel.

If you back off the bolt or nut a bit and re-tighten you can feel the torque required.

Regardless of the fastener size, proppa torque is usually between 1/2 to 1 full turn between first resistance to turning and correct torque. Threads in an assembly need to have enough force to distort slightly to lock the nut/bolt in place so it won't loosen but nothing more. An educated wrist can feel torque coming up and stop turning when the force is correct for that size fastener threaded into a specific hole, steel or alloy.

 

Xactly, like when you install a new crush "washa" when you do your "earl" service. A trained elbow can feel the tightening torque and then that magical slip. Would rather be tawking about other magical feelings (kinda X rated though-wana keep it clean)

That slip is the washer compressing, at that point, your tight and right. Its all about feel, I would never use a torque wrench for pinch bolts. I have a 1/2 drive Snappy that I use on rear wheel bolts for my own vee-hickles though. Just fer shits and grins, its good practice though.

Real world, if you take your bike to a shop, they will zap it on with air tools and kick it in its arse out the door.

 

Careful with the oil plug........old story.

 

As Rainbow7 & squirrelman have suggested tightening pinch bolts, axle nuts, lug nuts by feel is perfectly legitimate. Nothing wrong with squirrelman's marking technique either. Ridevfr is makes a good point as well. The tech in a shop is using some kind of powered tool for sure.

If you can save some $$$ and borrow a torque wrench, awesome. If you want to spend $$$ the brands Dahose mentioned are fine and will serve you well.
It really boils down to what your comfortable with Highwaystar.

 

I'll admit, been there done that.

 

For wheel bolts - Torque Stick on your air tools- it's what the tech at the dealer uses just before your bike gets kicked in the arse out the door. They get stuff (like wheel bolts) close enough for govamint work. (But NEVER anything like engine internals or head bolts. Old school for those beauties.)

 

torque sticks are neat but I have yet to see them at any powersports dealer here. I have been disgusted in the past with some four wheelers that would come in under warranty work with cow shit and mud up the ying yang, when I would have to pull off a wheel, I would make sure to turn up my impact to its max so the lobatimal owner would never be able to get it off with common hand tools.

Drain plugs can strip, I have yet to have a hand at one. I have seen some other bolts, (cam caps, valve cover bolts, pinch bolts - turn to cheese as you were applying force.) not your fault though as the previous person had a hand at them and turned them into shite. Unfortunately, you inherited it and had to fix them. Time certs etc,,,My favorite was a bmw funduro that came in with a stripped oil drain plug, I couldnt fit an over sized socket or any creative solution, even those crazy twisted extraction sockets...I ended up chiseling off that sucker, it had a magnet too, aluminum drain plug with a magnet, I saved it! What the hell where the people at rotax thinking? Sheesh...anywHHhhooooooOOOOOooo Cheers....

 

I recently had a friend approach me with a stripped oil drain plug on their mini cooper. The dealer couldn't get it out and just gave up. It had suffered at the hands of a number of ham fisted techs and was in really bad shape, not indication that it had even been a bolt eveeer. I jack it up and had a look. There was no way any extraction tool would get a grip on it the way it was so I got out the body grinder (4 incher) and ground two sides down flat and then used my mini pipe wrench on her. Off she came without a fuss. Thankfully I had room to get at the bugger or the story would be different.

Oh yes, my two cents on torquing,,,

I have a snap-on 20-80 ft lbs clicker that gets sent out and calibrated (annual calibration is required by law if you use it on airplanes here in Canada). I also have a MAC inch pound clicker for the little stuff and a monster that goes to 150 that doesn't get out much. They get used on critical components but as the majority of members have already stated, you do develop a feel for proper torque values based on the size of the fasteners you are installing. That feel doesn't work for some applications like aircraft wheel bearings where the nut you are torquing is huge but the torque is quite low. The front axle pinches up the wheel bearings but they are standard rollers (not tapered) so even if you torque the shit out of them it won't preload the bearings, thus "not critical". Pinch bolts are standard torque so also a good candidate for the feel method.

 

One interesting torque related problem ran into was on my 1987 BMW M6. If you torque the front wheel bolts over 90 ft/lb you induce a shimmy into the front end. Most shops like to use torque sticks that end up over 90. You have to torque those wheels to a max of 85 ft/lb. That was a REAL bugger to figure out.

Jose

 

I tend to pay attention to torque specs. I have torque wrenches and torque the bolts you mentioned to spec. It's probably not "unsafe" but it is better to get into the habit of following torque specs.

 

I was perfectly happy to use feel on just about everything until I inherited a Snap-on torque wrench when my father-in-law died. Now I use it all the time and I am beginning to develop a better feel. It is amazing how easy it is to get to 20 ft/lbs. I think I have been over tightening small bolts my whole life.

 

Its very possible!!!

If your getting paid by book time (flat-rate) no-body would use a torque wrench on small items. Stuff with torque to yield requiremnts gets the Snap-On clicker to come out and play along with a torque angle device. Also, head bots with two torque settings need to be properly torqued as well as following the correct sequence.

When I work on my own stuff, the correct torque device comes out with the appropriate socket on it. Not on small stuff though, there; I trust my elbow and t-handles. Its just real world stuff, like a speed handle 1/4 along with a ratcheting t-handle...thats just me though.

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