Georgia Fiero Club Forum

General Discussion and Announcements => General Discussion => Topic started by: GTRS Fiero on March 10, 2018, 10:22:07 am

Title: Torque?
Post by: GTRS Fiero on March 10, 2018, 10:22:07 am
When the manual says torque 175, does it mean 175 on the indicator?  I couldn't find the torque wrench with the needle indicator, so I borrowed one from the parts store.  The borrowed one has a complex indicator.  I tightened the bolts to with the ratchet, then put the torque wrench on the first one.  I'm sure I was over 100, when the torque wrench broke--in 2 places.  This is very surprising, because it's a short, stubby tool.  It broke with the 1/2" end in the socket, and in the shaft itself.  I fell backward, but at least didn't damage anything.

This wasn't Husky junk that breaks when you look at it; this was supposed to be a quality tool.  Or, maybe I wasn't using it properly.  The force exerted was only with one arm, and I didn't think it was excessive, or sufficient to break a 1/2" wrench.  I didn't have a pipe on the wrench, either.

These are new bolts, not rusty or anything like that.  I tightened the other 3 bolts with the ratchet wrench to an approximation of the same tightness, but I'm not sure I want to drive my truck as it is, so I'll have to get another torque wrench.
Title: Re: Torque?
Post by: TopNotch on March 10, 2018, 05:15:52 pm
When I have to do really high torque on a horizontal shaft (such as a wheel axle), I use a breaker bar and some math instead of a torque wrench. I weigh about 180 fully clothed, so if I stand one foot out on a breaker bar, I am exerting 180 foot-pounds of torque. Farther out makes more torque, farther in makes less.
Title: Re: Torque?
Post by: Fierofool on March 10, 2018, 06:03:45 pm
I did it the hard way.  I shelled out the bucks for a 250 ft/lb torque wrench, and when it wouldn't go low enough for the small spindle bolts, I shelled out some more for a smaller torque wrench.  Both clickers.
Title: Re: Torque?
Post by: GTRS Fiero on March 10, 2018, 06:15:09 pm
"The hard way"?  I must not understand this expression.  I had thought that this meant using manual labor, and that paying for a fix was "the easy way".  175 is a lot of torque?  I always figured that, if I didn't have to put an 8-foot bar on it, it wasn't so bad.

I'm not small enough to stand in this area.

As I think on it, we broke the 8-foot bar, too.  It's solid, with a rounded point on one end, and a long wedge on the other.  We kept breaking the chain we had on the bar, so we got a stronger chain.  Then the chain we had holding the bar to the wrench broke, so we welded the bar to the wrench.  Then the bar broke, so we welded the bar back together, re-enforced it, and the wrench broke, so we got a bigger wrench.  These are the wrenches you carry in a cart.  The bolt came loose.  You should've seen the look on the yard-master's face when he saw the broken wrench!
Title: Re: Torque?
Post by: Fierofool on March 10, 2018, 06:49:19 pm
It was extremely hard to shell out the bucks that those things cost. 
Title: Re: Torque?
Post by: GTRS Fiero on March 10, 2018, 07:02:38 pm
I only have a hard time earning those bucks and putting them aside.  The bucks run off all by themselves.
Title: Re: Torque?
Post by: GTXVette on March 14, 2018, 09:53:46 am
I have the 3 Basic TQ wrench's . what you say? 3/8 for lower TQ settings, 1/2 for Higher TQ Loads and the third is in Newton Meters. what I could use is a Bolt Stretch Bar. but the three I have cost over 500 bucks so I will just borrow one when I can't figure Final Values.
Title: Re: Torque?
Post by: Fierofool on March 14, 2018, 10:25:13 am
When the manual says torque 175, does it mean 175 on the indicator?  I couldn't find the torque wrench with the needle indicator, so I borrowed one from the parts store.  The borrowed one has a complex indicator. 

The clicker type does have a much more complicated indicator, but it's is much more accurate than the beam type torque wrench.  On the clickers, you find the even number like 100 and you have the 0 on the vertical line and the top of the rotating handle at the horizontal 100 line.  As you rotate the handle, the numbers that line up with the vertical line (1, 2, 3, etc.) are add-ons to the base 100, so it would be 101, 102, 103, etc. 

For something requiring 175 ft lb, it would be best to take each bolt up in 3 steps, like 80, 130, then finally 175.  If your torque wrench broke before reaching the desired torque, something was wrong with the torque wrench, It wasn't designed for that much torque, or your indicator was wrong. 
Title: Re: Torque?
Post by: GTRS Fiero on March 14, 2018, 06:52:04 pm
It was a stubby torque wrench.  No idea what it's supposed to be designed for, but supposedly reads up to 300 or so.

Back in grade school, I wanted to see how strong I was, so I put the wrench in the vise, put both hands on the handle and a foot on the vise, and pulled.  I bent the torque bar, but nothing broke.  That wrench was about 2 feet long.  I was stronger then, but pulling with one hand without bracing should not break a torque wrench.
Title: Re: Torque?
Post by: Fierofool on March 14, 2018, 11:01:43 pm
If it was a stubby, it was in inch pounds.  😯
Title: Re: Torque?
Post by: GTRS Fiero on March 14, 2018, 11:43:04 pm
Oops.  It was about 18 inches long.