The torque wrench thread just there ^^^ reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask. My recently-acquired "rattle gun" has settings from 1-4, which I assume equate in some way to torque settings. Anyone know if these are standard, or if not, how I'd work out which setting would be appropriate for tightening wheel nuts? I change the wheels on both our cars twice a year (summer/winter tyres) and usually just use the 'two grunts' approach to tightening them, but I'm concerned that the new tool might make it too easy to over-tighten. Ideas please. -- _______ ..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom) \`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3 (slightly broken, currently missing) `\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10 `\|/` `
Do something up with it on setting one, mark the position of the nut, undo with socket/spanner, re-torque to previous position with torque wrench set to ever increasing torques until you find the correct one. Set gun to number two etc. Compare torques for each setting against proper torque for wheel nuts to see which one's the same/similar. Possibly.
Set to 1. Tighten a nut with it [1]. Apply torque wrench to get an idea of tightness. Repeat with other settings until satisfied. [1] Any old nut will do. Shame you haven't got any Thunderace owners visiting. The rear wheel nut would probably do fine!
which make is it , if its run by compressesed air then the pressure and bore of the airline will play a significant roll in the final torque the machine will apply The clarke one i use can go as high as 300 footpounds not the sought of torque you want to put on wheel nuts --
Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Ace Personally, I wouldn't use one for tightening wheel nuts. Spin them on with one, by all means, but I'd leave the final tweaking up as a manual operation. -- Wicked Uncle Nigel - Podium Placed Ducati Race Engineer as featured in Performance Bikes and Fast Bikes WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41 SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner", Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big" Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha Vmax Honda ST1100 wiv trailer
AOL these should always be torque'd up correctly. If lacking the right tool, done up till they squeal with a nice long breaker bar!
Well that's out of the question at the mo, what with the back still being unfit for duty. Hence the question. And no, I won't be lugging the wheels around - Jude can do that, but I'd rather do the wheel nuts myself, as I'm sure you'll understand. -- _______ ..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom) \`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3 (slightly broken, currently missing) `\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10 `\|/` `
This is what I like to see when having tyres fitted. I'd probably avoid going back to a place that relied on the rattle gun to be set at the correct torque.
Amen to that. In theory if correctly set they should be OK, but how often do you see Kwikfit adjust them. Innocent question: are all car wheel nuts supposed to be done to the same torque setting? -- +-------------------------------------------------------------+ | Pete Fisher at Home: | | Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest Yamaha WR250Z | | Gilera GFR Moto Morini 2C/375 | +-------------------------------------------------------------+
On my last visit to the garage, to get new tyres on the car, they were using a torque wrench to tighten wheel nuts. I was a bit amazed.
Check them, perhaps, assuming I had any idea what setting they should be on in the first place. -- _______ ..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom) \`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3 (slightly broken, currently missing) `\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10 `\|/` `
Theyre not really torque settings as youd get from a torque wrench, it's more of the ammount of hammer it gives the nut, 1 is a feeble tap, 4 is whacking it... i've never turned mine off number 4, might be too much for a car's wheel bolts as others mentioned, but it's no where near enough for my campers wheel bolts (those need something like 250 newton meters, or an 'average italian bloke jumping on the end of the 1 meter long wheel nut bar supplied with the vans tool kit' (that's roughly the translation from the handbook for the van... just mentions a bloke jumping on it, but it's an iveco hence italian, so i figured they ment a pavarotti style bloke as opposed to an ethiopian to do the jumping You can get torque bars for the rattle guns, you may see garages whacking your nuts on with the rattle gun <hmm..s&m garages> but they will usually have a coloured short extension bar between the rattle gun and the socket, that extension is a torsion bar, and twists a bit when a set torque is reached, and due to how the rattle gun worke... i.e hammering rather than directly spinning the nut, when the torque is reached the extension twists each time the gun tries to hammer the socker round more. Different coloured extension bars give different torque's, but you usually see the YTS kid going around afterwards with the torque wrench... kinda useless as to set the torque accurately you undoo the nut a bit then tighten it till the wrench clicks, just trying the nut with the wrench means it'll click at anything over the desired torque, so one nut could be at say 100NM, the other 150NM, and the yts lad thinks he's torqued the nuts to 90NM as he set the wrench to.
Title: Air impact wrench torque settnigs Author: Ace Two + two = Doctor can't have screwed the back back together adequately! Spine clicking need spanner. Wheel nuts!!! Very mundane :-( Hope things are going good. If in doubt buy a torque wrench. On the other hand - I'd bet that a mechanically sympathetic person could do the job with an impact wrench in the same way as they would do it by hand. Whatever that is. I just "know" when the nuts are tight enough. I am not claiming extraordinary skills, I have travelled in many many vehicles where the wheels have been put on by hand and never though anything of it. The thing will whizz round then slow down. Then it will be tight enough. Bangining on and on at it until the machine refuses to move it at all will be too tight. Get a torque wrench and a BIG lever for the presumably low mass assistant - or one of the afformentioned impact wrench torque limiters. http://www.torquestick.com/cart/customer/home.php?cat=35 http://www.torquestick.com/cart/customer/home.php?cat=1
Universal Tyres too, for at least as long. It'll be down to a combination of response to complaints about punters not being able to get their wheels off at the side of the road and the dangers of repeated overtightening (stretching studs/bolts, cracking nut/bolt seats).
