Started a new job a few weeks ago & can't believe how tight many nuts & bolts are! On the first day I saw one of the senior tradesmen tightening up an M8 grubscrew with a T-handled allen key, no worries there, but then put an 8" crescent on the end & not only nipped it up but gave it real good heave & grunt. No wonder theres so many stripped threads & sheared off heads in this place. Now Ive just done an oil change on the bike & bloody hell, the sump plug was starting to get me worried it was so tight (& this not the only thing Ive found way overnight on it). And most cars Ive bought are the same. I reckon a few trades out there need to get a torque wrench & a bible & find out exactly how little the max torque is for M6, M8 & even M10 bolts. Years ago I knew a very good bike mechanic who was of the same opinion & he had a tiny torque wrench not much longer than your hand & it took very little effort before most smaller bolts were up to spec
tony9,
Dec 14, 4:52pm
Yes, important to get them right.
I was always told to tighten until they break and then back off half a turn.
a.woodrow,
Dec 14, 5:01pm
Haha I got tighten them till your elbow clicks. But yes it amazes me how often stuff is overtightened. Worst ones seem to be oil sump bolts and wheel nuts
bwg11,
Dec 14, 5:03pm
Bought a quality ¼ drive torque wrench years back, and yes, manufacturers recommended torque figures are not excessively tight.
EDIT: For the small stuff.
franc123,
Dec 14, 5:08pm
Especially when alloy housings are involved. I had to get a diff drain bung out of a Navara recently which uses a 3/8 female square fitting, it not only twisted the end of a 3/8" breaker bar I had, but buggered a 3/8 to 1/2 adapter attached to a 600mm 1/2 dr breaker bar as well, it eventually took an impact version of the above adapter attached to my metre long 1/2" bar PLUS oxy torch heat to get it to shift. I would have happily castrated the prick responsible for installing it that tight. These alloy or plastic filter lids for cartridge oil and fuel filters are a new source of grief, I've seen these tightened over 100nm when they should be 25.
morrisjvan,
Dec 14, 5:09pm
Tried taking the oil filter off my toyota van a few weeks ago , broke the centre out of my filter socket, it was on so f%&$*ing tight!
whqqsh,
Dec 14, 5:43pm
agree, wheels nuts are a favourite. The only Koken socket Ive ever broken was on a wheel nut on my old Fairlane. How many times to you see people having to stand on (& often bounce on) wheel braces or power bars
dublo,
Dec 14, 7:55pm
I understand that ring/open end spanners are made in lengths suitable for the nut or bolt to be tightened, in most cases, by the use of "moderate" force - hence, for example, 1/4" spanners only about 4" long and 1" ones 12" in length (sorry about the use of imperial measurements but I mostly work on our old English cars!). I stress "moderate force". That may give a reasonably accurate amount of torque for many occasions when tightening bolts in steel components with these spanners, but it can be easy to tempt fate when working with aluminium! So often we encounter the results of fasteners tightened by operators with gorilla-strength arms.
brapbrap8,
Dec 14, 8:40pm
One tool company had a test rig they took to trade shows a while ago, to let anyone who didn't think they needed a torque wrench have a go and see how rubbish they were at tightening bolts by feel. My first mechanical experience was on racing pushbikes and the torque for bolts on them is as little as 4nm, but you still see people just grab an allen key and tighten the bolts up, usually with very expensive consequences from ruined carbon fibre parts.
Torque is not so critical now I mainly work on heavy vehicles, last tyre I changed weighed about 500kg.
snoopy221,
Dec 14, 8:44pm
Yip ya just know these bois love it TIGHT- LOL As to lubricating a thread and. applying appropriate. mmmmmm
brocyboy,
Dec 14, 8:58pm
Tights tight but brokens a ba5tard!
yz490,
Dec 14, 9:10pm
Talking M/cycles--Nuts bolts & screws always seen to take more force to crack free than the torque [elbow torque] you do them up too but someone said that the angle if their metric threads are designed that way, to sort of bite & hold?. Not sure what the change to isometric threads mean't [or even what the word means] except the smaller screws became finer threaded. Had a good new W&B torque wrench for years till some bugger stole it so bought one that you just pull around to the line & hate it. Trouble is there's some crap bolts out there that don't like even the std torque for its size without stretching. Original bolts on most any bike are good for beyond the normal torque. Good to feel them pull up positive then click rather than feeling like they need more & more in which case they're just stretching.
elect70,
Dec 15, 1:45pm
Its barstard tradesmen with their friggen rattle guns doing up bolts that pisses me off . , including tyre dealers with it set to max .
mals69,
Dec 15, 2:35pm
"Ya not tightening down the Titanic one tradesmen said to me when an apprentice" For tightening down electrical screws another tradesmen said "Togo for that springy feeling"
See 100lb average torque setting for car wheel nut - getting up there
woodypc,
Dec 15, 2:45pm
This infuriates me too.
nealeb,
Dec 15, 3:31pm
Not only infuriating, but dangerous as well. I was in at a local supplier of fastenings and overheard a conversation where the customer was asking what torque should be used for the 12mm fine threads he was buying. The staff member said you could give them heaps and they wouldn't break. The worry was that the bolts were going on a 5th wheel trailer unit. Hope they aren't holding anything important on when they shear off because they were over-torqued.
lookoutas,
Dec 15, 3:52pm
Use 80 to 85 on most car wheel nuts. Some are at 100, but very few.
serf407,
Dec 15, 4:14pm
The impression I got of the motorcycle mechanics screwing oil filter covers up as tight as possible was to discourage the m/c owner from changing their own oil and filter. The result was to have oil changes with no filter being changed or extended services with no oil and filter changes thereby reducing the life of the bike or resulting in large engine/ transmission costs that often resulted in the sale of a new bike.
mrfxit,
Dec 15, 4:25pm
Yep could well be right. In past years used to find the odd wheel nut in the gutters. Now finding sheared off studs & nuts
goodsound,
Dec 15, 4:26pm
in the opposite direction. recently read in a uk car mag about a guy with a late model porsche with factory centre-lock wheel nuts, the car ended up getting trailered to the nearest porsche dealer because no one - rac, aa etc. could get the wheel nuts tight enough :)
kevymtnz,
Dec 15, 4:30pm
funny that
desmodave,
Dec 15, 4:51pm
If you cant do an oil change on your own motorcycle i reckon you should stick to 4 wheels . I wonder how many have no idea what tyre pressure they are running or what the chain should be like when tension is correct .
whqqsh,
Dec 15, 5:57pm
Amazed how many people check their chain tension with it on the stand & no rider weight
bwg11,
Dec 15, 6:02pm
Going to offend people here who work in tyre bays and lube bays. BUT, do these guys actually have any trade training and do they understand correct torquing techniques?
whqqsh,
Dec 15, 6:03pm
Gen Suzuki part oil filter reckoned 'screw up until faces meet the 2 full turns using filter tool' seemed a bit excessive to me & didn't have the tool (screwdriver & hammer trick to get the old one off but it was bloody tight) so tightened up as much as I could by hand with rag for grip, didn't quite get 2 turns but close-ish. aint leaking & been to work & back today so looks ok
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