nuts

Submitted: Sunday, Sep 28, 2014 at 19:31
ThreadID: 109651 Views:3098 Replies:10 FollowUps:7
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has anybody used a torque stick when tightening wheel nuts?pros and cons please? bye barry
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Reply By: Phil B (WA) - Sunday, Sep 28, 2014 at 21:32

Sunday, Sep 28, 2014 at 21:32
Hi Barry

Wheel nuts, torque wrenches, lubing wheel nuts etc is getting a good going over at thread 109633


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AnswerID: 539650

Reply By: Member - Ian F (WA) - Sunday, Sep 28, 2014 at 21:37

Sunday, Sep 28, 2014 at 21:37
Hi Barry,
They are a good idea as many people do tend to over tighten wheel nuts especially using rattle guns. I remember once an elderly couple stopped me to help them undo the nuts on an old Ford, luckily I had a short length of pipe in the service ute as I even had trouble. I took the time to loosen and re torque all their wheels and told them to get have them crack tested.
Ian
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Follow Up By: member - mazcan - Monday, Sep 29, 2014 at 11:03

Monday, Sep 29, 2014 at 11:03
hi
I was in bunnings yesterday looking at AEG/360 nm/Ryobi 265 nm and Bosch 160-180nm and a much bigger hitachi /420 nm battery powered torque wrenches and none of those have varable nm settings
using the higher nm brands it would be very easy to strip wheel nuts and/or stud threads where as my air operated one I use in my shed has 4 nm settings
are there any battery operated ones on the market with nm torque adjustment
bunnings staff didn't seem to understand what I was referring too
cheers barry
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Reply By: olcoolone - Sunday, Sep 28, 2014 at 21:41

Sunday, Sep 28, 2014 at 21:41
Yes we use then, we always use the one under the torque setting we want and follow through with a torque wrench for the final check...... But you can just use the torque tube/extension as the final setting if you want.

Bear in mind the have a limited usage as in the number of times you can use them before replacement.
AnswerID: 539652

Reply By: Allan B (Member, SunCoast) - Sunday, Sep 28, 2014 at 21:54

Sunday, Sep 28, 2014 at 21:54
Yes, I always carry and use a torque wrench.
Pro is that the wheel nuts are tightened to specification. No overtightened studs, no loose wheel nuts.
Cons? Can't see any other than cost of the wrench.
Cheers
Allan

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AnswerID: 539655

Follow Up By: Graeme - Monday, Sep 29, 2014 at 12:13

Monday, Sep 29, 2014 at 12:13
They are the second most important set of nuts in the car and if not treated right could lead to problems.
They should always be torqued with a torque wrench, over torquing will stretch the studs and eventually the wheel could one day, overtake you on the highway.
In my profession (aviation maintenance) everything has a torque for good reason, and it is the same with modern cars.
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FollowupID: 824323

Follow Up By: olcoolone - Monday, Sep 29, 2014 at 18:02

Monday, Sep 29, 2014 at 18:02
I think Barry was asking about an extension you put on a impact gun and it allows the impact gun to only tighten to a set torque.

http://www.torquestick.com/cart/
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Member, SunCoast) - Monday, Sep 29, 2014 at 18:10

Monday, Sep 29, 2014 at 18:10
Ah, yes I see.
My comments were 'off-question' but perhaps not inappropriate.
Cheers
Allan

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Follow Up By: Bosun Broome - Thursday, Oct 02, 2014 at 20:46

Thursday, Oct 02, 2014 at 20:46
Have a look at the Makita DTW281, I think it has adjustable torque settings.
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FollowupID: 825465

Reply By: pop2jocem - Monday, Sep 29, 2014 at 18:40

Monday, Sep 29, 2014 at 18:40
As a now retired mechanic I have an aversion to relying on anything other than a proper torque wrench or experience acquired over many years to tighten any nuts or bolts.
The inaccuracy possible when using any electric or air powered "rattle" gun leaves the possibility of over or under torqueing.
A thread picking up or binding can be picked up when hand tightening. Not so when using rattle guns of any persuasion.
IMHO rattle guns are fine for removing. Not so for tightening.

Cheers
Pop
AnswerID: 539697

Reply By: Member - Alastair D (NSW) - Tuesday, Sep 30, 2014 at 07:23

Tuesday, Sep 30, 2014 at 07:23
I have a strong aversion to rattle guns of any sort other than for UNdoing things. To do up my wheels nuts I carry a cheap torque wrench of the type that just has a pointer and relies on the flex of the arm to move the scale. I 'calibrate' it against my quality torque wrench at home. I consider that it is robust and allows me to set within less than 10% of the correct value without a problem.

I get many comments from people at the tyre places when I ask them to not use a rattle gun to do up the nuts and I will torque them up myself. Most of them refuse to alter the setting to 'soft' and just spin them to the first rattle. The tyre place I use most is happy to do it my way and hence gets my regular business.

I had an early experience when a tyre place over tightened the wheels nuts on my Nissan G60 and I had several break whilst in the High Country. I replaced all the studs as they were stretched and damaged. Never again since them.
AnswerID: 539710

Reply By: Member - Rob D (NSW) - Tuesday, Sep 30, 2014 at 17:36

Tuesday, Sep 30, 2014 at 17:36
Hi Barry,

It seems that no one has answered your question.

I have torque sticks of the ratings required by my LC100 with steel wheels and for my Ultimate Off Road camping trailer. I have compared the torque sticks with my torque wrench and found them to be relatively accurate. I remove the torque stick when I am un-doing the wheel nuts.

They make it very easy to do a quick check of your wheel nuts and to make sure that the nuts are not coming loose. I have a Makita DTW450 Impact Wrench with a maximum tightening torque of 440nm. I also have the smaller Makita Impact Wrench.

Although the larger impact wrench sounds like overkill, I have had difficulty using the smaller unit in undoing nuts that have been over tightened with rattle guns. I also use the larger unit for checking my towball nut torque which requires exactly 440nm torque.

If you relax at a faster pace you can get more relaxation in for a given time.
Regards Rob

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AnswerID: 539730

Reply By: rumpig - Tuesday, Sep 30, 2014 at 17:56

Tuesday, Sep 30, 2014 at 17:56
I had the wheels on my 4wd balanced and rotated this afternoon at a local tyre shop, the wheel nuts were put on with a rattle gun and at the end the guy went around and did the last bit up with a torque wrench. Some nuts were already tight enough, but there was a few i watched him nip up until it clicked at the allocated setting.
AnswerID: 539733

Follow Up By: olcoolone - Wednesday, Oct 01, 2014 at 15:27

Wednesday, Oct 01, 2014 at 15:27
It's the ones that were all ready tight that's a worry.

It sounds like they just do them up with a rattle gun and the torque wrench is a double check safety measure to make sure they are done up...... to what torque who known.

We always do wheel nuts up with a rattle gun but always under the specified torque and then use a torque to bring them up to the correct torque.

Most tyre places would not understand the concept and just do them up FT.
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FollowupID: 825416

Reply By: Freshstart - Wednesday, Oct 01, 2014 at 16:02

Wednesday, Oct 01, 2014 at 16:02
I haven't used one for centuries. Another unnecessary weight to carry.
AnswerID: 539764

Follow Up By: Bosun Broome - Thursday, Oct 02, 2014 at 20:51

Thursday, Oct 02, 2014 at 20:51
The Makita BTW281 is a new unit which sits between the 251 and 430. It has 280nm of torque.
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FollowupID: 825467

Reply By: Bosun Broome - Thursday, Oct 02, 2014 at 20:52

Thursday, Oct 02, 2014 at 20:52
I meant 450 not 430.
AnswerID: 539819

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