Do I really need to use a torque wrench?

[Jlawles2]

TucsonJim When all else fails and you have a clicker torque wrench, floor jack under the handle and lift up. Had to do this one time to get bolts off a caliper bracket for service. Could not get impact on the bolt to break it loose.

[familytruckster4]

Torque can easily be calculated with ones body mass and the length of a bar. Force (lb) X Distance (ft) = Torque (lb-ft). This will get you reasonably close.

Caution: Slipping off a breaker bar can be hazardous to ones health.

Jim

Trust me, if I am leaning on a breaker bar its gonna be tight, I have plenty of "mass" for the job.

[Guest]

I've seen plenty of mechanics years ago standing on a breaker only to slip off. Just stating that folks need to be careful if attempting to do this.

Jim

[MK397THR]

Maybe this can fall under “hitch heads?” We have a MORryde king pin. https://www.morryde.com/wp-content/u...ers-Manual.pdf
• Periodically check the torque values of all hardware. Torque specifications are attached.
.

We have a very long camping trip planned for the Spring. We want to ensure we are prepared before our travels, and it’s the little things that can bite us. Appreciate everyone’s info so far.

Heinz

I will add on the pin box to check the lock washers. We had the Morryde pin box installed on our Reflection by Morryde at the National Rally. I went to recheck the torque when we got home and found 4 of the lock washers had cracked and were spreading out.

[Paul and judy]

I had heard when using a torque wrench you needed to loosen the nut first and then re-tighten to the proper torque. No one seems to be doing that on this thread can anyone comment? If you don’t do this you have the chance supposedly of over torquing the bolt

[Cate&Rob]

Paul and judy

if you have reason to believe that a nut has been over-torqued (such as if someone went at it with an impact gun) then the only way to determine this is to loosen and re-torque the fastener. When re-checking lug nuts with a torque wrench set to the same value as the original tightening . . . all that can be determined is that the nut has not slipped to a lower torque. Per my earlier comment, you can use the allowable torque range to initially set towards the lower end and re-torque towards the upper end. This way, you can expect each nut to move slightly, indicating that it was not initially over torqued.

Rob

[TheNescios]

I had removed the Pullrite slider from the truck for the summer so as part of putting it back in went through the bolts and checked the torque on the different bolts per the manual.
For the pin box I'm relying on the "if there aren't any rust tracks it's probably good" method. Seems like with the dump trucks and heavy equipment anytime something on a vertical surface is under a lot of pressure if it for some reason isn't tightened properly a "rust track" will start that alerts you to the fact things are moving.

From my younger days in the Navy and as a Merchant Mariner, crab nuts on an EMD 645 that hold the cylander liner & head in place get torqued to 1200 ft/lbs - takes a torque multiplier and an extra helping of Thanksgiving dinner.

[A J Gordon]

I use a torque wrench when I have it but I also travel with a 1/2" breaker bar and a Craftsmen 1/2 drive impact with 3/4 deepwell impact socket. I have checked the torque many many times after using my impact and the breaker bar and am typically within 5 ft lbs of my goal, well within the allowable range called out by Dexter, 100-120 ft/lb

My Impact typically produces 90 ft/lb with a fully charged battery. If the battery is towards the end of its recharge cycle it will drop slightly. I do the final torque with my breaker bar or my torque wrench if its available.

I'm curious, how did you check the torque after using the impact/breaker bar?