Torque Wrench Alternative

richard waters

New member
Feb 8, 1999
1,236
0
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Glenn
from the land of the el-cheapo torques

Gee that method sounds too complicated for me. If I'm ever on a desert island
with my
coach and need to torque the lug nuts I'll try it. Meanwhile, my good friend
Chuck Will helped me
find one for $69.95 at Harbor Salvage. They have a web site:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/taf/DisplayItem.taf?ItemNumber=808
that describes the one that I think I'll buy.

Thanks for the tip, however I hope I don't have to try it for real in the near
future.

By the way I'm a pilot, but not an A&P mechanic. You must be one or the other or
both.
I've been told that there are a lot of pilots in the GMC owners group. Ralph Luby
told
me that one time. I guess pilots are attracted to the aircraft like structure and
the systems. This
GMC sure reminds me of all the work we have to do on our 1979 Cessna 182 Turbo RG!

Richard Waters
1976 Palm Beach
- -----------

> Richard,
>
> If you can't find a torque wrench at a decent price that'll do 250 foot
> pounds, here's a trick I learned once when I had to torque a propeller on an
> airplane miles and miles away from the nearest torque wrench:
>
> Use a socket and a bar wrench (do they call them breaker bars? All socket
> sets seem to have one.)
>
> Place a long pipe over the handle of the wrench. Use at least a one inch
> pipe, preferably larger, that will go over the handle of the wrench.
>
> Measure from the center of the socket to a point on the pipe. To keep the
> arithmetic simple, mark it at four feet.
>
> Get a spring scale like they use for weighing fish (do they call it a fish
> scale?)
>
> Put the socket on the lug nut and position the pipe/lug wrench assembly to the
> left of the lug nut at about the 7 or 8 o'clock position.
>
> Put the weighing hook (on the bottom of the scale) on the point you marked on
> the pipe, and pull up on the support end of the scale.
>
> A pull of 62 1/2 pounds at 4 feet will give you a torque of 250 foot pounds at
> the socket. That outta be "close enough for government work." Actually, it's
> very exact, and a method I use to check to see if my torque wrenches are
> giving me the values they say they are.
>
> If you want to use a shorter or longer pipe, just divide 250 pounds by the
> distance you mark on the pipe to determine the value of pull that you need to
> exert.
>
> It works for me.
>
> Glenn
> 78K OR (land of the el-cheapo torques)
 
doesn't seem to be a very accurate way to calibrate the torque wrench Glenn.
Fish scales are notorius for being incorrect.early in my career I ran a
Precision measurement equipment lab and calibrated many torque wrenches.
Used a setup very much like you describe but used known weights to hang on
the end to calibrate them.

>Richard,
>
>If you can't find a torque wrench at a decent price that'll do 250 foot
>pounds, here's a trick I learned once when I had to torque a propeller on an
>airplane miles and miles away from the nearest torque wrench:
>
>Use a socket and a bar wrench (do they call them breaker bars? All socket
>sets seem to have one.)
>
>Place a long pipe over the handle of the wrench. Use at least a one inch
>pipe, preferably larger, that will go over the handle of the wrench.
>
>Measure from the center of the socket to a point on the pipe. To keep the
>arithmetic simple, mark it at four feet.
>
>Get a spring scale like they use for weighing fish (do they call it a fish
>scale?)
>
>Put the socket on the lug nut and position the pipe/lug wrench assembly to the
>left of the lug nut at about the 7 or 8 o'clock position.
>
>Put the weighing hook (on the bottom of the scale) on the point you marked on
>the pipe, and pull up on the support end of the scale.
>
>A pull of 62 1/2 pounds at 4 feet will give you a torque of 250 foot pounds at
>the socket. That outta be "close enough for government work." Actually, it's
>very exact, and a method I use to check to see if my torque wrenches are
>giving me the values they say they are.
>
>If you want to use a shorter or longer pipe, just divide 250 pounds by the
>distance you mark on the pipe to determine the value of pull that you need to
>exert.
>
>It works for me.
>
>Glenn
>78K OR (land of the el-cheapo torques)
>
>
Tom & Marg Warner
Vernon Center NY
1976 palmbeach
 
Glenn,
I was a pilot long years ago. Wonder if that "torque wrench" would work on
the Jesus Nut on Cobras.

Roger
 
Roger,
I give up! I'm a pilot and airplane owner (I've been flying for over 30 years)
but I have no idea what a "Jesus Nut" is.

Richard Waters
- -----

> Glenn,
> I was a pilot long years ago. Wonder if that "torque wrench" would work on
> the Jesus Nut on Cobras.
>
> Roger
 
The Jesus nut holds the rotors on helicopters. It it isn't torqued right
and you loose it, it's "Oh, Jesus" cause he's the only one who can help you
then.

Roger
 
Thanks for educating me. The "Jesus Nut" falling off would certainly not be a
good thing. If that happened to me, I would probably have a few other words
that I would be saying after "Oh Jesus". We don't have exactly the same
problem with our fixed wing aircraft, but they do have a few components that
could elicit a similar response if their attaching nut and bolt fell off.

Richard

- ------

> The Jesus nut holds the rotors on helicopters. It it isn't torqued right
> and you loose it, it's "Oh, Jesus" cause he's the only one who can help you
> then.
>
> Roger
 
In my pre-GMC days I owned a '74 Cortez (SOB-rust bucket, great MH)
with same 455 OLDS front end configuration. The Spindle nut (not Jesus
nut) had to be torqued to 400 ft/lbs.
I first used a 1/2 in breaker bar with a 8 foot pipe extension. In
order to crack the nut, I had to walk up an 8 foot stepladder and
watch the rear wheels move off the ground everytime I stepped on the
pipe from the ladder. That was before I bought a 4/1 torque multiplier.
Can anyone top this?
Herm

>
> Glenn
> from the land of the el-cheapo torques
>
> Gee that method sounds too complicated for me. If I'm ever on a
desert island
> with my
> coach and need to torque the lug nuts I'll try it. Meanwhile, my
good friend
> Chuck Will helped me
> find one for $69.95 at Harbor Salvage. They have a web site:
> http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/taf/DisplayItem.taf?ItemNumber=808
> that describes the one that I think I'll buy.
>
> Thanks for the tip, however I hope I don't have to try it for real
in the near
> future.
>
> By the way I'm a pilot, but not an A&P mechanic. You must be one or
the other or
> both.
> I've been told that there are a lot of pilots in the GMC owners
group. Ralph Luby
> told
> me that one time. I guess pilots are attracted to the aircraft like
structure and
> the systems. This
> GMC sure reminds me of all the work we have to do on our 1979 Cessna
182 Turbo RG!
>
> Richard Waters
> 1976 Palm Beach
> -----------
>

>
> > Richard,
> >
> > If you can't find a torque wrench at a decent price that'll do 250
foot
> > pounds, here's a trick I learned once when I had to torque a
propeller on an
> > airplane miles and miles away from the nearest torque wrench:
> >
> > Use a socket and a bar wrench (do they call them breaker bars?
All socket
> > sets seem to have one.)
> >
> > Place a long pipe over the handle of the wrench. Use at least a
one inch
> > pipe, preferably larger, that will go over the handle of the wrench.
> >
> > Measure from the center of the socket to a point on the pipe. To
keep the
> > arithmetic simple, mark it at four feet.
> >
> > Get a spring scale like they use for weighing fish (do they call
it a fish
> > scale?)
> >
> > Put the socket on the lug nut and position the pipe/lug wrench
assembly to the
> > left of the lug nut at about the 7 or 8 o'clock position.
> >
> > Put the weighing hook (on the bottom of the scale) on the point
you marked on
> > the pipe, and pull up on the support end of the scale.
> >
> > A pull of 62 1/2 pounds at 4 feet will give you a torque of 250
foot pounds at
> > the socket. That outta be "close enough for government work."
Actually, it's
> > very exact, and a method I use to check to see if my torque
wrenches are
> > giving me the values they say they are.
> >
> > If you want to use a shorter or longer pipe, just divide 250
pounds by the
> > distance you mark on the pipe to determine the value of pull that
you need to
> > exert.
> >
> > It works for me.
> >
> > Glenn
> > 78K OR (land of the el-cheapo torques)
>
>

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