Can you teach me more about lug bolts & related tire tools?

[ultred ragnusen]

I just mean the right-angle simple bar extension that you have to have in order to keep the torque wrench away from the sidewall of the tire.

You have to have an extension no matter what, because the torque wrench hits the tire sidewall because the lug nuts are on the hub but the tire sidewall sticks out a few inches.

Even a deep socket isn't long enough, so the least I can add by way of extension is a deep socket plus a 2 or 3 inch extension bar (whatever I have that is shortest).

I was asking if I used a 3 inch extension bar off the deep socket, or, if I used a 6 inch extension bar, would it matter for the torque?

I think not - but I've heard people say use the shortest extension bar you can get your hands on. I don't understand why. It should be the same torque if I used a 16-inch extension bar, right?

[ultred ragnusen]

I also wonder why the cuts are there, all at the same depth on the nut.

A friend I just spoke to says his car has them too, so, they're pretty common.

If they're made at the factory, why?

[ultred ragnusen]

I can't disagree that the shape and length of a purposeful "lug wrench" is designed just for removing lug nuts, so certainly that's why it's curved the way it is (to fit around the tire sidewall).

Certainly smaller is easier to fit in a car.

Since you can't use a torque wrench and a lug wrench at the same time, I was wondering if they made it just short enough so that a normal person could not apply "too much" torque to the lug bolts?

Basically, I was asking if it's short because that way, a normal human can only apply about 85 foot pounds which is all they can do with that short bar and their hands?

Is that just an urban myth?

[critcher]

for gods sake get a life.

[Robin]

There are loads of videos on YouTube which may help - eg

NB he failed to correct for the weight of the torque wrench itself which

- to a first approximation - acts through a point halfway along its length :)

If it's a wrench where you read the torque then you can just take a reading with a bucket of water and compare it to the results of you sum

- and repeat for heavier/lighter buckets.

If you've a hydraulic wrench then I pass.

[MrCheerful]

I use single hex impact sockets for 99.9 percent of jobs, there are practically speaking no occasions when they are too fat to get somewhere. (better makes are thinner sided than cheap ones)

Unless you have 12 sided nuts/bolts, then you do not need 12 sided sockets (there are some odd cars/equipment which use 12 sided hardware)

[MrCheerful]

yes, but it is so rarely needed it is not worth worrying about

[MrCheerful]

or use a luggage weight scale , attach at (for example ) one foot from the drive head of the torque wrench and pull till the wrench clicks, read scales and see if it matches what the torque wrench is set to. Alternately give the torque wrench to a test station for re-calibration.

[MrCheerful]

possibly because they locate in the tool that puts on all the wheel nuts at the same time.

[MrCheerful]

no because some force will just be twisting the bar, Imagine a bar a mile long, you twist one end with a known force, the other end would not move.

[MrCheerful]

better to leave the tyres alone, rotating the position of tyres went out of fashion about 60 years ago.

[alan_m]

99.99% of car owners don't own a torque wrench. The short green wrench is the cheapest that can be made (and to fit in with jacking tool kit) to get someone out of trouble when they have to change of tyre in an emergency. In many cases when the tyre has be installed from factory or by a the retailer using (air) powered tools most people would find it very difficult to undo the wheel nuts with that wrench. Much better to discard it and get something with a longer handle

or

But don't most people jump on it using their whole body weight ? :)

[AMuzi]

or just clamp the wrench's drive in the vise. Measure from axis, add weight. This is simple arithmetic not rocket science.

[Fredxx]

OK - like a circlip type clip to retain the nut in the tool?

That would make sense.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

I never rotate any tyres What's the point? When one wears out I replace it.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Most sensible answer yet.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

I guess people used to be bored before TV was invented.

[alan_m]

Yes, in the educated world this type of nonsense has mainly disappeared but I suspect the original poster lives in the USA where frequent tyre rotation and 6K oil changes are promoted in order to keep the car service industry alive - or else they have poorer quality tyres and oil.

[Ralph Mowery]

The main thing is to have all nuts tightened the same. With in some limits, the actual torque is not all that important as long as the wheel does not come off,or you strip or break the bolt.

[ultred ragnusen]

That makes too much sense for Usenet! :)

I guess there are two faults with a 20" extension bar that a 2" extenstion bar wouldh't have then.

1. Some of the measured torque is wasted in twisting the bar, and,
2. Any extension bar not at 90 degrees to the nut also changes the torque.

Both effects are probably slight - but perhaps measurable?