Snapped lug bolts

[Javi]

Originally Posted by gearhead

Outbackmel who are you talking to???

Sounds like he don't like the Harbor Freight torque wrench

[Javi]

Originally Posted by gearhead

Javi: "I sure haven't seen everything"; and that's a lug nut I haven't seen. Who uses that??

Alloy wheels which are lugcentric as opposed to hubcentric. Pretty common among alloy wheels.

[Ken / Claudia]

Outbackmel may have been refurring to my post.
The bottom line is spend as much as you want. If that wheel/tire that nearly got you would have been put on and checked as required with a $20 wrench it would not have come off unless there was another issuse. I have 2 wrenchs a $20 and $80 ones. They both work, are they the best money can buy, NO. I am glad you were not hurt.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Ken / Claudia

Outbackmel may have been refurring to my post.
The bottom line is spend as much as you want. If that wheel/tire that nearly got you would have been put on and checked as required with a $20 wrench it would not have come off unless there was another issuse. I have 2 wrenchs a $20 and $80 ones. They both work, are they the best money can buy, NO. I am glad you were not hurt.

I agree with you.

Sterret $300 torque wrenches "may" be slightly more accurate than the Harbor Freight $20 wrench. (I paid $9.99 at HF for mine on sale with a coupon). I took it to a friend who runs a PME calibration lab. He ran it against the standards and said the calibration was within 2% of the indicated value at 25%, 50% and 75% of maximum torque value. That's good enough for me. Actually, it hss better accuracy than the Sterret wrench that was accidentally stored on the maximum torque setting (rather than being reset to the lowest value) and it's more accurate than the "high dollar" wrench that was dropped on the concrete last time it was used.

There's nothing wrong with "cheap" tools that are used for "hobbist" projects. I wouldn't want to rely on "cheap" for professional use, but then I wouldn't want to stock my chest with Craftsman if I made my living with the tools. I'd look more toward Snap-on or another "professional grade" tool set. But for torqing lugs on a trailer, cheap is much better than not doing them at all.

Just my opinion, others may view differently.

[gearhead]

Yeah, I'm with y'all. I've got torque wrenches for gun scope mounts up to a 3/4" drive. Are they Snap-On, or even Proto. Heck no. Two of them are Chinese Harbor Freight. For the few times I want them, they work good enough, I assume.
Look, I figure 95% of the folks out on the highway wouldn't know a torque wrench if someone hit them between the eyes with one. Do they ever check their lug nuts? Of course not. We are way ahead of them, Chinese tools and all!!
And...if safety is #1, the last thing I would be doing is riding a murdercycle.
But....oh those Triumph Thruxtons are sweet looking!! LOL
Yes my alloy wheels were dirty in my pic. I washed them.

[hankaye]

Jim W, Howdy;

Originally Posted by Jim W

Hankaye, Thank you for your service to our country.

I am not saying your way is incorrect just that there is another way to check these. From my engineering and manufacturing experience; retired engineer from Cat; we just never loosen a nut/bolt to check fastener torque. Could you see that being done on a 16 cylinder 3500/3600series engine? These engines are as big as most trailers that people pull.

So SAE and ISO establish fastener guide lines as far as dynamic and static torque for all grade 5, 8, 9.8 and 10 bolts that I am aware of. We used the static torque values for checking and audit purposes so that is why I proposed this way to check lug nut toques. Just another way to do things.

Jim W.

When I was doing all my torqueing it was between the late 60's to the early 90's. ASE didn't apply to Military aircraft and ISO was in it's infancy .... I'm the
same as you, not saying one way is better than another, they all have there
place and application. I stand over Daryl and his brothers Larry and Larry to be sure that they torque the nuts by hand and the nut moves to torque
before 'clicking'. Then when I drive/tow near 50 miles I find a spot to safely
pull off the road (generally home by then), then recheck the torque (no telling
how many times Daryl has tossed the wrench he uses into his toolbox), using my Tq. wrench. Then I can static check at 500 mi. .

In the end we are human beings and will migrate to what we know from past experiences and what we are comfortable with.
You with yours and I with mine ...

hankaye