Torquing

[Spittybug]

I'm reassembling my front suspension now that I have new ball joints, have painted everything up nice and and made my weld repair to the lower control arm. I have my manual open and am making sure to torque everything to the right amount.

How do you torque a nut when you can't get a socket on it? :confused: Specifically, the upper and lower ball joint nuts. They both require 45 lbs, but neither one has clearance for a socket. I thought about a claw foot wrench, but those force angles won't be quite right compared to the gauge because of the offset. Is there another way?

Thanks.

[Spittybug]

Make that crow foot, not claw.....

[EdR5150]

I'm not familar with what you're working on, but when I didn't have clearance for my socket and torque wrench on my TAB bolt, I purchased and used a torque adapter:
11608
Be sure to use it at a 90 degree angle to your torque wrench, or your torque settings will be off.

[Ron]

+1
A crowfoot wrench will work the same way (use at 90°)...actually better as far as accuracy goes (they're shorter).

[Spittybug]

I went to HF and bought a set of crow feet. Must have been a many legged bird.... Will advise how they work.

[jawn101]

I went to HF and bought a set of crow feet. Must have been a many legged bird.... Will advise how they work.

That's a Harbor Freight crow for ya... it had to find SOME way to be defective :)

Good luck!

[Spittybug]

Front suspensions are a royal pain in the ass. Between the compression of springs, angles of shocks, ball joints spinning and nuts on the two control arms that are freakin hard to torque, even with the lift I'm sore! Oddball nut sizes too, find myself using both SAE and metrics to get it done.

I need to get the other side done and then do some driving to see if I've got sufficient clearance between the nose of the LCA and the brake dust plate. My wrap around strip I welded on may extend it a hair too long. If so, I ought to be able to slip a grinding wheel in there and blunt it a bit...so much for the nice paint job. Wonderful clearances down there.

[Spittybug]

In case anyone gives a rat's a$$, I just discovered that the front sway bar will mount upside down if you are so stupid as to do it.............. I guess my first clue was that the steering tie rods were just barely above the bar. Both the book and DMCH's parts diagram show the first bend (closest to LCA) to be downwards, NOT upwards. Ok, back to work.

I wonder how many cars might have it wrong since it fits????????????????

[EdR5150]

In case anyone gives a rat's a$$, I just discovered that the front sway bar will mount upside down if you are so stupid as to do it

First time I took it off, it didn't look right when I went to re-attach it to the crumple tube. Oh, it's upside down!

Two years later, took it off, new poly bushings, painted the bar, bolted in the LCAs, went to bolt it to the crumple tube, and it didn't look right... Damnit, I did it again! Unbolt the LCAs....

[Nicholas R]

I hope I'm not pointing out the obvious when I say that a torque wrench is only accurate about the socket location. If you put a crows foot or especially a crows foot wrenth on the end the mechanical advantage is difference. It's hard to screw up ball joints though as long as they're pretty tight and have the cotter pins in the right place.

[Ron]

I hope I'm not pointing out the obvious when I say that a torque wrench is only accurate about the socket location. If you put a crows foot or especially a crows foot wrenth on the end the mechanical advantage is difference. It's hard to screw up ball joints though as long as they're pretty tight and have the cotter pins in the right place.
Short reply-
Yes, except when used with the jaws at 90° -- The change in the distance from the handle to the nut is insignificant.

Long reply-
Consider the conversion supplied with common torque extensions:
E = Effective length of extension - measured along the centerline of the torque wrench.
L = Lever length of the wrench - center of grip to center of drive.
T(W) = Torque set on the wrench.
T(E) = Torque applied by the extension to the fastener.

T(E) = T(W) x (L+E)/L
T(W) = T(E) x L/L+E

Compare:
L = 10"
E = 2" (common torque extension at 0°)
T(W) = 40 ft/lbs
We have T(E) = 40 x (10 + 2)/10 = 48

Compare:
L = 10"
E = 0" (no extension used)
T(W) = 40 ft/lbs
We have T(E) = 40 x (10 + 0)/10 = 40

Compare:
L = 10"
E = 0" (common torque extension at 90°)
T(W) = 40 ft/lbs
We have T(E) = 40 x (10 + 2)/10 = 40*
* Note:
L/L+E represents the distance from the handle to the nut (mechanical advantage).
And since the extension is at 90°, we can use the Pythagorean Theorem to get the exact distance,
√ (10^2 + 2^2) = 10.1980390272
And then the exact effective torque,
T(E) = 40 x 10.1980390272/10 = 40.7921561087
Which is within ~1%, which is probably more accurate than your torque wrench is claimed to be, and, why at 90° they simply say the difference is insignificant.
As I said earlier, a standard crowsfoot is shorter and therefore results with even better accuracy.

(Yes, I'm bored, and yes, there will be a test tomorrow ;-)

[Spittybug]

Looks like Ron needs more to do. :jk:

The only nut that I really couldn't torque properly was the upper control arm's ball joint. The back nut on the steering knuckle gets in the way. I could only get a 1/6 or so turn on it with a wrench before re-positioning again, so I just kept at it. Keeping an eye for the cotter pin hole to reveal itself, as soon as a pin would go through the torquing was getting pretty tight, so I called it even and stuck the pin through. All others are torqued per spec.

Now trying to figure out why I can't bleed the damned brakes with that new vacuum bleeder from HF............... I bled out the old, filled the reservoir with new and starting with RR wheel, can seem to get any fluid to come out. Yes, I've bled plenty before. Here's a dumb question, why are the front bleeders 10mm and the rear ones 3/8" ???

[Ron]

Please continue Vacuum Bleeder discussion HERE. (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?4503-Vacuum-Bleeder-discussion***Split-from-Torquing-thread***)

[IamDMC]

Hey I saw the post on how to calculate torque when using crows feet or extenders.

I ran across this android app that you can use to easily calculate proper torque wrench setting when using an extender or crow's foot adapter.

Though it might help someone out.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dan.droid&feature=search_result#?t=W10.