Torque yer screws?

[Simon Davey]

Do you torque, or do you do "tight enough" for the small stuff, and 'kin tight for the big stuff. 

Have to confess, I've always been an advocate of the above but, I've recently stripped my front brake calipers and fitted new seals, polished the pliers marks left by the previous "mechanic", fitted new pads etc. 

 

Manual says to use non permanent thread lock and torque to 25nm etc. 

I don't have a small enough torque bar, or thread lock, so I did the main bolts, 'kin tight. 

 

Now though, I'm thinking, bike with me on is >350kg, along with the the possibilities of having to anchor up at high speeds, maybe I should nip off to Halfords and get the thread lock and torque bar. I get £25 off using my trade card. 

 

[smallfrowne]

Yeah I would. Of course you can do it by feel once you've calibrated yourself but f**k it, it's not a lot of money compared to say getting a dealer to do it for you, or having a bit of a roadside moment. And proper tools are just nice and you can parade around with your chin up all smug forever more with that fuzzy glow. 

 

Edit: over the years I have acquired all 3 sizes of Halfords brand (Norbar) torque wrenches, the last of which is the ickle tiny one for pathetic screws, but I managed to get it as a quite-rare-these-days misspelled eBay listing bargain. And it's quite satisfying. 

Edited May 8, 2024 by smallfrowne
Smugness

[Gerontious]

Dry and critical - use a torque wrench. This is one of those occasions where I get to use one of my favourite expressions “buy once - cry once”. Which is the lesser evil? a one off preventative expense or the eternal risk of overdoing it and stripping a thread - with all the hassle that goes with that. Or worse - underdoing it and having that as a constant concern “did I do it right?” Or worse the possibility of some sort of failure.

 

[Simon Davey]

Thanks guys, these were my thoughts too, I'll pop along there this afternoon.

 

I just had a most horrible thought, maybe I'm growing up 

[husoi]

Delboy garage yt channel explain how to best tighten screws and bolts without a torque wrench.

 

Personally I do the bolts and screws where I use a wrench by putting the hand over the axle instead of the end of the handle.

I would use the torque for critical places like engine or more delicate stuff like a water pump which will be attached to the engine block.

If you believe that there is a risk the bolt or screw comes undone then I would advise thread lock instead of orangutan on steroids methods

[RideWithStyles]

yep  torque

Edited May 14, 2024 by RideWithStyles

[Tinkicker]

Often don't get a choice in the day job.  Torque drive or bust.  Scary stuff torquing a drive nut down to 22,500 nm with an hydraulic torque driver doing around 0.5rpm with all the creaking and groaning going on.

 

The flight response is very much to the forefront of the mind. 

 

Engine stuff is relatively delicate and torque wrench used.

 

Stuff like axles, big air wrenches.

 

Edited May 8, 2024 by Tinkicker

[Simon Davey]

1 hour ago, husoi said:

 I would advise thread lock instead of orangutan on steroids methods

Knows me so well

[Simon Davey]

Thank you for your input good people 

[Fiddlesticks]

One note of caution: I have managed to strip a thread while torquing to the correct specification. The stupid thing is, I knew it was going, but carried on, because "it wasn't torqued up right yet". Something else Delboys Garage taught me - tiny bits of grit in the threads can cause stresses and cracks, to the point where old bolts can "go". I bought a wire wheel for the grinder after this (shutting barn door after the proverbial horse has bolted) and all bolts now get a good clean before going back on the bike.

[Nick the wanderer]

Yeah I'm a torquer, 1/2" on bigger stuff and 3/8" on the smaller stuff.

I have become more cautious with the given torque values though, they are not always correct. The sump plug on the Yamaha CP2 engine for example.

[Simon Davey]

I've returned from Halfords with my new torque wrench and some thread lock.

I'll give everything a little undo, and then torque up.

Tomorrow night, I might actually get to ride out for an hour or two.

Then the next job is tank off to change the air filter and remove my Oxford heated grips (I don't use them, and that bloody cable on each grip just drives me nuts), and also oil and oil filter change.

 

Thanks all.

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

For delicate stuff I have a Halfords pro torque wrench that goes down to very low numbers. It's handy for stuff I don't want risk overtightening, like camshaft journals which can be literally just nipped up and nothing more.

 

Handy bit of kit to have. 

[Simon Davey]

27 minutes ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

For delicate stuff I have a Halfords pro torque wrench that goes down to very low numbers. It's handy for stuff I don't want risk overtightening, like camshaft journals which can be literally just nipped up and nothing more.

 

Handy bit of kit to have. 

 

Well I torqued the caliper assembly bolts to 21, and the mounting (to the forks} bolts to 25.all with threadlock.

Didn't seem right at all, I just have to tell myself that the torque wrench has far great leverage than the Allen tools I used. 

I only just managed to get them undone from my previous gorilla tightening. 

 

What do you call delicate? 

My new 3/8 wrench goes down to 12 N-m, which seems like a tickle. 

Edited May 9, 2024 by Simon Davey

[RideWithStyles]

correct.

 

Edited May 14, 2024 by RideWithStyles

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

37 minutes ago, Simon Davey said:

 

Well I torqued the caliper assembly bolts to 21, and the mounting (to the forks} bolts to 25.all with threadlock.

Didn't seem right at all, I just have to tell myself that the torque wrench has far great leverage than the Allen tools I used. 

I only just managed to get them undone from my previous gorilla tightening. 

 

What do you call delicate? 

My new 3/8 wrench goes down to 12 N-m, which seems like a tickle. 

Some camshaft journal bolts are 8Nm - which is scary.

[Stu]

13 hours ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

Some camshaft journal bolts are 8Nm - which is scary.

I have some down as low as 6! which is about hand tight without trying