Another NT 5 x 8 question - lug nut torque

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Another NT 5 x 8 question - lug nut torque

Postby QueticoBill » Sun Jul 16, 2017 9:54 am

I have an inexpensive needle style torque wrench and have be tightening in the every other pattern for a while and barely get to 70 ft pounds. Manual says 85-90. Should I just keep cranking? I've changed a flat on my car and now I'm sure I must not have torqued them enough.
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Re: Another NT 5 x 8 question - lug nut torque

Postby mcubberley » Sun Jul 16, 2017 11:18 am

QueticoBill wrote:I have an inexpensive needle style torque wrench and have be tightening in the every other pattern for a while and barely get to 70 ft pounds. Manual says 85-90. Should I just keep cranking? I've changed a flat on my car and now I'm sure I must not have torqued them enough.


Have you considered torque to what you can get and then go to a mom and pop garage and ask to have them torqued to spec? It has to be done after 50 miles any ways. Just a thought.
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Re: Another NT 5 x 8 question - lug nut torque

Postby QueticoBill » Sun Jul 16, 2017 11:33 am

I have thought about taking it to a shop.
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Re: Another NT 5 x 8 question - lug nut torque

Postby KCStudly » Thu Oct 12, 2017 11:00 am

Here's another method you can use if you don't have a big enough torque wrench, but do have a big enough breaker bar.

Measure, in inches, the length of the breaker bar from the center of the socket to the center of where your hand will be; divide by 12. This is the lever arm in feet; for example, my breaker bar measures 16 inches long to the center of the handle, so it is 1.33 ft long.

Divide your desired torque value by the length of you bar. So in my example, if we are looking for a final torque of 80 lbs-ft, then we would want to apply only about 60 lbs force to the handle of the bar (80 lbs-ft / 1.33 ft = 60.15 lbs).

Now get your bathroom scale, put it in front of your wheel and weigh yourself. Set the breaker bar up so the handle is parallel to the ground and so that you will be pushing down to tighten. While standing on the scale push down until the scale reads 60 lbs less than your measured weight. This can be surprisingly accurate so long as you keep the bar more or less parallel to the ground and are able to stay on the scale. If you have to kneel on the scale in order to bend over enough to handle the wrench, then you have to be mindful of the reaction you create and whether you are putting any of the force to the ground through your toes; it might be better to stand on the scale with one foot and press down on the bar with your other foot, just be careful not to fall over and get hurt (disclaimer).

I used this method to good effect when tightening pinion and axle nuts on my Jeep. Those nuts require 175 lbs-ft and I didn’t have a torque wrench that went that high, but still wanted to know that I was getting the right torque.
Last edited by KCStudly on Tue Oct 17, 2017 2:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Another NT 5 x 8 question - lug nut torque

Postby aggie79 » Fri Oct 13, 2017 7:18 am

Awesome shop tip, KC!
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Re: Another NT 5 x 8 question - lug nut torque

Postby Dale M. » Fri Oct 13, 2017 9:27 am

Get or make or have made a torque wrench extension (A in graphic).... IF you double the length of torque wrench (L), you can apply more torque, the catch here is the actual reading of wrench will be half the applied torque...

IF your torque wrench is 20 inches long (L) and you make extension (A) 20 inches long 50ft-lbs applied at wrench is 100ft-lbs applied to lug nuts (or what ever)...

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An example...
http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=126118

Another way to go (but probably more expensive) is a "torque multiplier"....

http://lmgtfy.com/?t=i&q=torque+multiplier

I picked up a 4:1 torque multiplier at a yard sale and it effectively makes my 150ft-lb torque wrench a 600 ft-lb torque wrench... So 23ft-lbs applied at torque wrench effectively applies 93ft-lbs at lug nut (torque range for NT trailer) ...

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