Torque wrench

[Essexeddie]

Just checked out my old torque wrench as I bought it second hand in 1963 and thought I better check it, low and behold it was miles out.
I clamped it to the work bench, filled two barrels with water to the weight of 83lb [useing bathroom scales] I then tied them together then in turn tied them to the end of the wrench [1ft to the end] and had to adjust the wrench up to 150lb to take the weight of the barrels.
Which is a long way out. Glad I checked it.
If it wasn't for the fact that I removed the wheels to have the Tyron Bands fitted I wouldn't have known. Makes me wonder how many other's are out of calibration, and could be the reason why wheels come off.

.

 

[MikeyW]

Why do you have to have the wheels removed to use your torque wrench? My torque wrench is used on the caravan wheels every time I hitch up regardless whether they have been removed or not. Maybe people NOT checking their wheels is the reason they have been coming off, calibrated torque wrench or not.

Mike

 

[Lutz]

Just out of interest, do you check the torque of the wheels on the car at the same time as you do the caravan? If not, why do you feel the need to check the caravan wheels so frequently? Surely, something is seriously wrong if the wheel nuts are continually losing their torque.

 

[Surfer]

Why do you have to have the wheels removed to use your torque wrench? My torque wrench is used on the caravan wheels every time I hitch up regardless whether they have been removed or not. Maybe people NOT checking their wheels is the reason they have been coming off, calibrated torque wrench or not. Mike

As per Lutz why do you feel the necessity to check the torque on your caravan wheels befopre each outing. If they are consistently coming loose then there must be an inherent fault. Due to arthritis I cannot check my wheels anyway so where does that leave me and others like me who have disabilities and are unable to use a torque wrench? Are `we being forced to give up using trhe caravan just to be safe?

 

[Essexeddie]

Once its all torqued up I shall paint a small marker on each nut, so to keep an eye on it.
Been vanning for over ten years and never checked the wheel nuts. Dont check the car so why the van?

Incidently MickyW, do you wear belt and braces?

 

[Mel]

Just checked out my old torque wrench as I bought it second hand in 1963 and thought I better check it, low and behold it was miles out.
I clamped it to the work bench, filled two barrels with water to the weight of 83lb [useing bathroom scales] I then tied them together then in turn tied them to the end of the wrench [1ft to the end] and had to adjust the wrench up to 150lb to take the weight of the barrels.
Which is a long way out. Glad I checked it.
If it wasn't for the fact that I removed the wheels to have the Tyron Bands fitted I wouldn't have known. Makes me wonder how many other's are out of calibration, and could be the reason why wheels come off.

.

Two thoughts Eddie.
1. Be fair, the torque wrench is about 50 years old, is it that surprising that it had gone a bit saggy?

2. Very inventive with the rope, water and all that but do you think that you have just a bit too much time on your hands?
all the best
mel

 

[MikeyW]

I check the wheels on the caravan as per owners manual. I have never found a loose one yet but I will continue to check, rightly or wrongly. I have made it part of my hitching up routine along with tyre pressures etc.., after all it only takes a couple of minutes. Yes I probably am being over cautious in some peoples eyes, belt and braces and all that but that is how I am, my wife reminds me often enough, anyway each to their own.

Mike

 

[Steve L]

Just out of interest, Aldi are doing a torque wrench that's good value and CE compliant.
I always use an extendable wheel spanner to undo the wheel nuts and then use the torque wrench ti tighten the wheel nuts/bolts.
Currently I do check mine every journey but then we only move the van twice a year.
When we toured, I checked the nuts once a month while the van was at home. I don't believe in carrying un-necessary "toys" while touring. I leave my A frame mounted mover at home and also it's tractor battery.
The paint spot tip is a jolly good idea and you could use tipex typist correction fluid to the same affect.

 

[ProfJohnL]

The paint tip may seem a good idea at first, but when you regularly check the torque of your bolts/nuts, the latest designs are designed to have a certain amount of give, which over time and several rounds of checking the paint mark may not line up properly, and lead to confusion,

 

[DerektheSecond]

ehh, unless the nut moves the torque will be the same 20lbs per square foot 10 years ago is the same 20 lb per square foot this year

 

[Lutz]

Due to plastic deformation of the thread or contacting surfaces under load, the joint could still lose necessary preload and hence also torque, even if the nut doesn't rotate. Marking the nut with paint is therefore no guarantee that it is still tight.

 

[kenf]

not knocking yous guys but can yous not check/tighten wheel nuts without a torque wrench ? seems a bit over kill to me !!! (sorry but i have never seen anybody check wheel nuts with a torque wrench in my life ) buy a good spider/extending wrench and common sence should kick in to tell you its tight !!! (excuse me for being blunt)
thanks ken

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

not knocking yous guys but can yous not check/tighten wheel nuts without a torque wrench ? seems a bit over kill to me !!! (sorry but i have never seen anybody check wheel nuts with a torque wrench in my life ) buy a good spider/extending wrench and common sence should kick in to tell you its tight !!! (excuse me for being blunt)
thanks ken

kenf, be as blunt as you like my friend (within certain parameters!!) as that is what forums are for however be aware that over the last few years or so every single part of caravanning is or has been covered by some sort of legistlation or practical dictat so many of the old usual customs no longer apply "ignore them at your peril" not so long ago your right no-one ever used a torque wrench on wheels ect, remember the old air driver all tyre fitters use to tighten up the wheels with great until you had to change the wheel after a puncture in the middle of the night with the rain pouring down, attempting to loosen the nuts with the joke piece of bent wire put into cars as a wheel brace!!. that is why all tyre fitters now use one after fitting the wheels "OR SHOULD DO" it's best practice.
my brother who was a brilliant engineer never used one when servicing his car, and never had a problem he could feel the torque in his fingers, illustrated by once refitting the cylinder head of my car with a ring spanner during a overhaul when I asked what the correct torque was he laughed and said 40lb per ft, recheck them if you like I did? every bolt was spot on!! god knows how he did it but the point is who has the expertees to know for sure certainly not me? so I use the wrench every time as required to me thats common sense and best practice.
colin

 

[kenf]

not knocking yous guys but can yous not check/tighten wheel nuts without a torque wrench ? seems a bit over kill to me !!! (sorry but i have never seen anybody check wheel nuts with a torque wrench in my life ) buy a good spider/extending wrench and common sence should kick in to tell you its tight !!! (excuse me for being blunt)
thanks ken

kenf, be as blunt as you like my friend (within certain parameters!!) as that is what forums are for however be aware that over the last few years or so every single part of caravanning is or has been covered by some sort of legistlation or practical dictat so many of the old usual customs no longer apply "ignore them at your peril" not so long ago your right no-one ever used a torque wrench on wheels ect, remember the old air driver all tyre fitters use to tighten up the wheels with great until you had to change the wheel after a puncture in the middle of the night with the rain pouring down, attempting to loosen the nuts with the joke piece of bent wire put into cars as a wheel brace!!. that is why all tyre fitters now use one after fitting the wheels "OR SHOULD DO" it's best practice.
my brother who was a brilliant engineer never used one when servicing his car, and never had a problem he could feel the torque in his fingers, illustrated by once refitting the cylinder head of my car with a ring spanner during a overhaul when I asked what the correct torque was he laughed and said 40lb per ft, recheck them if you like I did? every bolt was spot on!! god knows how he did it but the point is who has the expertees to know for sure certainly not me? so I use the wrench every time as required to me thats common sense and best practice.
colin

think your brother has common sence !!!! again i appoligse but i think if you cant tell if your nut arn't tight you are buggered !! granted i've seen women trying to loosen wheel nuts and were beat . (not having a go at the women on this site but its a known fact that men are the stronger sex ) go ahead use a torque wrench !!!! i only use mine when torqing head bolts !!(i wouldent guess them )

 

[SirRogerFFS]

I wonder how many times you tighten a wheel nut without a torque spanner.
Now if you are some beefy sort of guy you will tighten them alot tighter than an eight stone weakling so I ask are your wheel nuts under torqued if so not good .
Are you wheel nuts over torqued ... not good as this is where you dont tighten the nut or stud you strtch the bolt and that will only happen so many times before the stud breaks .
Sorry guys ...I would always use a torque spanner
Sir Roger

 

[kenf]

I wonder how many times you tighten a wheel nut without a torque spanner.
Now if you are some beefy sort of guy you will tighten them alot tighter than an eight stone weakling so I ask are your wheel nuts under torqued if so not good .
Are you wheel nuts over torqued ... not good as this is where you dont tighten the nut or stud you strtch the bolt and that will only happen so many times before the stud breaks .
Sorry guys ...I would always use a torque spanner
Sir Roger

your right in what your saying ,that if your not confatent in tightening them by hand use a torque wrench !!! i just have never seen it done before ,thats all !!!! mybe i have more experiance etc , you say about being weak/strong ? no thats not the way i would usley find tightening wheel studs ?????? its usly done by feel , its hard to explain but the wheel brace will turn so far and then you give it one last wee jerk to make sure they are tight !! mybe yous think i'm mad but thats the way i've always done it ,
i supose the lesson here is ,, if you want to be 100% use a torque wrench !!!
btw (cant remember your username first poster on this topic/testing old torque wrench)
but i wouldent trust your testing method of a torque wrench !!!!! it has to many if's in your method ???? jars of water ??? you might get the weight ratio but thats not right !!!! i cant explain it any more but if you want to test a wrench there is only one way to do it !!!!!!!!!! use a good one to torque a bolt to a set lbs and then use your old one to see how far out it is !!!

 

[Dustydog]

On a previous post two years ago I explained how I lost a wheel off the car. My fault because I hadn't rechecked the torques after having new tyres fitted. The torque wrench lives in the car boot and both car and caravan wheel nuts get checked before most journeys.

Once bitten twice shy.
Also see page 79 of the October 2011 Caravan Club Magazine regarding Bailey wheels.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I think that some of the replies on this thread have been looking at the past with somewhat rosy spectacles.

There was a time when most of the jobbing industry simply relied on the 'expertise' of the engineer or technician to make sure things were assembled correctly. This included tightening of head bolts and wheel nuts, and indeed all other fixings often with out the assurance of a calibrated torque wench.

Now compare the relative reliability of say cars from the 1960's and from today. How many "Friday" cars rolled of the production line and quite quickly rolled back into the repair shops because of basic failures, such a head gaskets and other faults that might be the result of slip shod assembly.

These days cars and most other mass produced mechanical assemblies
are far more reliable than those of 50 years ago. One of the factors is the attention to detail in both the design and production, that utilises many more checks and balances, such as torque wrenches and other gauges.

If a tyre depot failed to use a calibrated torque wrench or driver, they are leaving themselves open to prosecution under sale of goods act for failing to provide a service that is fit for use, and there could be health and safety implications because of teh safety critical nature of wheel security.

No human can match the consistency of a properly adjusted tool, and where loads are critical then I know which I would trust my life to.

 

[otherclive]

I regularly re-torque the wheels but must admit that not being alloys I do tend to get through a number of wheel trims. When I had van's with four wheel bolts you could buy a pair of plastic keeps where each one fitted over two of the wheel nuts. While they would not prevent the bolt tourque relaxing they at least retained the wheel nuts.