MIKE_J2@SFOV1.VERIFONE.COM wrote:
>Please define "whacked on fairly tightly".
*Really* tightly. If you can strip the knockoff threads, you'd probably
be too big to be comfortable in an MG. That or you oughta be carrying a
chunk of kryptonite around with you.
>Is this convertible into a torque value?
Should I mention torque hammers again? Caught a bit of flak over that
the first time. Check the hardware department in Sears next to the
metric and adjustable hammers. ;)
>Side question, I've seen in a few catalogs a longer knockoff octogon
>wrench. If I got one of those long wrenchs would I still need a hammer to
>install or remove my knockoffs?
I've got one of those, and I love it! Lets you put a considerable
amount of torque on the knockoffs without a hammer. Shoot, the knockoffs
I put on *with* the hammer spun right off with the monster wrench. Only
hitch is that the handle still has some rather sharp edges on it which may
tend to cut into fleshy hands at the forces required, but I just wrap a
rag around the handle first.
The final torquing with the monster wrench seems to go best with the wheel
on the ground, pulling up on the handle. Just like dead weight lifting,
do it all with the legs. I've never felt comfortable bashing away with
a hammer while the wheel's on the ground. I've heard that repeated high
impacts like that may tend to distort or weaken the spokes, not to mention
you run the risk of an ill-placed blow directly distorting spokes or
personaly body parts. The monster wrench obviates the need for those
impacts, making the torque to the wheels go just as it would in driving or
braking. Also, with the dead-lift technique, you'll actually lift the
wheel (and car) *off* the ground slightly so the wheel will start rotate
as you torque. Figure if i'm applying enough force to lift a car, I can
feel confident that the nut's on tight enough, plus it makes it even more
impossible to overtorque the knockoffs.
And it's absolutely silent, aside from your own grunts and groans. Never
draw perplexed stares from others who are wondering what the wheel could
have done that angered you so much that you'd be clobbering it with a
three-pound sledge.
--
Jay Tilton | jtilton@vt.edu
|