Air tools :-)

There you go Lee me old

Just restricts the air supply so it's not as savage on smaller stuff, if you're using it on stubborn wheel nuts then wind it out a full turn, you'll notice the difference immediately.

Martin

ISTR mention of air driven impact wrenches and adjustable torque settings. Important not to over-torque the wheel nuts on a RR - see the folding wrench in the tool kit.

Richard

Cheers,

Yep, I've no intention of using them for the final twitch so to speak. Quite clinical here when it comes to nuts and alloys.

Lee D

A set of these might be in order then Lee.

On or around Tue, 19 Feb 2008 22:32:08 -0000, "Lee_D" enlightened us thusly:

torque, but only relatively crudely, unless it's a very good one. Don't rely on putting it on #1 to stop it stripping small threads, for example. and unless it's rated very high, you want maximum setting for wheelnuts.

On or around Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:21:44 +1300, EMB enlightened us thusly:

hmmm. My experience of Laser tools is that they're cheap and low-spec. It's quite possible that they do decent stuff which I've not come across though.

You can also get special thing springy extension bars which limit the torque from the rattlegun.

I bow to your superior knowledge of the UK tool market Austin, they were just what a google search for something actually available in the UK turned up.

Of which I have a set, and bloody good they are too.

Cheers EMB. I didn't know such things existed or the springy things either. I'm guessing the springy things are expensive but will browse on :-)

Lee D

"Austin Shackles" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Beware of over tightening wheel nuts with an impact wrench. After one of our trucks lost a wheel, the management ruled that wheel nuts must be checked weekly. After a few weeks it was found that this stretched the wheel studs producing a waisted effect and you ended up with a tight wheel nut on the broken wheel stud and still losing a wheel. Alan

once the nuts are correctly nipped up we put markers on them.Obviates the necessity for anything other than a visual inspection

But the impact wrench that Lee is using is most likely an 1/2" drive, whereas you are probably using a 3/4" or 1" drive, a much bigger wrench, and coupled with the modern all RH thread spigot mounted CV types which have a much finer thread, consequently a lot less effort or torque is required to tighten them and also possibly stretch the studs. You will never overtighten the wheel nuts on a Landrover with most of the 1/2" drive variety of impact wrench, and certainly not stretch the studs.

Martin

In message , Oily writes

Whether the tool is capable of overtightening or not is a function of the tool, the compressor and the nuts you're tightening. My 1/2" impact wrench certainly would tighten way beyond the recommended torque.

Inferring that it is reasonable use of an impact wrench in the same paragraph as stating that less torque is required to overtighten modern nuts is somewhat contradictory and probably foolhardy to say the least.

Spin them on but nip up to torque by hand.

Read it again. That's not what I said.

Absolutely, s'wat I do.

Martin

You must have strong fingers.

On or around Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:43:29 +0000, AJG enlightened us thusly:

don't know about the modern ones, but the older discos on alloys have sod-off nuts which are not tapers, they have a flange and a washer. I doubt there's much risk of overtightening them with an el-cheapo rattlgun - the el-cheapo I had wouldn't loosen the buggers if they were tight... I've not studied the modern RR/Disco nuts and studs that closely.

My informal testing showed that the average el-cheapo rattlegun wouldn't tighten a nut to much over 180lbft. However my CP and Snap-On rattleguns perform very close to their specifications of 500 and 450lbft respectively.

The Snap-On and CP both feature a higher reverse torque so they will undo things they have tightened, the el-cheapo didn't even appear capable of this.

In message , Oily writes

Apologies - your paragraph has two meanings of which you obviously meant one and I read the other.

No probs mate :-)

Martin