Crank Pulley Bolt Torque Question

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If you can't find a proper capacity torque wrench to rent or borrow, you can make this easily happen with 3/4" breaker bar, a 5-foot pipe and a spring scale (you know, something that is used for weighing things by hanging the object to be weighed from the scale) that can pull to something around 60 pounds, min. Attach breaker to bolt, put pipe over breaker handle, hook the spring scale to the other end of the pipe and pull until the scale reads 60lbs (pulling the scale in a path as close possible to 90-degrees to the pipe handle).

5 feet * 60 lbs is right at 300ft/lbs, by definition.

Adjust the pipe length and pulling force to taste, but even my skinny arms can pull to 60 lbs!

(Plus, you can use the scale for other things like weighing that cool tarpon you catch on your next fishing trip)
 
Where I'm at:

Bought a torch. Time to heat things up a bit. Also have an impact wrench on the ready. That f-ing bolt's coming out one f-ing way or another.

Took out the radiator, and the condenser's next.

Accidentally pulled too hard on the condenser. Refrigerant exploded in my face.

We are all happy campers on this end.
 
I would NOT put a torch on that bolt or the harmonic balancer. You will burn out the rubber/plastic liner that makes it a harmonic balancer. Secondly, the bolt is a hardened bolt and you don' want to change the structure of the bolt with heat beacuse if you do it incorrectly, you may break it off instead.

Put a 14MM IMPACT 6 point DEEP WELL socket on the torque converter. I bought one specifically for this for about $6.
Get a 3/4" or 1" drive breaker bar and socket from Sears, Harbor Freight, or Cummins Tools, get a 48" piece of 1-1/2" Schedule 40 pipe from Home Depot, slide it over the end of the breaker bar, and break it loose! You will pull hard. Keep increasing your pull slowly because when it does pop, it is loud and fast and you have to stop the pull before you hit yourself in the head with your cheater pipe. Stand on the right side (PS-US) with your stomach / chest / knees up against the truck, get the pipe as close to straight up and down as possible, then start pulling. Use the force against the truck to increase your pull. Remember to keep one foot behind you so when it comes loose you can catch yourself.
 
I welded up a torque wrench extension :)

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Then calculated the specs using this page and only had to set my torque wrench to 118ft lbs.

Online Torque Wrench Extension

Some folks go the HF route and pick up their 300ft lb. Tq wrench, but the problem is that most torque wrenches (especially the cheap ones) tend to lose their calibration towards the end of their range :doh:

So even though it may be fine around mid range at 150ft. lbs, at 300ft lbs, it's probably way off :eek:

The HF Tq wrench dial actually cranks up to 320ft lbs.

One of my workers had one on hand and I used it first, clicking at the indicated 320ft lbs.

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Then I tried my extension and got a full 1/4 turn before clicking :meh:
 
Torque on fasteners in not all black and white. There are many of variables that affect final torque readings. I would have to bet that you could torque it on by "feel" on a breaker bar or with an impact if you were used to it.
 
Look at the accuracy specified on the torque wrench. I was looking at some Snap-On ones and was surprised to see that it was +/- 4% at full range. That means on a 300 Lb-Ft you could be getting anywhere from 288 to 312 Ft-Lb. That's quite a range. And for those that think my smaller wrench has a better accuracy, unfortunately, the accuracy multiplies through just like the change in torque setting. If you can cut the torque on the wrench by 1/3 (300 to 100), then the accuracy multiplies by the inverse. If it was 4%, it is now 12%.

I would be curious to see what the HF wrench carries for an accuracy.
 
You are also suppose to have calibrated from time to time.
I took my Craftsman torque wrench and check it against a used pawn shop Snap On torque wrench I bought and they were the same.
I then checked the new, only used a couple time China mail order 300+ ft/lbs torque wrench and all three were the same.

Using anti seize on a bolt or if the bolt is oily, will have a great affect on you not getting a proper torque setting. You will be over torquing if the treads are lubed when the spec says it should be set dry. I still use anti seize on most everything as I HATE rusted bolts. I should back off the torque a bit but I have no idea what a good formula is.
 
This is crazy, it makes me feel like I got off super easy on my crank bolt. I didn't f*&* about though, I went and ordered a 6 point 3/4 drive socket, grabbed the 3/4 breaker bar and 4 ft of pipe. Put an impact socket on the flywheel bolt and gave it the old what for. I remember being worried that this thing was going to come loose and throw me over the fender or smack me in the head. Other than the loud pop it makes it was pretty uneventful.
 
Here's what it ultimately took. Mind you, this is a '97' that never had the bolt pulled to my knowledge...

  • 2 days of work
  • Cheater bars, breaker bars, torque wrenches, nothing worked by hand
  • Broke x2 1/2" breaker bars, x3 drive adapters, and exploded open a 30 mm socket during multiple bump start attempts
  • Emptied the entire can of a propane torch plus one can of WD40 while hammering away with 300 ft lbs of torque using an electric impact wrench
  • Switched to a 700 ft lb pneumatic impact wrench... Two hrs later and 3 bump starts and the bolt finally came off
Oddly, the bolt looked like it was screwed in yesterday (i.e. It was clean) with something that looked like grey grease on it. We couldn't see any corrosion.

An unforgettable experience..........
 
The hardest bot to remove on my 80 was the front drive shaft flange bolts. I spend a long time hammering with an impact at over max psi.
Metal shaving were flying off the bolts. They finally broke free but had to replace all the bolts/nuts as they were well rounded from all the metal that was removed to get them free.
 
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