Torquing

We decided that we would like to invest in a torque wrench instead of needing to find someone to re-torque our lug nuts. I found some on ebay that were acceptable in cost, checked with master mechanic Jimmy, on his recommendation, and ordered one.

It came a few days ago...

Dwayne takes a look at it...

He thinks it looks good!

It looks like he is about to throw it like a javelin!

Miss Doozie's lug nuts need to be torqued to between 450-500 foot pounds. This is a lot more than passenger vehicles.The long length of the wrench gives us leverage to be able to achieve this degree of torque.

We had to then get the appropriate socket and a couple of extensions to reach into the wheel well. We were able to get the 1.5" socket at Tractor Supply, but we ordered the extensions and the 13/16" socket that we would eventually need to tighten the lugs on the inner duals from Amazon.

Our order arrived on Saturday, and we set about to see if we could successfully use the torque wrench...

Dwayne preparing to put the socket with the extensions on it onto the lug nut on the tag axle wheel.

It is on! and the extensions extend it out far enough for us to use the wrench. We found that it was much easier to use it if we had the bar of the wrench about parallel to the ground and were pushing down on it. Each of us were able to push it hard enough (almost bouncing our full weight against the long handle of the wrench) to achieve the "click" that indicated that we had achieved the desired torque on the nut.

So, we have a new skill! There is a different procedure to use to re-torque the inner duals... I think we are going to wait until we are in Virginia and get personalized instruction before we try doing that!