Check the torque on your bolts regularly!

Is this more likely to happen on an off-road bike? I'm not Marc Coma or Cyril Despres (in fact I'd propbably struggle in an amateur enduro event ), but that said I don't ride along looking at my front wheel either, and I often tackle rough surfaces by opening the throttle. Specialone will tell you that I don't crawl along. I expect the forks and 21" spoked front wheel to do what they were designed for, I don't give them an easy time. At an estimate 500-750 miles of that 2000 was on rough surfaces, that is the bikes raison d' etre.

Your forks etc are obviously gonna take more of a pounding but cope with that pounding better than a road bike.
Just a case of poor tyre fitting that's all IMO.

[mikerj]

Originally Posted by Dicky Ticker

I know certain people on here do not agree with me regarding using torque settings as defined by the manufacturers but they have there reasons for these settings as is becoming apparent by the examples that are being quoted

The examples quoted here aren't caused by torquing a fastener up slightly out of the manufacturers spec, it's caused idiots either not tightening a fastener at all, or hugely over tightening it. It's perfectly possible to torque most standard fasteners close enough to the required value without using a torque wrench if you have a reasonable level of skill and experience. If you don't then I agree a torque wrench should be used, and it should always be used on really critical fasteners e.g. head bolts.

I sorry I disagree yet again,crushed speedo drive on a front spindle probably cause by overtightening,secondly front spindle comming undone due to undertightening.
Both scenarios where +/- 5lbs could be enought to cause this. Industry standard would be about 45lbs so 40-50lbs by guestimate on a large nut or bolt head like a spindle is not a lot of pressure and for the DIY mechanic using a fair sized socket wrench or spanner very hard to get within the peramiters,especially if it has corrosion or burred threads.
We are all entitled to our own opinions

Originally Posted by mikerj

It's perfectly possible to torque most standard fasteners close enough to the required value without using a torque wrench if you have a reasonable level of skill and experience. If you don't then I agree a torque wrench should be used

I use a torque wrench on everything, and I always use exactly the spec the book says. This is because I believe I don't have the experience to get it right by hand, or to know if the value in the book should really be less or more.

Maybe if I owned a smaller torque wrench of similar length to the ratchets in my socket set and smaller range, I would perhaps learn what a certain torque value feels like over time, but I don't, my torque wrench is about 450mm long and has an operating range of 28 to 210nm. Most nuts need very little effort when you use something that long, especially if it only needs 30nm, and you don't learn how much pressure you would need to apply with a normal ratchet.

I wanted a wrench that size for the rear wheel spindle and for the wheel nuts on the car. Maybe a smaller wrench with an operating range up to 60 or 80mn for those kind of bolts can be on my birthday list.

[dirtydog]

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

I wanted a wrench that size for the rear wheel spindle and for the wheel nuts on the car. Maybe a smaller wrench with an operating range up to 60 or 80mn for those kind of bolts can be on my birthday list.

I've got 2 torque wrenches a long one like yours 450mm upto about 200nm and a 300mm that I bought from halfords a few years ago has a range of 8-62nm. I tend to use the shorter one the most. Plus it's a 3/8 inch drive so fits pretty much all my sockets.

[mikerj]

Originally Posted by Dicky Ticker

I sorry I disagree yet again,crushed speedo drive on a front spindle probably cause by overtightening,

If this is really the case (and I highly doubt it) the spindle would have had to be been torqued up to a ridiculous figure to crush the speedo drive. +5 lbft simply wouldn't have done this.

Originally Posted by Dicky Ticker

secondly front spindle comming undone due to undertightening.

Again. -5 ftlbs would NOT have caused this, you are showing a grave lack of experience if you truly believe this.

I've had bikes for the last 30+ years and I have not ever had a bolt loosen or snapped a bolt due to over or under tightening. Perhaps I am simply "lucky", but the evidence tends to suggest that experience and a good level of mechanical sympathy is vastly superior to the blind following of torque figures.

[mikerj]

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

I use a torque wrench on everything, and I always use exactly the spec the book says. This is because I believe I don't have the experience to get it right by hand, or to know if the value in the book should really be less or more.

Which is fine, and you will build the experience and skill to know what an appropriate torque value feels like for most fasteners. However, it's not unknown for an incorrect torque figure, or maybe even the wrong units to be printed in a manual, so even with use of a torque wrench it's good to have a feel of whether the value is in the right ball park.

Mikerj,If you have never had a bolt strip or break in 30+ years of fitting you are a better man than me.I have spent 40+ years working on all sorts of engines and know that corrosion,heat or stretching can make a bolt susceptible to breaking and steel bolts into aluminium are the worst when you do not know what has been done previously.
Yes,I will fit something and do it up without a torque wrench and be pretty near the setting but for the sake of checking it I was taught to err on the side of caution and do a torque check-----a spindle is a single nut so about 10 seconds.
Why do tyre fitters torque check wheel nuts as does a good mechanic on a service.They were probably all tight when initially put on but can slacken off Reason for the disclaimer when you have new tyres fitted.
The number of clutches,bearing caps or heads I have seen knackered due to not being pulled down or fitted properly beggars belief.
There is a lot of difference between somebody who does it for a living and somebody who does it as a DIY mechanic and if they don't have the professional skills they are less likely to damage something if they are doing it by the book and use the torque settings.Most of the people on here have a limited mechanical aptitude and it is they that I am trying to help not teach a time served mechanic how to do his job


It maybe better if I keep my advice to myself in future and just let people get on with it in their own ways,in the end dilligaf.

[timwilky]

DT knows my pedigree as I know his. I respect his view and mostly agree.

I hope I still retain a sympathy with fasteners. I always use a torque wrench where appropriate. However, I do not use it blindly. I combine it with feel, if I am not happy with the feel of a fastener before it has reach the appropriate torque, I back it off and investigate why. I would rather throw a nut/bolt in the bin than risk it stripping or fracturing.

The problem with tightening used fasteners is you never know what the previous spanner wielder has done. You would hope that when tightened the fastener was still within the elastic region of a stress/strain relationship as once beyond the yield point deformation is permanent.

Secondly, there is an issue with lubricated threads, the derived clamping force will be higher with a lubricated thread at a set torque and you could end up with deformation of whatever you were bolting up.