217 ft-lbs on spindle nut?

[awmccready]

My rebuilt driveaxles for my 97 camry le, 4 cyl, auto trans, ABS require 217 ft-lbs. The description of the driveaxles says this and my Haynes manual does too. However, my torque wrench only goes to 150 ft-lbs. I called several local auto parts stores and their wrenches only go to 150 ft-lbs. Sears has some, but the cheapest is $99 + tax and shipping.

Since a lot of people appear to be installing rebuilt driveaxles on their camries, what are they doing about this?

It's hard to imagine most people buying a 250 ft-lb torque wrench, but I am leery about the spindle nut.

Should I just torque it to 150 ft-lbs, then put my breaker bar on it and give it as much additional force as I can? Should I whack it with a hammer a few times as well?

How long a breaker bar would I need to get that much torque? My existing bar is only 17.5". However, my 150 ft-lb torque wrench is only 19.5", although I won't whack it with a hammer.

Any advice, including educated guesses will be appreciated.

[Hajoca]

OK ft lbs is the 'effect' you want, 217 of them.

How much do you weigh?? divide 217 by your weight and you will get the # of ft away from the nut that you need to push on the breaker bar (with a pipe ofcourse). Take that # of feet and multiply by 12 and you will get inches the length needed.

so if you weigh 217 lbs , for example, you push down on the breaker bar about 1 foot away from the spindle nut's cneter, and you ought to have put on 217 ftlb of torque.

OR you take one pound and a 217 foot pipe and put it on the ned of a breaker bar and let that tighten the spindle nut.

Just to be more realistic.... take your breaker bar which is about 1.5 ft and tighten a wheel lug by hanging a 10 lb weight on it (you will have about 15ftls) and then losen it with your torque wrench...just to verify the above method works.

[mobes]

The spindle nut torque isn't something you want to be very far off on. It determines the preload on the wheel bearings, so if you're off by much you risk premature bearing failure. If I were you, I'd rent one from an auto parts store. Most will rent tools for free w/ deposit.

[Meisner]

What I did was to go to a local Toyota dealer and ask really, really nicely if they could just torque them for me. I am going to purchase the one from Sears for this very reason.

As mobes mentioned, it is very important to get this nut torqued properly.

Steve

[awmccready]

Thanks for the feedback.

The torque wrench at Sears is item 00944597000. I found it at Sears.com. It has a 1/2 in drive. I believe there was a $10.00 discount at checkout. There was also a rebate coupon for shipping. You can also buy online and pick up at a local Sears store. I presume you don't have to pay for shipping in that case, but I don't know for sure.

[ArmyofOne]

217 ft lbs sounds right, my ford contours was 210. so yeah...just give it hell man.

[awmccready]

Originally Posted by Hajoca

OK ft lbs is the 'effect' you want, 217 of them.

How much do you weigh?? divide 217 by your weight and you will get the # of ft away from the nut that you need to push on the breaker bar (with a pipe ofcourse). Take that # of feet and multiply by 12 and you will get inches the length needed.

so if you weigh 217 lbs , for example, you push down on the breaker bar about 1 foot away from the spindle nut's cneter, and you ought to have put on 217 ftlb of torque.

OR you take one pound and a 217 foot pipe and put it on the ned of a breaker bar and let that tighten the spindle nut.

Just to be more realistic.... take your breaker bar which is about 1.5 ft and tighten a wheel lug by hanging a 10 lb weight on it (you will have about 15ftls) and then losen it with your torque wrench...just to verify the above method works.

Hajoca,

Thanks. I used your method.

That is, I first used a simple MS Excel spreadsheet to calculate how much length I needed on my breaker bar to develop 217, 150, 100 and 50 ft-lbs, based on my weight and the ft-lbs formula, assuming a linear (straight-line) relationship.

I wrapped masking tape around the corresponding lengths on my breaker bar. I centered my foot on those lengths and applied my full weight. After tightening the spindle nut this way for a given ft-lbs, I tested the result with my 150 ft-lb max torque wrench. The 50 ft-lb result was probably not accurate because the shaft length was too short. The 100 ft-lb was closer, but still off. However, at 150 ft-lbs, when my 150 ft-lb torque wrench hit 150 ft-lb, the spindle nut came loose. (Obviously, I had no way of testing a 217 ft-lb length, since I don't have access to a 250 ft-lb max torque wrench.) As a result, I used the 217 ft-lb length on the breaker bar to set the final torque on the spindle nut, after I installed the remanufactured passenger driveaxle.

I am not finished with the driver's side, but plan to do the same thing there.

Incidentally, when I removed the passenger side spindle nut, it took the 19.5" (half inch drive) breaker bar with a two foot length of pipe ($6 from a local hardware store) that fit snuggly over the breaker bar to remove the spindle nut. I also purchased a 30 mm driveaxle deep socket from Pepboys for $11.99. However, using this combination was a breeze. Strangely, when I removed the driver's side spindle nut, it was already almost loose and I could probably have removed it with my half inch drive ratchet socket wrench. As far as I know, no one has ever removed these spindle nuts before, so I am still wondering why the driver side nut was so loose.

[itzsteven]

I got some good lesson today. Gotta print this copy incase I need it for the future.

[anuthaCamry]

I'm gonna need to do this too, i've done this exact same thing on a honda - except that that car needed only 140. They both used the same sized sockets: 1 1/4, but the socket isn't deep enough to fit the toyota. I also have a freakish 30mm open ended/socket wrench that's like 2 feet long and looks like something out of a police academy movie, should I use that?

As for the torquing equation, is it ( lw=lw ) ? l=length, w=weight

(217# - measured torque effect of wrench in ft/lbs) / 175# * 12inches = where to tape a wood block which I'll gently stand on.?

[awmccready]

Originally Posted by anuthaCamry

I'm gonna need to do this too, i've done this exact same thing on a honda - except that that car needed only 140. They both used the same sized sockets: 1 1/4, but the socket isn't deep enough to fit the toyota. I also have a freakish 30mm open ended/socket wrench that's like 2 feet long and looks like something out of a police academy movie, should I use that?

As for the torquing equation, is it ( lw=lw ) ? l=length, w=weight

(217# - measured torque effect of wrench in ft/lbs) / 175# * 12inches = where to tape a wood block which I'll gently stand on.?

anuthaCamry,

If the 2 feet is the length of the handle, the handle can be positioned at a right angle to the socket, and the socket is a deep socket built to take the 217 ft-lbs of torque without slipping on the nut head and ruining it, then it may have been designed for the job, especially taking the spindle nut off versus tightening it. On mine, the spindle nut appeared to take far more than 217 ft-lbs to get the nut off. If the handle is not at close to a right angle to the socket, when you apply the pressure, the socket may slip. If the socket is not a deep socket, you may not be able to clear the fender and maintain a right angle between the socket and the wrench handle. I would NOT use an English socket for a metric nut or bolt at that high a torque setting. It may seem like a close fit, but may be off just enough to slip and/or ruin the nut or bolt head, your car, or you.

Here is the Excel spreadsheet I used. You should test the results, as I did, prior to depending on it for your application. A wheel falling off can be life-threatening.

** is used to separate spreadsheet columns. That Excel alignment got lost when I posted this message.

Application ** Desired torque ** My wgt ** Inches Needed
97 Camry LE
4 cyl, auto trans
spindle nut ** 217 ** 169 ** 15.4
test ** 150 ** 169 ** 10.7
wheel nut ** 76 ** 169 ** 5.4

Here are the corresponding formulas:

Application ** Desired torque ** My wgt ** Inches Needed
97 Camry LE
4 cyl, auto trans
spindle nut ** 217 ** 169 ** =12*(B2/C2)
test ** 150 ** 169 ** =12*(B3/C3)
wheel nut ** 76 ** 169 ** =12*(B6/C6)

If you are interested in the english (loose fit socket) to metric (exact fit) calculation, which also show the difference, here it is:

Inches to millimeters conversions:

Millimeters (MMs)
/inch ** Inches ** MMs ** MMs truncated ** MMs rounded up
25.4 ** 1 3/16 ** 30.2 ** 30 30

and here are the formulas:

Inches to millimeters conversions:
Millimeters (MMs)
/inch ** Inches ** MMs ** MMs truncated ** MMs rounded up
25.4 ** 1.1875 ** =A11*B11 ** =TRUNC(C11,0) ** =ROUND(B11*A11,0)

[Vlanman25]

Home Depot sells a Husky torque wrench that goes from 100 to 250 FT/lbs for $60. .. Ken

[awmccready]

Originally Posted by Vlanman25

Home Depot sells a Husky torque wrench that goes from 100 to 250 FT/lbs for $60. .. Ken

Sounds like a good price from an unexpected source (Home Depot). I didn't think to look there.