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Date:         Wed, 26 Mar 2003 12:23:02 -0800
Reply-To:     Jeffrey Earl <jefferrata@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jeffrey Earl <jefferrata@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      250 ft-lb torque wrench?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

I seem to recall reading somewhere (perhaps in the Sermons of Bob Hoover -- http://osf02.ktu.edu.tr/~ulutas/hoover/) that one could fashion a torque wrench of epic proportions using nothing more than the appropriate-sized socket and breaker bar, a length of pipe to fit over the handle of said breaker bar, and a common household bathroom scale.

NOTE: if other, wiser listmembers take issue with the following numbers or logic, please join in with corrections.

As I recall, the procedure goes something like this:

1. Slip the pipe over the breaker-bar handle and carefully measure exactly 36" from the centerpoint of the socket drive to a point somewhere along the length of the pipe. Mark it.

2. Apply the wrench-with-extension to the bolt in question, perfectly horizontal to the floor. Directly below the 36" mark, place the bathroom scale on the floor.

3. Stand on the scale, grasp the extension with each hand on either side of the 36" mark, and lift with a slow steady pressure until the scale reads a certain weight. Here's where the math comes, so you may want to step off the scale for a moment while you fetch your calculator.

If my feeble memory and feebler high-school physics serves me, one divides the total desired Torque setting (240 ft-lbs.) by the Distance from Center (3 feet) plus your own body Weight (180 lbs., in my case) to arrive at 260 lbs.. That's what you want the scale to read.

If you don't think you can lift the difference (80 lbs.) without herniating a disc, try using a 4- or 5-foot extension and reworking the numbers, dividing the total Torque by 4 or 5 respectively.

Good luck,

Jeffrey Earl 1983 diesel Westfalia "Vanasazi"

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