How to do I loose the axle bolt to adjust my chain? Just got the bike and I think it's torqued at 70-80lbs/ft? The toolkit wrench by itself won't budge it even if I tap it with a hammer.

What do I need to get to loosen it??

Thx,
Barry

You need what's called a breaker bar, or strongarm. Its just a long bar with a socket drive, and you get more leverage from it. Either 3/8th's drive or 1/2 inch will do. You can usually take the toolkit wrench with the extension on it and stand on it, but who knows what monkey tightened it the last time.

Good luck. Hopefully yours won't end up looking like mine did last winter.



I had the same symptom: fucker would NOT move, even with a 3" breaker bar. You can get a big breaker bar and 1/2" drive socket set at your local harbor freight for under $20 most likely, and I'd suggest using the proper tools over the toolkit any day.

Thanks, guys. But where exactly do I buy this stuff? My local harbor freight? What's that?

Do you have a torque wrench to properly tighten it back with? I got mine at Sears...you could actually use it to loosen the nut. IIRC it has a 250 ft/lb limit.

yeah... and like mine did at SeXXt!!

Mike

I'm gonna buy a torque wrench too.....but why would a torque wrench help in loosening the nut???

It's probably WAY overtorqued because they tend to overkill these things when they assemble them. I went over my bike right after I got it with a torque wrench and torqued everything correctly. At least, all the stuff I could see without removing the entire engine :lol:

Harbor Freight Tools. They're inexpensive, good enough for a guy who's not making a living beating his tools to death every day. Here's a store locator. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/reta...l_stores.taf#CA

Personally I wouldn't use a torque wrench to get the nut off, but I think what he's getting at is that generally they're longer than ratchets and you can therefore get more leverage.

I have a Sears torque wrench also, does it give a correct reading if I use a 3/8" wrench with a 1/2" adaptor? I have wondered about this becuase I am to cheep to buy a 2nd torque wrench.

A couple items I'd suggest:
25" breaker bar $14.99 (I've got one and it's GREAT!)
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Disp...temnumber=30395

17 pc. 1/2" dr. metric socket set (you'll need the ratchet and a 22mm for the other end of the axle
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Disp...temnumber=45467

You bet it does. Torque is torque baby.

Awesome! Thanks....there's a harbor store near me as well I found out....I'll be going by there tonight or tomorrow.

69 ft lbs is the correct torqued amount for your rear axle

Never use the torque by feel amount.. Or just watch American Chopper and do the opposite of what they do..

I wanna beat them with a fucking torque wrench so bad its not even funny.. :roll:

While you are there I suggest you pick up a couple of things that will come in handy...

22mm socket - six sided and a set of metric hex sockets. They will come in very useful working on any Japanese bike!

Hex set - http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Disp...temnumber=35183

Exactly, I use a breaker bar also even though the TW has a ratchet head. You need a breaker bar anyway for loosening the lugs on your car when the tire shops install them with air wrenches set on max psi. Try breaking those bitches loose with that little tire ironwrench on the side of the road!

The other option is to have an impact wrench on hand.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Disp...temnumber=45252


and no...I don't work for HF. I just like their stuff.

Oh ya, and pick up a torque wrench while you're there.

I don't work for harbor freight either, altho my company does sell hand tools. They are a great, inexpensive alternative for the shadetree guy or someone looking to get started doing their own maintenance.

NEVER break torque using a torque wrench. you will simply fuck its calibration all up. I think he means a torque wrench will help the next time you get it off, as you and make sure its not overtorqued when you put it back on.

GOOD, somebody beat me to saying that!

Mike

HEY wait a minute...

:-k




:greenfingers:

Damn, I didn't know...this is my first "clicker". My other TW's were "pointer" type. I'd been PISSED if I'd screwed up my new wrench. Thanks for the info.

SELL IT!

Then buy another one in a few months. :wink:



Last year I went on a ride with a guy who owns an independent shop. While underway we notice another rider who's rear tire was showing cord so we go back to this guy's shop to replace it. He gets it mounted and balanced then goes to put it on the bike. He asks the owner of the bike to lean on the seat while he takes a breaker bar to the axle bolt to tighten it.
He damn near lifts the bike with the rider off the ground tightening it and then doesn't even fuck with the adjuster once it was tight. :roll:
I expect this from a stealer, but not an independant. This is why I won't let anyone wrench on my bike.

Like above. You can get a breaker bar anywhere: Sears, Home Depot, Lowes. It makes the job easy.

And NEVER use a torque wrench to loosen.

Really?

I set my 1/2" drive, Craftsman "click" TW to about 90 ft*lbs, then loosen.

I always figured it was no more harsh on the TW than tightening a bolt to that value.

IIRC, I don't think it clicks when I loosen the 69 ft*lb axle nut.

(Now the first time I loosened that same nut, I used a breaker bar and thought I'd turn the motorcycle over before it would come loose. Always wondered if the factory torqued it like that or the stealership boneheads.)

You might also want to spray the nut with some penetrating oil and wait a day or so before you try to loosen the nut again, just in case you have some corrosion or galling going on.

+3!!! NEVER use your tourqe wrenck to loosen ANYTHING! And if it's a click type always wind it down to zero for storage.

I bought everything matey_peeps suggested (Thanks, Matey!) at Harbor and then some....breaker bar, torque wrench and a sweet set of socket extensions. I adjusted the chain and have a lot less gear whine now. The only problem is my torque wrench never clicked as I tightened the axle nut and I felt like it was definitely tight enough. I tested out tightening a bolt on my bench press at 40lbs/ft to see if it would click when I hit the spec and it never did.....the bolt just broke in half. So I didn't want the same to happen on the bike so I tighten it enuff...don't know if it's 69lbs/ft but it's tight enough.

Next week scorpion slip-ons and pcIII and Ohlins springs up front... :)

Most cheap hand tools are okay for the shadetree mechanic, but I wouldn't skimp too much on a torque wrench as you found out. Good thing you realized the problem before you broke something too serious.
Crapsman is about the cheapest I'd go on a torque wrench and I've even seen my share of them be waaaay off on calibration. Enough to break a head bolt on a big block Ford (of course the user should have felt something wasn't right, but nonetheless.....)

You're probably good to go with the axle torque, as long as you made sure to sinch down the adjuster bolts.

the bi-directional click types can be used in either direction, BUT ONLY if they are set to a torque setting higher than what you are undoing - ie if it clicks and you still haven't moved it, set it higher or give up.

Generally it is not considered kosher to use a torque wrench as a breaker bar, but if you have nothing else, go for it. You will only screw the calibration if you leave it unset and then lean on it.

And has been said already, slack it off before you store it.

so you can't use a tw on left threads????? bs
then why do they change directions??????
I always take apart with torque wrench at the correct setting .
will tell you a lot about how to assemble also,,,ie lube with what lube and where to lube.

This is true as long as you MAKE SURE you have the TW turned all the way up and DO NOT let it click! If it does click, stop pushing... after it clicks and you still turn on it, THAT is when it starts to lose it's calibration...

Mike

I would use a breaker bar if that did not loosen it I would add pipe to the end of the breaker bar for more leverage. Using some lube woudn't hurt either.

Ok now here's one thing to learn out of this.

When you replace any metal parts or objects as mentioned in this, next time make sure that you do use copperslip before you replace the parts!!

This will ensure that the parts stay in a movable, good condition and will also be able to be taken, unscrewed at a later stage.

Oh and don't use the cheap shit - buy the right, real copper compaind copperslip. The best ones comes from Germany...

A tin will last you nearly a lifetime and it's well worth it.

Agreed. I like anti-seize, however many folks here don't. In fact, I use it on my brake caliper bolts (I'm sure people are cringing as I say this) but I've had more brake caliper bolts be siezed by heat and expansion than I care to remember. A little dab of antisieze and snugged to the proper spec and I've never had one come out on me in 100,000 miles among various bikes.

The lug nut wrench on a 1997 Saturn will fit over the handle of the tool kit wrench and provide enough extension for ample leverage. :P