Rear axle bolt torque

[skiper]

Theoretical question - there have been many posts about using crows foot and torque wrench combos to avoid taking exhaust off during a wheel change. I got to wondering - why not just attach the torque wrench on the open-left side and use a boxwrench to hold the right nut steady ?

 

[charlie b]

Too much friction. Torque reading will be off by a lot.

But, in the Guzzi world we accept the 'why' of the torque for the rear (and front) bolts. The torque is there to make sure the bearing inners and spacers are held tightly. In the words of one old time Guzzi mechanic, "use the supplied wrench and tighten the snot out of it". The supplied wrench is about 10" long so you can't get "too much" torque on it.

I did the same with the Honda. Just get std box end wrench and tighten till it hurts your hands.

 

[DirtFlier]

[...why not just attach the torque wrench on the open-left side and use a box wrench to hold the right nut steady?...]

That is contrary to normal practice but I've only had the muffler off once and swore never again so I've been doing it that way for several years. Before reinserting the axle I always clean it with steel wool and apply fresh grease so it turns without too much drag. The bearings are pressed in place and the bearing spacer is quite a bit larger than the axle so applying 75-80 ft lbs of torque isn't going to cause it to swell and get smaller and thereby create more drag. If it were undertorqued and loose using this method, you'd think there would be side-to-side play but I can't feel any.

 

[skiper]

Ok - I'm more informed, I like both these answers.. any others want to comment ?

 

[charlie b]

Why are you greasing the axle?

The purpose of torquing the axle bolt is to fix the inner races (and the spacer inside the wheel) to the axle. They are not supposed to move. Then the axle is clamped to the swing arm. Again, it is not supposed to move. Greasing the axle is counterproductive.

If you are applying the grease for anti-corrosion there are better products for that. This is one area I would not mind using WD-40, wipe off as much as possible before installing the axle.

 

[ARKNT]

Another option is to use the crowsfoot on the axle nut on the right, but make sure the crowsfoot is 90 deg from the torque wrench handle. This keeps the torque wrench length the same so there is no need to correct for an "extension" on the wrench.

Brad