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"

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop!
http://platinum.yahoo.com