I've occasionally wondered why one of our Van'Fam' Fabricators (Alistair or ?) hasn't come up with a

Torque Multiplier Tool, Or an A Mod to the Old one for the Bug, that will work on a Vanagon ~

On 8 May , 2016, at 10:05 AM, John Rodgers wrote:

> Any time you are tryingbto remove a large nut - heck, even some smaller nut
> or bolts - some extra precautions are in order. Dennis covered his pretty
> well. For myself, if I can get at it,  throw a rag over the work. You can
> never tell when a piece of shrapnel will come flying off.
> 
> As for large bolts or nuts such as the axle nut they really ought to be
> covered. In industry such items can be huge an subject to enormous torque.
> When  I worked in the aviation industry, (I'm old enough now to feel like
> the first mechanic to work on the Wright Brothers flying machine) we used
> what was called a Sweeney Wrench to tighten and loosen the nut that held
> four blade propellers on the shaft. Some of those went to 2400 foot lbs.
> The Sweeny could deliver, as it was a geared, chain drive apparatus with
> splines inside to hold onto the shaft while it turned that nut up to torque
> - or loosened it. Sometimes  I think we  need one of those when it comes to
> having to deal with the nut and stub axle on our Vanagons. There's no way
> that nut won't turn with a Sweeny!!
> 
> John
> On May 8, 2016 10:06, "Dennis Haynes" <d23haynes57@hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> Depending on where the jack stands were placed the weight behind them is
>> already trying to lift the front off the ground. It is normal for a
>> threaded fastener assembly to require much more torque to loosen then
>> applied for tightening, that is part of how they work. Tension and
>> friction. Rust and corrosion can make things worse. Normally, the brakes
>> can be serviced without removing the hub. It only needs to be removed if
>> servicing the wheel bearings or replacing the backing plate.
>> 
>> Dennis
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
>> Of Don Hanson
>> Sent: Sunday, May 8, 2016 9:22 AM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Re: striking caution by dennis
>> 
>> Incredibly, when I was once trying to remove the axle nut from my 84,
>> after getting it all up on jackstands, etc.....
>> 
>>   ....I got a really long cheater bar and put it onto my 3/4" drive
>> breaker bar, after locking the wheel with the Ebrake.   I put my own full
>> body weight (165lbs) on the end of the bar...nuthin...  Asked two of my
>> friends to get on that bar with me....We lifted the front of the vanagon
>> off the ground, and still didn't get that nut to budge...Bouncing on that
>> breaker bar with three guys standing on it....the front wheels just bounced
>> up and down....finally cut it off
>> 
>> On Sun, May 8, 2016 at 6:12 AM, mike riley <mkriley1@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> You can.t have too many warnings about flying debris! I had to undergo
>>> eye surgery to remove a piece of steel from my cornea acquired in a
>>> industrial setting with safety glasses, gogeles, and a face shield on.
>>> The best way is no impact at all. Take the cotter pins out and have a
>>> socket and breaker bar.  Put it on the passnger side twards the front
>>> with the handle on the ground. Start the engine and slip the clutch in
>>> first gear. It will come off. Alternatively cut the nut off it is
>>> false economy to reuse it as the threads are most likely
>>> distorted.Mike
>>