Bilsteins & Torque Wrench - WHICH?
 

How are you supposed to fully measure the ft. lbs on the nut with front Bilsteins in the strut mount -- which type of torque wrench is compatible, when you have to have an allan wrench at the same time to prevent the shaft from rotating?! Mine is not compatible in this situation -- have the clicker type currently. Arrgh!

This LS1HowTo article is worthless for how to measure the ft. lbs in this arrangement, as all they say is:
"We got the nut on as tight as we could using a box wrench for the nut, and a hex bit to keep the shaft of the bilstein from spinning (again, your strut may not need a hex bit). You can remove the spring compressors if you used them once this nut is secure. "

http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=6

You could try welding a socket to an offset wrench the right size. Then you could check it while using the allen wrench.The socket would allow you to use the torque wrench.

If you really think you need to torque them put a crows foot on the torque wrench. You need to adjust the torque setting a little with a crows foot, I don't have the formula in front of me but I bet you can google it.

That's a good idea, but I don't think it will fit with that isolator in the mount...

That could work -- but there must be a tool already out there for this purpose...

The answer you're looking for: A dog-bone style torque adapter is slimmer than the crows foot. It might be hard to find one though. You will also have to calculate the change in torque with that.

The answer I want to give you: Just crank the damn thing on with a wrench and move on with your life.

To everyone on here in the internet world who thinks they have to torque EVERYTHING to spec. Just get the freakin thing as tight as you can. The only time you should ever really need to do things to spec is internall engine parts. Everything else....just crank down on the darn thing.

^^^Yup^^^ Libertyforall, You are makng this to complicated, it'll be ok...just yank it down and move on. It's not going anywhere. :)

Don't torque as hard as you can. Torque specs are to achieve a certain load on a fastener, and prevent damage to threads or the components being torqued. Proper hardware and hardware stack up is more critical to things not falling off i.e. washer and lockwasher or threadlocked nut.

For automotive applications you can get away with good-n-tight though, in most cases. In something like the OP's question, I would say just tighten it well with a wrench and you will never have an issue.

I sure would like to see the pictures of the torque wrench tools others here are using for this application -- are are you all just doing the "best effort" approach?

I still would like to find a solution for the future -- after these Bilsteins on the RS, come the Konis on the SS...

Heres a link I just googled real quick. We use these type all the time at work for hard to reach places or torquing jamnuts that require you to hold onto the fastener.

Torque Adapters

:usa:

I'm in the same boat with the others...I use a torque wrench on things I feel are important (like intake manifold bolts), but there are things like the front shock nuts where getting a torque wrench on there is impractical, and just not worth the effort.

I mean...you have the spring compressed, you tighten the nut, and then you let the spring go...the tension effectively binds the threads, keeping the nut from backing off. Now, if you are worried about breaking the shaft from too much torque, then don't use a cheater bar or a big impact gun to tighten it.

It isn't like you are working on delicate aerospace parts that go on a jet - if you don't get the shock nut tight enough, it'll make a shitload of noise. If you use a regular size wrench to apply the torque, I really don't think you can overtorque it due to the lack of leverage. There's a time and place for going overboard with torque specs, and this isn't one of them.

Ok OP if I understand you correctly you are talking about the nut that mounts the shock to the upper mount correct? I had the same worry as you when I did my strano's. I actually called and talked to him about this. He said get it snug and don't worry about it. Doesn't take a lot. Wrench tight is how I did mine. They are all fine and dandy. It has a torque spec, but it will rust tight in no time anyway.

If you don't get it tight enough it can adversely affect your strut tower brace, so I say make sure to get the torque right.

This is my life at work :eyes: I deal with torques from 2 inch-lb (thats not even hand freaking tight, wtf) to 750+ ft-lbs.

20 ft/lb range ... use 1/4" drive gear
45-50 ft/lb range ... use 3/8" drive gear
75-80 ft/lb range ... use 1/2" drive gear

Its been my experience over time that tightening fastners using the above gear will yield those associated torque numbers using reasonable effort on the ratchet.

If I grab and grunt, they obviously go up. But the size and leverage of the tool's design limits the amount of torque.

And specific torque settings can create a real issue.

Some one was asking on here the other day about torque on a banjo bolt on a brake caliper. Just torquing it to the number gives a false sense of security. If the banjo fitting has a knick or is bent, you won't know it by torquing and walking away.

Finally, being anal about torquing every fastner with a torque wrench that has never been calibrated is an exercise in futility.

The OP is talking about torquing the single nut on top of the Bilstein shock stud and not the 8 nuts/bolts that hold the whole assembly to the car because he said "you have to have an allan wrench at the same time to prevent the shaft from rotating". I'm sure 99.9% of us that have changed the front shocks just tightened the nut good and tight and not went to the hassle to torque it to specs. I've heard of guys not tightening it all the way down and hearing thumping/banging noises, but have never heard of anyone overtightening it and breaking or stripping anything..........or dying from not torquing it. :jest:

I've made this exact mistake - GM lists the torque spec for a banjo bolt, so I decided to try it. It worked out okay the first time - everything sealed, no threads pulled out. I tried it again at a later date and pulled the threads right out of the caliper. That was an "oh shit" moment I won't soon forget...

The nut on the shaft above the strut mount, that's what I ended up doing as well, and packed marine grease in there.