[Closed] Torque question - 6Nm

Like a small terrier tugging on a trouser leg.

It feels like 6 bags of sugar tied to the end of a standard 8mm allen key.

I'm presuming your tightening some rotor bolts?

I have a very expensive Facom screwdriver type torque wrench that I "borrow" from work to fit rotor bolts!

It's not as tight as you might think, imagine tightening a wood screw and before it gets hard work is about 6Nm (having said that I'm 6'3" and built like a tank)

I was told its about as tight as you can get by using the long end in the bolt and short end to turn the allen key using only your fingers - not a vulcan death grip.

IanMunro, only if your standard allen key is 1m long..... 😉

Without a torque driver it is hard to estimate, but geoffj's recommendation sounds about on the money.
If it's for rotor bolts, I just bolt them up and then check them regularly. Never had one come loose yet and you have got 5 more holding the rotor on if one does come loose.

what a strange question to try and describe an answer. almost like asking what does chicken taste like. 😕

Since buying a torque guage, I discovered I was overtightening most of the bolts on my bike.

lobby_dosser - I presume you replaced all the bolts that were overtightened rather than just slackend them off?

Just make sure you use a small allen key rather than something like a socket bar & you should be OK
Ritchey do a little doobrey to prevent over tightening of stems on carbon bars that's set at 5Nm

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'tis actually for roofrack fixpoint bolts - Thule instruction says 6Nm, but I certainly had them a lot tighter than that when I took em off the last car !

Which is why I said "It's not as tight as you might think"

geoffj is probably pretty close TBH

Oh well that was us wrong!

I know what you mean about the fixpoint bolts though as my wife's car had them and I was never convinced it would stay on so I used threadlock as well.

[i]IanMunro, only if your standard allen key is 1m long..... [/i]
That would generate 60Nm

Oh yeah........god I am thick sometimes.

lobby_dosser - I presume you replaced all the bolts that were overtightened rather than just slackend them off?

No, never replaced them or slackened them off.

Easy way to work it out, torque = force x distance from pivot...
1 bag of sugar is 1kg. = 9.81N force under gravity.
1 m is 1m, or 3.3ish feet.

6Nm is 2/3 of a bag of sugar on the end of a 1m pole or
6 bags of sugar at 0.1m (9.81*0.1=1 roughly, multiply by 6).

Good hand tight with a normal allen key.

Aply some threadlock.As tight as you can until it strips the thread then back off a half turn*. Job done.

* From the hamfisted bodgers guide book

about as tight as putting a cap back on a plastic drinks bottle so that its tight enough to make sure that it wont leak if the bottle is on its side.

thanks all

Bit of thread resurrection here.

To test your descriptive powers a little more (seeing as you all did so well above), the main pivot on our Ventana should be 90 in-lbs.
It's a 6mm allen bolt, so with a long allen key I'm estimating 2 fingers pulling tight. Anywhere near correct?

Thanks
Rob (who's too tight to buy a torque wrench)

Bit of thread resurrection here

....feels like I am being stalked ! 😆

90 in /lb is about 10nm which would equate to a medium sized terrier tugging on a trouser leg.

Depends whether or not it's on a conveyor belt 😉

IanMunro - Member

90 in /lb is about 10nm which would equate to a medium sized terrier tugging on a trouser leg.

Mmmmmm, don't know much about terriers (or conveyor belts) but am good with greyhounds. So does that roughly equate to a greyhound dragging the kitchen bin over?