11 replies to this topic

[IN10CT]

So, my new '76 mini developed an odd clunking feel in the front left wheel. I jacked the car up and found significant play in all directions. Oh great! Wheel bearing is gone... Pulled the wheel off and discovered that the previous owner reassembled without a cotter pin in the crown nut holding the drum! The nut had started to back off creating the wheel play.

Some people should be banned from DIY!!! I'm going to pull all four wheels now to inspect them.

But I have a question. I do not have a torque wrench and need a "feel" based estimate as to how tight the crown nut should be.

Can anyone help me out?

Cheers,

Robin

[lrostoke]

why mess about guessing £16 and you can buy one

http://www.machinema...e-torque-wrench

[mini13]

buy a torque wrench you tight bugger! LOL

As the nut is a "tighten to 60 lb then a bit more until the the split pin will fit" its not mega critical, as a tempory measure you could guess it by measuring the bar you are using and vary the effort accordingly, and by temporary I mean this as a get you home effort.

If the bar is say 2 Ft long then you need to guesstimate 30 lb of effort onto the end of the bar, if it is 1ft, 60 lb. if it is 4 ft then 15 lb etc.

Edited by mini13, 23 March 2008 - 11:35 PM.

[dklawson]

Do you have a spring-type bathroom scale you can take to the car? I hope so.

Take your socket wrench handle and slip it into a pipe. Use tape to mark a spot exactly 2 feet up the pipe from the center (drive) of the wrench. Put the wrench horizontally on the nut and position the scale sort of under tape on the pipe. Step on the scale and note your weight. Push up (or pull down) on the pipe while you're standing on the scale. Stop when you see the scale showing a change of 30 pounds (30 pounds x 2 ft = 60 ft-lb).

[Ethel]

Buy or borrow a torque wrench - even a cheapy will be much better than guessing. Hub nuts are secured with split pins not cotter pins too

But, torque is just a force (weight) times the distance from the centre of rotation.


DK, that's genius!

Edited by Ethel, 23 March 2008 - 11:38 PM.

[IN10CT]

Thanks guys! I laughed out loud when I read your reply lrostoke. I will get a torque wrench when the shops open but I'd like to get the wheels back on in the mean time.

Cheers.

[dklawson]

Thanks Ethel. The scale works OK as long as you can work vertically. Desperate times have required a bit of creativity.

I think you've highlighted another term that must be in differnt use in the U.K. and the U.S. Over here, a split pin and a cotter pin are the same thing. Can you post any links that would show me which you're calling which?
The link below shows what I would call a cotter pin but I'd just as likely call a split pin:
http://www.toolstati...ebbig/50623.jpg

[IN10CT]

Turns out the other fron hub nut was secured with a split pin, but was loose enough that the washer underneath could spin freely. Everything is nice and tight now and I will retorque them on tuesday once I've obtained a torque wrench.

[lrostoke]

Doug the picture you link to is what we would could a split pin

Not sure about everybody else but I've always thought of a cotter pin as a tapered peg with a threaded end, normally used to hold a bicycle pedal to the shaft

[dklawson]

Well that explains it. The picture you sent a link for is indeed also a type of cotter pin but I've only seen it referred to as a cotter pin when dealing with connecting arms to cranks. More specifically, I've always seen those parts called "crank cotters".

Searching Google Images for "cotter pin", most of the images are what you are calling (rightly) a split pin. Although... some of the images that turn up with those search keywords also show what I call a "hitch pin" and I believe in the U.K. I've heard you guys refer to as an "R clip". If you repeat the same Google Images search with the keywords "split pin" you get the same items as for cotter pin. So... the same thing, just two different descriptions.

Then of course... there's Wikipedia...
http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Cotter_pin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_pin

Edited by dklawson, 24 March 2008 - 02:35 AM.

[il-barba]

why mess about guessing £16 and you can buy one

http://www.machinema...e-torque-wrench

if one is buying a torque wrench, what is the range it should have? for mini use

[DaveRob]

Disk models need 270Nm for the castellated nut on the hub so best get 2... a small one for general use and one with a long throw and over 270 for the big nut..... cause pulling 270Nm with a short wrench feels like you need 2 fat blokes to sit on it...lol

DaveRob