Dan H.

I didn't get much response over in the C5 Tech forum, so i hope maybe you gents have some perspective you can share

I'm in the process of putting delrin bushings in my car. It is mostly a track car with little street miles. Its an 02 Z06 with 21k miles. DRM shocks and brace ducts. Stock powertrain.

I'm reassembling the rear suspension and the lower ball joint on the rear is very difficult to access because of the driveshaft being right above it. My question is how do you torque this back on? The show manual has a three step torque process. Something to the effect of
15ft-lbs, then 180 degrees, then 42 ft-lbs.
Do people just tighten it with a combination wrench past 42 ft-lbs? Or is it important to follow the shop manual to the t?

I have cut up allen wrenches to about a 3/16" stub that I grab with a small combination wrench to hold the ball joint shaft. I then tighten the nut until the allen key doesn't turn. I then tighten the nut with what feels higher than 42 ft-lbs that I applied to the front suspension.

Thank you
Dan

parsonsj

There's no good answer... I just tighten it really really tight.

dhowdy

I followed froggy's video on replacing rear hubs. Tightened the lower ball joint before reinserting the driveshaft.

klodkrawler05

I used a crow's foot on my torque wrench to get it tight.

Dan H.

Damn, thats a really good idea! I always forget about how handy those can be.

Dan H.

This has been my approach. 42ft-lbs seems light for the force these parts see.

Thanks guys, this one baffled me a bit

FASTFATBOY

You are pulling steel through aluminum, you don't want to distort the hole.

froggy47

Ck my video on how I do it.

AzMotorhead

If using a crows foot on the torque wrench don't forget to factor in the lever arm distance.
Here's the link http://www.finishing.com/118/94_crows_foot_torque.shtml
The complication with a crowsfoot =>

on a torque wrench is that the scale is calibrated to its center of rotation (where you would normally put a socket), but the lever arm (the perpendicular distance from the center of the bolt to the hand grip on the wrench) will be longer or shorter than that depending on how you apply the crowsfoot. To make it just a bit more complicated, the more force you put on a torque wrench, the more it twists--this doesn't effect the length of the lever arm in normal application where a socket is centered on the rotation point, but when using a crowsfoot, the length of the lever arm could actually increase or decrease as the wrench starts twisting.

In the example shown below, if the wrench reads 100 foot-pounds torque, the actual torque with the crowsfoot is 100 x 20/18 = 111 foot-pounds.

crows foot wrench calculation

Because of this complication, some auto manufacturers warn you to use their specialized torque tools rather than using a crow foot on a torque wrench