340 ftlb torque for WDH bolts holy cow

[gunther1369]

i have a husky tc WDH and im in the process of setting it up and it calls for the bolts that mount the ball head to the shank to be torque to 340 ftlb, I only have a tc wrench that is 150 lb and I called every auto shop and camper dealer in my area to see if they can torque it for me and nobody has one that high, so what am I to do...…?

[Lins]

Find a heavy duty shop.

[CurtPutnam]

Someone recently posted a genius hack. Jack your trailer up and use it to provide the necessary torque as measured by a Sherline scale.

[babock]

I just put a piece of pipe on my 3/4" breaker bar and measured out where my 190# weight would provide the correct torque. Of course the bar has to be parallel to the ground to be the most accurate.


For 340 ft lbs and my weight, that would be 21.5".

[rockfordroo]

My Equal-i-zer needs about 250 ft-lbs. A 180 lb guy (me) on the end of an 18" (1-1/2 ft) wrench is 1-1/2 ft x 180 lbs = 240 ft-lbs. Close enough.

If you're 226 lbs and have an 18" wrench, you've got 340 ft-lbs.

[LTDunltd]

I just used a 30 inch long 3/4 inch drive breaker bar. Turn the hitch 90 deg in the receiver and stood on the bar end.
220 lbs out 20 inches = 350 feet pounds of torque.

[upflying]

I ran into the same problem with my Equalizer that wasn't set up by the dealer correctly.
I wanted to adjust the hitch correctly but the dealer told me they wouldn't break the bolts loose for "liability reasons".
I had to go to a machine shop and ask them to break the bolts loose with their 1" impact wrench.

[Daycruiser]

You can rent the proper Torque wrench at most equipment rental places.

[Lukegsdaddy]

Just put it on there goodntight!

[upflying]

Originally Posted by Lukegsdaddy

Just put it on there goodntight!

That's what I do, there is "good and tight" and then there is "product liability attorney" tight.
I do the former.

[Big Sky KLX]

Uhaul does a ton of hitches, and they have all the big tools. Usually they will help you out for free if they aren't busy.

[dbledan]

Originally Posted by Big Sky KLX

Uhaul does a ton of hitches, and they have all the big tools. Usually they will help you out for free if they aren't busy.

When I had to swap the ball on my Blueox they were close and I took it to u-haul. I did not have anything to hold the ball but they did. They just had a regular breaker bar using the methods described in earlier posts. I even had to loan them my thin walled socket to swap it but they did do it for free.

The best solution I have seen was the guy using the trailer tongue and a shirline scale to get it there by lowering the trailer onto the wrench.

The heavy duty torque wrenches were too expensive for me to buy one and use it once. Any big rig mechanic has one that can support 500lbs I would think.

[RFSims]

Originally Posted by Lukegsdaddy

Just put it on there goodntight!

Then spot weld the nut to the shank. Sure ain't going nowhere then.

[Jeffjeeptj]

My dealer installed a ball with too long a shank. Fortunately the one they installed had flats on the base, so I was able to unscrew the ball and not rotate the nut or lockwasher, therefore no metal damage.
That same dealer also installed a 6000 pound hitch for a 7500 pound trailer. I just got finished changing the head and weight bars to a 10K model. Big improvement in sway control and vehicle ride. The heavier bars are not flexed (bent) as much to control sway, and the tow vehicle wheel arch to ground measurements are much more in line with the instructions.

Amazing what happens when things are within design limits.

[NJKris]

You guys all beat me to the stand on it trick. Turn hitch 90 degrees in receiver so breaker bar is rotating in vertical plane, then stand on it while you support yourself somehow so it doesn't suddenly slip or something. Downward weight (your weight on one foot) x distance in fractions of a foot = torque in foot lb. (ex: 350 ft.lbs torque, divided by my weight of 250 lbs, means I would have to put my weight on the breaker bar 1.4 feet from the head of the socket/nut) Obviously, you would need a breaker bar at least 1.5 feet long, longer would be a little safer.

[67L48]

If you watch some of the "How to install [brand x] WDH" videos on YouTube, the ball mount step is often included. They have a torque wrench that looks about 5 feet long. Might be a $1,000 wrench! Most RV dealerships sell and install a lot of hitches, so I'd expect most of them to have the appropriate tools for this job. I'd start there (or Uhaul) to see who could mount this. Probably takes them 5 minutes or less to do.

[TheWolfPaq82]

Originally Posted by Lukegsdaddy

Just put it on there goodntight!

That's called "Proper German Engineering." Goodntight.

[ard58]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

My Equal-i-zer needs about 250 ft-lbs. A 180 lb guy (me) on the end of an 18" (1-1/2 ft) wrench is 1-1/2 ft x 180 lbs = 240 ft-lbs. Close enough.

If you're 226 lbs and have an 18" wrench, you've got 340 ft-lbs.

Where did you come up with this? I would venture to say you have never pulled a 3/4' torque wrench to 300#'s. 3/4" torque wrench is approx. 36" in length. You have to really pull on that long of a wrench to get it to click when set a 300#'s. I would bet that if there's someone out there that has worked on diesel engines would agree. You wont get 340#'s of torque on an 18" wrench.

[babock]

Originally Posted by ard58

Where did you come up with this? I would venture to say you have never pulled a 3/4' torque wrench to 300#'s. 3/4" torque wrench is approx. 36" in length. You have to really pull on that long of a wrench to get it to click when set a 300#'s. I would bet that if there's someone out there that has worked on diesel engines would agree. You wont get 340#'s of torque on an 18" wrench.

That's why he said to get a 226# person to stand on it.


226 x 1.5 = 339

[NJKris]

My statics course in college finally came in handy, lol. Like babock said, that force has to be applied perpendicular to the length of the wrench, and the wrench has to be parallel to the ground for this method to be accurate.