axle nut vs. breaker bar + worst repair nominations

[gatesj at mailblocks.com (John Gates)]

> > And lastly, I'm a big fan of torquing things to factory specs. No 
sense > tightening the piss out of something so you have to use an 
impact to > remove it.
> If you never give your car to morons you will never more need to undo 
something that's overtorqued.

Vehemently agreed.  My Scirocco was something I got when it was 10 
years old, so no telling what anyone had done to it.  But I bought my 
Jetta brand new, have done ALL work on it using the Bentley torque 
specs religiously, and I have never had trouble removing a fastener 
beyond the occasional need for a little heat on things like tie rod 
ends.  Never broke anything either.  And I live in one of the worst 
areas in the country for salted winter roads, have had it now for 8 
years and 145,000 miles.

The reason fasteners break on anything new enough that it's not about 
to collapse into a pile of rust is some idiot using way too much torque 
before you got there to try to remove them.

The torque wrench is your friend.

> > I think people assume "big nut", need to use a 4' breaker > bar. 
Balls! The spec's only 150 ft-lb. (or there abouts).

> If the breaker bar and cheater pipe took it off with one jump, then 
one jump oughta snug 'er right back up.

Ack!

John Gates
--
'85 Scirocco, Flash Silver
'97 Jetta GLX, Sequoia Green