Bicycle Mechanics - Do we need to follow always the manufacturer torque recomendations

The reason Im asking was,I installed a new look pedal to my Sram red crank and I torque it to 44nm which I felt overkill,but the sram website recommends 47 to 54nm though..Im just worried about the crank..thanks

On cranksets for example...try not to go more than a couple lbs. past the MAX...

...understand though - give 'em any excuse to not honor the warranty - forget complaining.

=8-)

That sounds like much more torque than needed for any pedal on any crankset. I never understood why pedals were often installed so tight anyway. I always just get them "good and tight" which can't be more than 10 nm or so and they never come loose or damage the crank arm threads while riding. It makes removal easy when I want to so I see no problems with staying well below the recommended torque value for this particular application

I too, don't understand why they would spec such a high value for pedals.
wouldn't that put unnecessary stress on the aluminum insert of a carbon crank?

The reason Im asking was,I installed a new look pedal to my Sram red crank and I torque it to 44nm which I felt overkill,but the sram website recommends 47 to 54nm though..Im just worried about the crank..thanks

Hand tight should be good enough on a pedal really; the threads are handed (right on the right side and left on the left side) so normal pedaling action tightens them even more. Why worry about torque on a pedal? Just go to hand tight, put a little more torque to make sure it doesn't back off, and it should be good.

That's 35-40 ft lb, which seems pretty tight to me, too. I'd say you're okay where you are.

BTW, how are you torquing these? Hex bit? Extension?

Sounds awfully high to me. I'm also wondering how you torque pedals unless with a hex from the back side.

Here's the sram document I found looking at number 8 and 9 drawing.

http://www.sram.com/_media/techdocs/GXP%20Integrated%20Bottom%20Bracket%20Adapter%20Rev%20C.pdf

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/tt76/bon_gabs/pedal.jpg

look pedal is using a 8mm hex at the back side,,

Sounds awfully high to me. I'm also wondering how you torque pedals unless with a hex from the back side.

Sounds awfully high to me. I'm also wondering how you torque pedals unless with a hex from the back side.

crows foot or park used to make one

That's certainly a third or so tighter than I've ever done. And I have not had any issues with a pedal ever coming loose.