Bicycle Mechanics - bolt torque question

how many inch pounds should i put on the front bolts of my redneck stem, and on the rear axle of an alex triple wall 14mm wheel, and on diacompe 990s. Thanks for any info.

Darned if I know.................................

D*Alex....sometimes i just love to read what u post. Anyway.....tighten the bolts until they feel right....and dont break them......theres not a set limit to tighten them, and nobody used it anyway if there is!

stem : firm, but not really hard, because you will damage the stem tube.

axle : inside bolts - do up firm, and then back a quarter turn.
outside (if a solid axle) - hard as you like (steel on steel), not hard enough to thread it though.

NJrider asked a valid question, which I believe has been discussed previously somewhere in this forum. I realize most of us have cultivated that qualitative "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" mechanic's feel for "snug" (as opposed to "loose" or "snapped/stripped"), and I realize that a torque wrench is much less quantitative or precise than its indicator would imply, but many master mechanics will not turn a bolt or nut without at least knowing its torque specification. I have watched plenty of macho bike shop mechanics snap 8mm bolts.

Use good wrenches - wrenches for small nuts are shorter than the ones for large nuts, so a reasonable force (doesnt cause pain to the fingers) at the end of the wrench will give the right torque.

I have personally worked in bike shops for almost 6 years of my life and worked on cars for almost 8 years.....

In my opinion, when it comes to bolt tension, the best thing to do if you are unsure is make a 2 minute call to the company of the product and ask for the specifications from the company itself. I personally cant say I have ever used a torque wrench on a bike, but I have snapped or stripped a few bolts in my day.

As far as the specific question asked, with the S&M Redneck stem I would tighten untill it is "very tight", they are a very beefy stem made for Dirt Jumpers. As far as the axle nuts, that depends on if it is using an oversized axle. If they used the oversized axle like Alex likes to use....It sounds like the gentelman asking has a dirt jumping bike...maybe street... So that would incline me to supect the thicker 14mm axles.....


thanks and hope my opinion is of some assistance...bmx

The only thing I've used my torque wrench for my bicycle is the crank bolts. 650 ft-lbs for square tapers and that's pretty darn tight. For the stem I would start at 400 and go up from there until it feels right!

If you do in fact have a 14mm oversized, I would start at 300 and work my way up in 20 - 40 ft-lb increments.

That's a start anyways. You could always check with the manufacturer.

Originally posted by a2psyklnut
The only thing I've used my torque wrench for my bicycle is the crank bolts. 650 ft-lbs... :eek:

Let me check that tonight and get back to you, but I think that's right! Got it from the Shimano Tech Manual. Let me double check!

L8R

Man what can I say, I was way off. First of all that's in-lbs not ft-lbs, no wonder the :eek:

That's what I get for trying to remember something at the end of the day:


600 for catridge bottom brackets

300 - 350 for crank bolts

For accurate advice check out www.parktool.com/repair_help/torque.shtml

Sorry & L8R:beer:

I wasn't trying to be smart, I just didn't want to correct a man who can torque 650 ft/lbs with a regular bike tool! :D

Heck if I could do that, I'd have a different job. The only problem is that my hands would be so big I wouldn't be able to type and I'd have to give up visiting this forum!

L8R