Torque Wrench for WD Hitch nylock nuts
Is this the right thread for this, first of all? I'm trying to install a weight distribution hitch to haul my trailer of stuff from east county San Diego California to Kansas. It's a 7' x 14' cargo...
Forum Discussion
BenK wrote:
Me too...didn't know they made them that big and wonder if they provide enough "locking" force
Think a split-ring should be addedSuper_Dave wrote:
360 ft-lbs and nylock nuts made me laugh.
There is also a flat washer and a split ring lock washer.
FWIW, the nuts that hold together some sea water components in nuclear submarines that have to withstand submergence pressure use nylock nuts on bolts that are at least two inches in diameter. These and all fasteners and software for systems that are exposed to submergence pressure are also QA'ed to the nth degree because of the Subsafe program implemented after we lost submarine Thresher. The only numbers I can state are what's been declassified at >800 ft depth, and 44#/100 ft of depth. That's 352 psi. Doesn't sound like a huge amount, but think of containing that kind of pressure in components the size of a pickup. Force = Pressure X Area.
So yeah, they do make them much larger than this.
I said before that I don't torque spec every single thing I work on, but on this hitch, it seems kind of important to have it tight enough but not overtight. One of the reviewers for this hitch said that he used what we called a "calibrated elbow" approach, and it came loose on him down the road and started swaying when trucks passed. He was smart enough to check it and had tools to tighten it, but would it have come loose at all if he had done it right?
