I need to torque something 300 foot pounds. Very hard to find a wrench.

[Olustee bus]

Anyone have any suggestions? I don't suppose a parts store will loan one like that.

What I am doing is putting new struts on my 2004 f150. I am figuring on buying an inexpensive air wrench, a heavy duty torque wrench, sockets. I gotta torque to 300 foot pounds. I don't want to spend near what I could get it done for.

Another thing, the last time I had mechanic work, they charged me about 30% higher for parts above what I could by at the store. Are mechanics charging above retail for parts.

[PLRX]

Rent it from an airport.

[Steve_R]

All shops put a markup on parts, nothing new there.

[Rodnok1]

Skip the inexpensive air impact, it'll never get you close.
Best bet is 1 inch drive socket set and a cheater bar. HF set has never failed me and I've used 6 ft bars on it. I did snap an extension tip off and it left a mark...
I have a beast of air impact and it won't goto 300 without some serious pressure and flow from a large compressor.
Anything over @200 will destroy most tools. A 300ft lb torque wrench should be 3/4 inch drive also.
Parts are always over retail when a shop charges you, we used to include recommended prices on invoices when sold them the parts.

[ptindall]

Is this for the top nut or the bolts/nuts that hold the strut to the spindle? If the latter, just use a 2' breaker bar and tighten until you can stand on the end of the bar. If you wiegh 200 lbs and stand 6" inboard from the end of the breaker bar, you got 300 ft-lbs. If you only weight 150 lbs, you would have to stand right at the end. If its for the top nut, you can do the same thing by mounting it sideways in a vise. Hang from the breaker bar or whatever you need to do to get your bodyweight on it. 3/4" drive or 1" drive is not needed. 1/2" drive breaker bar and sockets can handle this no problem.

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by Olustee bus

Anyone have any suggestions? I don't suppose a parts store will loan one like that.

What I am doing is putting new struts on my 2004 f150. I am figuring on buying an inexpensive air wrench, a heavy duty torque wrench, sockets. I gotta torque to 300 foot pounds. I don't want to spend near what I could get it done for.

Another thing, the last time I had mechanic work, they charged me about 30% higher for parts above what I could by at the store. Are mechanics charging above retail for parts.

No damn strut needs anything close to 300 ft lbs......think it's a combat tank or some aircraft or something maybe nuclear powered???

[bill_daniels]

Use a torque wrench that goes to 150, max it out, torque it, then do it again. 150+150=300

This is why it's impo'tant to know maffs.

[Taurus]

Mac had on while I was there, I think the part number was TWZ600 because it goes to 600lbs. Pretty pricey, if I remember right one of my distributors sold one to a local construction company for over $1K.

[DJ_Critterus]

Originally Posted by Olustee bus

Anyone have any suggestions? I don't suppose a parts store will loan one like that.

What I am doing is putting new struts on my 2004 f150. I am figuring on buying an inexpensive air wrench, a heavy duty torque wrench, sockets. I gotta torque to 300 foot pounds. I don't want to spend near what I could get it done for.

Another thing, the last time I had mechanic work, they charged me about 30% higher for parts above what I could by at the store. Are mechanics charging above retail for parts.

Yes... it's called LIST PRICE and they get the part at a discount below what you can get it for.

As for the torque problem, do like Porter would do. Torque everything to 150. Next reset your torque wrench to 0 then dial it back up to 150. Go over all bolts again. 150 + 150 = 300

There you go. Problem solved

[Taurus]

Originally Posted by Olustee bus

Anyone have any suggestions? I don't suppose a parts store will loan one like that.

What I am doing is putting new struts on my 2004 f150. I am figuring on buying an inexpensive air wrench, a heavy duty torque wrench, sockets. I gotta torque to 300 foot pounds. I don't want to spend near what I could get it done for.

Another thing, the last time I had mechanic work, they charged me about 30% higher for parts above what I could by at the store. Are mechanics charging above retail for parts.

I retired in 2021 as the VP of Store Operations for a large national parts firm and yes they do. Much of it has to do with the pricing structure at the store. I would typically give the shop a 10% to 20% discount from list depending on the line. Most shops use a 50% mark up, do the math. The tariff war with China didn't help either with them slapping a 10% to 30% tariff on products out of China. Companies got scared and started protecting their margins.

Fortunately I still have my contacts at GM and ACDelco, they've helped me out on the vettes many times, especially in new old product.

[Mike Mercury]

[GTOguy]

Jesus.350 foot pounds. Fucking Ford. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. When I was a tech, NOBODY had a 400 foot pound torque wrench. 250 was about the max. After that, things tended to break, stretch, and crystalize. And human limbs started to fail as well. What piss poor engineering.

[DAB]

18" breaker bar, 200 pound helper, done.

[Yadkin]

Originally Posted by GTOguy

Jesus.350 foot pounds. Fucking Ford. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. When I was a tech, NOBODY had a 400 foot pound torque wrench. 250 was about the max. After that, things tended to break, stretch, and crystalize. And human limbs started to fail as well. What piss poor engineering.

It's not Ford but the market. Trucks are huge today. All those alphas gotta prove themselves. And IQs keep getting smaller.

To access the transmission drain on my Porsche (80k service), first remove a frame cross member. Five good size bolts. The spec to reinstall is something like 75#-ft, then turn an additional 3/4 turn. So a common torque wrench, mark the bolt, then uses a cheap breaker bar.

Reasonably sized vehicle, serviced with reasonably sized tools.

[PLRX]

Originally Posted by mrvette

No damn strut needs anything close to 300 ft lbs......think it's a combat tank or some aircraft or something maybe nuclear-powered???

When I posted, I saw 300 and told him to go to an airport. Now I read your post, and you are 100% correct. I searched and found this:



..and this:

https://ford-specs.com/cars/2004/f15...ecs_engine.php

YOU, OP, read it all wrong, it requires 222 lb-ft, but you read 300 NM

[GTOguy]

I'm seeing 351 foot pounds for the lower bolt on your illustration. Not 222.

What a bunch of crap.

[theandies]

I have a 200lb/foot one in my toolbox. Yes, the airport would be a good place. I worked on aircraft for a while and we had a 1500lb/foot to torque the cone mount bolt that mounts the jet engine to the pylon. Took two people to get it to click.

[ptindall]

Originally Posted by PLRX

When I posted, I saw 300 and told him to go to an airport. Now I read your post, and you are 100% correct. I searched and found this:




YOU, OP, read it all wrong, it requires 222 lb-ft, but you read 300 NM

Um, #16 nut on #17 bolt?

Also, if this is the suspsension, that would make it a shock, not a strut.

[LATB]

Originally Posted by Yadkin

It's not Ford but the market. Trucks are huge today. All those alphas gotta prove themselves. And IQs keep getting smaller.

To access the transmission drain on my Porsche (80k service), first remove a frame cross member. Five good size bolts. The spec to reinstall is something like 75#-ft, then turn an additional 3/4 turn. So a common torque wrench, mark the bolt, then uses a cheap breaker bar.

Reasonably sized vehicle, serviced with reasonably sized tools.

Truck envy.

[Datawiz]

A 1/4" driver and socket should suffice.