Used and Abused by an Eagle Talon

On the other site I started a thread about the amount of strength it takes to wrench on cars.

A lot of the discussion went to the proper use of tools which I'm still a big fan of but I'm brused all the way up my arms working on a clutch replacement on a Talon.
I'm not complaining but to think it doesn't take a lot of upper body strength training to do this job is insane.

I busted a lot of the bolts by positioning the breaker bar on them and used my foot to push the bar poping bolts with the strenght in my leg.

I know the more I do this the stronger I will get but maybe some free weights would help? :20:

I can definitely say that I am thankful for my strength when it comes to wrenching on cars. Makes things a hell of a lot easier for sure. Were you wearing gloves? I've found that mechanic's gloves are very helpful when you need to apply a little more pressure with your hands.

I use my lower body strength as much as I can when working on cars. I honestly can't even explain my own strength at times.

Im with Tyla. When it comes to brute force, I like being a big guy. When I was changing my engine mounts, my M18 Milwaukee 3/8 impact couldn't break the top mount bolts free (driver side). I put a tire-iron on them and broke them free by hand. There are the times that the brute force has broken shit too tho. ;)

I don't even use wrenches, I break that shit loose with my fingers.

LOL, thats part of one of my mottos. "When all else fails, use brute force."

make leverage your bitch! my motto.




i did build an engine whith a broken hand and the heads were a pita. i also cracked a rib breaking loose a flywheel bolt.

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Originally Posted by BigTyla

I can definitely say that I am thankful for my strength when it comes to wrenching on cars. Makes things a hell of a lot easier for sure. Were you wearing gloves? I've found that mechanic's gloves are very helpful when you need to apply a little more pressure with your hands.

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Gloves also keep your knuckles safe from cuts and gouges in the event you are wrenching on a bolt and it lets go.

Brute force... eh. It can be helpful sometimes, but other times I find it causes as many problems as it solves. (Broken bolts, stripped heads, etc.) Far more important than force, is simply having the RIGHT TOOL for a given job. I can't count the number of times in my life where I've tried to remove a bolt from some awkward place or something, using the tools at my disposal, and it'll be a complete bitch. Then, after struggling and swearing for awhile, you hop in the car, head to autozone, buy the right tool, and it takes two seconds to get the job done.

I've been doing this for 50 years now. There is no problem so large, complex or difficult that it can not be solved with brute force and ignorance. If nothing else, the now broken part(s) will uncover the root cause of the problem. And the professional you hire will have a lot less trouble finding the root cause of the problem. ROFLMAO

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Originally Posted by Alex3000gt

Gloves also keep your knuckles safe from cuts and gouges in the event you are wrenching on a bolt and it lets go.

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Yep. My hands have loved me ever since I got my first pair of gloves. The only bad thing about them is when I want to get my fingers on a bolt to loosen or tighten. If I ever need to do something like that it's as easy as taking the gloves off for a minute.

A ratcheting breaker bar can be one of your best friends...

http://www.etoolscity.com/products/Neiko/R00334A.jpg

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Originally Posted by UTRacerX9

Brute force... eh. It can be helpful sometimes, but other times I find it causes as many problems as it solves. (Broken bolts, stripped heads, etc.) Far more important than force, is simply having the RIGHT TOOL for a given job. I can't count the number of times in my life where I've tried to remove a bolt from some awkward place or something, using the tools at my disposal, and it'll be a complete bitch. Then, after struggling and swearing for awhile, you hop in the car, head to autozone, buy the right tool, and it takes two seconds to get the job done.

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^^This +1, but you can also rent tool, or try Harbor Freight. Or simply do what my wife does and get your husband to take care of it! :biggrin:

Brute force is awesome. Had a seized rear toe bolt on the VR-4... The guy at the alignment shop broke his fancy-pants snap-on box wrench in half. I took it home and brute forced it with the two wrenches trick. :lol: Brute force also cost me a few hours on a turbo pull because I broke off turbo bolts...

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Originally Posted by Roybatty

^^This +1, but you can also rent tool, or try Harbor Freight. Or simply do what my wife does and get your husband to take care of it! :biggrin:

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My problem is that I always think to myself, sure, I could go rent the tool... But I just KNOW I'll need one of these again someday... ;)

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Originally Posted by BigTyla

I can definitely say that I am thankful for my strength when it comes to wrenching on cars. Makes things a hell of a lot easier for sure. Were you wearing gloves? I've found that mechanic's gloves are very helpful when you need to apply a little more pressure with your hands.

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No, I need a pair of gloves but it's been hard finding a pair that fit the way I want. I guess I just need to stop being so picky.

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Originally Posted by stealthee

I use my lower body strength as much as I can when working on cars. I honestly can't even explain my own strength at times.

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If I could use my foot and legs to break everything loose I wouldn't have no problems. LOL

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Originally Posted by KPZVR4

Im with Tyla. When it comes to brute force, I like being a big guy. When I was changing my engine mounts, my M18 Milwaukee 3/8 impact couldn't break the top mount bolts free (driver side). I put a tire-iron on them and broke them free by hand. There are the times that the brute force has broken shit too tho. ;)

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I have a Bosh 1/2 inch impact driver but sometimes you can't get that baby in where you need it either. The other night I couldn't use it because the frane was bent towards the bold head and I couldn't get the socket on. :MikeB:

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Originally Posted by green-lantern

I don't even use wrenches, I break that shit loose with my fingers.

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Of course you can..you are the Green-Lantern.

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Originally Posted by gltasn

i did build an engine whith a broken hand and the heads were a pita. i also cracked a rib breaking loose a flywheel bolt.

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I really don't want to break bones either. OUCH!

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Originally Posted by UTRacerX9

Brute force... eh. It can be helpful sometimes, but other times I find it causes as many problems as it solves. (Broken bolts, stripped heads, etc.) Far more important than force, is simply having the RIGHT TOOL for a given job. I can't count the number of times in my life where I've tried to remove a bolt from some awkward place or something, using the tools at my disposal, and it'll be a complete bitch. Then, after struggling and swearing for awhile, you hop in the car, head to autozone, buy the right tool, and it takes two seconds to get the job done.

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I'm still learning about what tools to use when but I'm getting it quickly. Work smarter not harder!

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Originally Posted by BigTyla

Yep. My hands have loved me ever since I got my first pair of gloves. The only bad thing about them is when I want to get my fingers on a bolt to loosen or tighten. If I ever need to do something like that it's as easy as taking the gloves off for a minute.

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That's my problem with the gloves. I want to be fingering everything while I'm working on it. I will have to make an effort to put them on when I need to.

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Originally Posted by 93STLTH

A ratcheting breaker bar can be one of your best friends...

http://www.etoolscity.com/products/Neiko/R00334A.jpg

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We have one at the shop but it dosen't ratchet...Christmas list!

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Originally Posted by Roybatty

^^This +1, but you can also rent tool, or try Harbor Freight. Or simply do what my wife does and get your husband to take care of it! :biggrin:

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Hubby isn't around to help out here and I don't want to keep getting DJ to help me because then he has to stop working on what he's doing. It kind of defeats the purpose of me helping out.

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Originally Posted by Granny

I want to be fingering everything while I'm working on it.

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Must resist temptation .. must resist ......

Seriously .. I decided long ago, if you need the tool, get it.
Sure, I have some I'll only use once in a blue moon, and thankful it was in the tool box to find.
But once I got it .. so much more better
Breaker bars are my best friend at times
That, and an impact driver

I hate stripped, broken or rounded fasteners.
They so badly slow your progress
If its stuck, lube it with 50/50 acetone & brake fluid
Take a breath, lube it again & will it off

This thread could digress quickly. First Granny is talking about fingering, now EZ is talking about lube. :lol:

I can do cock push-ups also

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Originally Posted by green-lantern

I can do cock push-ups also

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:inout:

Unsubscribed....


:bigthumb:

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Originally Posted by stealthee

This thread could digress quickly. First Granny is talking about fingering, now EZ is talking about lube. :lol:

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Originally Posted by green-lantern

I can do cock push-ups also

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LOL

WOT, stroke, nuts, blow-off valve, throttle body, drive shaft...etc the wife is always cracking up listening to me talk about what I am working on on the car.

love being able to pick up a awd tranny bymyself makes one person installs easier :)

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Originally Posted by nodoze

love being able to pick up a awd tranny bymyself makes one person installs easier :)

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So you pick up trannies often?

It wouldn't be my thread if we didn't get OT with some dirty car talk. LOL

yea pick them up all the time, usually pretty dirty ones that no one else will touch

I can do that too. I just have to use my engine hoist. But I only need one hand to pump it and lift the trans. I can even lift a complete engine/trans with one hand. So there.

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Originally Posted by nodoze

love being able to pick up a awd tranny bymyself makes one person installs easier :)

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I'm still a fan of bench pressing the trans, but I'm far from strong. Do NOT underestimate the value of having small fingers and arms in a 3S engine bay. Use the right tools, your legs when necessary, and you'll be able to do things these burly guys literally can't ;)

my last two installs i have used a engine hoist but i stil let them down with bench pressing it . seems easier that way.

Those of you without air tools.... you guys are MISSING OUT!!!

Seriously... 3/8 and 1/2 air ratchets, these guys are amazing. You just have to be extremely careful when tightening, or use a plain old hand ratchet for that.

The majority of time you just use em for breaking rusty crap off. Between air tools and acetylene I haven't run across anything I can't brute force.... yet...

I've often wondered how mortals break some of this stuff loose.

You have to be careful with using brute force though.. I learned the hard way when I was working at 3SX. I was working late one night on my car, modifying my rear turbo. I was trying to get the compressor housing back on, and it wasn't going. So, I broke out the crow bar. I was pulling the crow bar towards me, while leaning in over the engine, and the bar slipped and the end (mangled from hitting it with a hammer) hit me square in the face.. right between my eye and my nose. Thank God it wasn't a hair to the right, I would have lost an eye..

After my trip to the ER, and looking at why my compressor housing wasn't going back in.. it wouldn't have worked no matter how hard I tried! It was a 13g housing and a 9b cartridge!

So, before using brute force, make sure what you're trying to do will work anyway. :)

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Originally Posted by marshallh

Those of you without air tools.... you guys are MISSING OUT!!!

Seriously... 3/8 and 1/2 air ratchets, these guys are amazing. You just have to be extremely careful when tightening, or use a plain old hand ratchet for that.

The majority of time you just use em for breaking rusty crap off. Between air tools and acetylene I haven't run across anything I can't brute force.... yet...

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Hard to get air tools in some tight spaces. This is coming from someone who has air tools.

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Originally Posted by EZnTn

Must resist temptation .. must resist ......

Seriously .. I decided long ago, if you need the tool, get it.
Sure, I have some I'll only use once in a blue moon, and thankful it was in the tool box to find.
But once I got it .. so much more better
Breaker bars are my best friend at times
That, and an impact driver

I hate stripped, broken or rounded fasteners.
They so badly slow your progress
If its stuck, lube it with 50/50 acetone & brake fluid
Take a breath, lube it again & will it off

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I keep forgetting about Acetone. :boing:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by marshallh

Those of you without air tools.... you guys are MISSING OUT!!!

Seriously... 3/8 and 1/2 air ratchets, these guys are amazing. You just have to be extremely careful when tightening, or use a plain old hand ratchet for that.

The majority of time you just use em for breaking rusty crap off. Between air tools and acetylene I haven't run across anything I can't brute force.... yet...

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Originally Posted by BigTyla

Hard to get air tools in some tight spaces. This is coming from someone who has air tools.

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We have air tools and I have my battery impact driver and it's great when you can make them work but often it's too tight.

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Originally Posted by vr3.9

I've often wondered how mortals break some of this stuff loose.

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We don't but you wouldn't know about that would you? LOL poke:

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Originally Posted by SilverBullet

You have to be careful with using brute force though.. I learned the hard way when I was working at 3SX. I was working late one night on my car, modifying my rear turbo. I was trying to get the compressor housing back on, and it wasn't going. So, I broke out the crow bar. I was pulling the crow bar towards me, while leaning in over the engine, and the bar slipped and the end (mangled from hitting it with a hammer) hit me square in the face.. right between my eye and my nose. Thank God it wasn't a hair to the right, I would have lost an eye..

After my trip to the ER, and looking at why my compressor housing wasn't going back in.. it wouldn't have worked no matter how hard I tried! It was a 13g housing and a 9b cartridge!

So, before using brute force, make sure what you're trying to do will work anyway. :)

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Ouch! Noted....


Last night I did better. The tranny was on the floor by 11 pm.
I'm trying to remember all the tips coming my way when I can apply them.
I need some better ratchets with a longer reach for more leverage.
I just love to have an excuse to buy new stuff.
Two nights a week of this is better then going to the gym. :lol:

i have to say my matco 3/8 drive and 1/2 drive cordeless impacts are a godsend makes work so much faster