I got my SFC's installed last night. The guy did an awesome job. Good price and he stayed late to do them. My only problem is that when I left I got the knocking noise from the LCA bolts not being torqued down. He tightened them but didn't torque them. I firgured the guy did me a favor and I needed to get home, so I'd just tighten them at home. Problem is you can't get the torque wrench in there with the car on the ground. I figured out a solution - Use a crows foot on the end of the torque wrench but I didn't have an 18mm crows foot so I have to wait until I buy one today and get home. I have heard of a lot of people having to torque these down (to as much as 90 ft.lb.) but never heard anybody say anything about not being able to get the torque wrench in there. How is everybody else doing this. Or can you fit the torque wrench in there with the car on the lift.

 

The LCA bolts should be torqued to 65-75 Lbs. torque to nuts.

SteveC

 

The link on BMRs site says AS MUCH AS 90ftlb. But that isn't my question. My question is, has anybody had trouble getting thier torque wrench into that space or is my torque wrench some anomoly

 

Shoot an e-mail to Brian with Spectacle Solutions. He can tell you exactly what to torque those bolts to. If you get it wrong, you'll get a nasty popping sound.

brian@spectaclesolutions.net


Tell him Roger sent ya.

 

o.k. enough about the torque number, I already now what I am going to torque it to. As I said I was just wondering if anybody else has installed there own and had problems getting the torque wrench and socket onto the bolt.. I think my problem is that I have a 1/2" drive torque wrench (I.e. the big one) which means the sockets are bigger and the wrench won't clear parts of the frame.

 

try calling brian at the email address above

 

i didn't bother with a specific torque number. i just used a breaker bar and tightened them as much as i could. i'd say i probably got mine to 90-100 lbs without much effort.

the specific torque spec isn't all that important i don't think on something like that, more that the bracket is squeezed tight against the bushing.

try just a regular wrench and see if you can eliminate the banging before you worry bout putting it on a lift

 

I've used the crowfoot wrench in the past with excellent results, usally the crowfoot wrenches are 3/8" drive, which means you'll need a reducer on your 1/2" drive torque wrench. When I got my new Camaro I made up a boxed end wrench which uses a 1/2" drive.

Al
P.S. What brand of SFC are you using?

Here's a picture of the wrench I made.

 

BMRs
Sorry - just added it to my signature

 

mmannSS - I had the same problem as you. Couldn't get my 1/2" drive torque wrench in there. Because of that, I don't think I torqued them down enough the first time since I heard some rattles. Anyway, I just got a box-end wrench and torqued the crap out of it until I couldn't turn it anymore. Voila - no more crazy noises.

 

So I'm not crazy. Anyway, the crows foot didn't exactly work so I did what you (and some others) did and just torqued the hell out of it with a box wrench. I didn't want to have to buy a 3/8" torque wrench when this is probably the only time I would need it over my 1/2". I will probably try to get them torqued at some point (borrow a 3/8 torque wrench or something) but it doesn't bang/pop anymore.