Any tips on torquing top strut nut down to spec?

[hepcats]

I'm in the process of switching out the stock struts and going with a set of bilsteins and was just curious if anyone had any tips on how to torque down the top strut nut down to spec (22ft lbs I believe). This is the nut where the bolt has an allen head key in it to prevent spinning when you tighten the nut down. Since my torque wrenches are all the standard socket wrench type, I can't access the allen key to keep the bolt from spinning, and therefore I'm not getting to 22ft. lbs before the rod starts spinning with every turn.

Thanks in advance!

 

[KooLaid]

It's called a "Crow foot" wrench. Remember, the reading on the torque wrench will be a bit lower than the actual torque being applied at the crow foot.

some cheap ones available at harbor freight. But still perfect for that application. $6.99 for a complete metric set

http://search.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/search.do?keyword=crowfoot&Submit=Go

The other option is to use an regular wrench and tighten it with the help of the allen wrench by hand. Once it's pretty tight, you can torque it down with a socket w/o it spinning.

 

[hepcats]

It's called a "Crow foot" wrench. Remember, the reading on the torque wrench will be a bit lower than the actual torque being applied at the crow foot.

Thanks KooLaid!! Much appreciated.

 

[KooLaid]

ACtually, I have the torque thing backwards. Figure 22lbs at the wrench ~26lbs at the bolt with the crow foot.

http://www.belknaptools.com/extcalc.asp

 

[hepcats]

Awesome calculator tool. I always wondered what the net effect of extensions would be on torque settings. Thanks again.

Btw, I realized tonight that I had a 5mm 3/8 allen head socket so I just used that with a box wrench around the nut and used the torque wrench counter-clockwise to get to 22lb setting. Don't know why I didn't think of that earlier.