I just installed vance and hines pipes on my bike and was wondering how tight do you tighten the flange bolts. They wernt very tight when they came off. I dont have a torque wrench that small. I just got them as tight as i could for now. Are they not suppose to be tight?

Thanks

 

A proper torque wrench is a must. Do yourself a favor and buy one. Here are the torque instructions from the 2007 service manual for FXST/FLSTC/FXSTB/FXSTC bikes.

1. Tighten nuts at cylinder heads as follows:

a. Install upper nut and tighten finger tight.
b. Install lower nut and tighten to 9-18 in-lbs (1.0-2.0 Nm)
c. Tighten upper nut to 100-120 in-lbs (11.3-13.6 Nm)
d. Tighten lower nut to 100-120 in-lbs (11.3-13.6 Nm)

DJK

 

When I installed my V&H duals, I noticed the lack of a torque value on the instructions. I called V&H and was advised by a tech not to torque them down, but to tighten them until snug. I have done that and check them occassionally for tightness like every 1000 miles or so.

 

I've used a fish scale (scale for weighing the fish, not a scale off the fish) hooked on the handle of a ratchet or breaker-bar.

Hook it on the handle and pull the scale keeping it 90 deg to the handle as it turns.

If you hook it at a foot from the center of the socket and pull till the scale reads 5 pounds, you've tightened the nut or bolt to 5 ft-lbs or 60 in-lbs. 1 X 5 = 5 ft-lbs or 12 X 5 = 60 in-lbs.

If you hook the scale at 6" (.5 foot) and pull till the scale reads 10 lbs: .5 X 10 = 5 ft-lbs or 6 X 10 = 60 in-lbs.

The best accurracy is acheived when the scale is attached the furthest from the bolt as possible.

So if you can hook the scale at 9" and you need to hit 100 in-lbs: 100 in-lbs / 9 in = 11.1 lbs on the fish scale. If your scale doesn't go over the value you need to hit, you'll have to get a longer ratchet.

 

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Best advice here is to invest in a torque wrench and don't guess. You're dealing with metals that are not very forgiving in most instances on these bikes and one mistake will probably cost more to repair than the wrench would cost.

 

Snug has always worked for me. Even better than a fish scale.

 

but don't forget to re-torque after a 100 miles or so. I just did mine today after putting 100+ miles on the bike after installing the pipes. The definatley tightened up a bit more than I originally had em.

 

[sm=confused06.gif]Invest in a TQ wrench. If you ever do any kind of wrenching on your bike, like changing the oil in all three holes you should always TQ everything down to spec. Just my 2 cents.....

 

For the exhaust nuts...just use a 1/4 rachet with extensions and you're not going to have any trouble. You're not going to develop enough leverage with a small ratchet and one hand to destroy them. If they break while using the 1/4 rachet, they were going to break while using the torque wrench anyway. Those studs very rarely break.

Don't always rely on the torque wrench either...as some threads will be dry/rusty/corroded/lubed...etc. and the torque wrench may be off somewhat. Some places, a torque wrench will just not fit due to extremely small places. Most people do not have a torque wrench on the side of the road either...which is not a bad idea to have a feel for how tight it should be.

Like others have suggested, invest in a quality torque wrench. Good-N-Tight and the Caliberated Elbow work for the most part....but sometimes, they are just not good enough such as tightening headbolts.

If you ride an EVO or Twin Cam....get a torque wrench. If you ride a Shovelhead....well the two other methods work pretty well.