# What's the highest torque fastener you've ever encountered for auto repair? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [December 17, 2024, 12:16am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-the-highest-torque-fastener-youve-ever-encountered-for-auto-repair/198408 "2024-12-17T00:16:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 12:16am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-the-highest-torque-fastener-youve-ever-encountered-for-auto-repair/198408/1 "2024-12-17T00:16:07Z")
The front axle hub bolt on my VW Rabbit was 185 ft pounds as I recall. Has to be removed /tightened as part of CV joint maintenance, removing half shaft etc. . I had to stand on a long breaker bar at the appropriate distance for my weight. Got to thinking about this after reading a BMW requires 250 n m (about 185 ft lb) for a lower strut. My standing on the bar method wouldn’t work for that one. ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 12:20am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-the-highest-torque-fastener-youve-ever-encountered-for-auto-repair/198408/2 "2024-12-17T00:20:14Z")
147 ft lbs plus 180 degrees… seemed like 400 ft-lbs. 1/2 breaker bar with 3 feet of pipe and all my 230 plus pounds on the end. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 12:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-the-highest-torque-fastener-youve-ever-encountered-for-auto-repair/198408/3 "2024-12-17T00:38:50Z")
Loosening a bolt that’s tightened down at 85ft/Lb and been sitting for a while is going to be a lot higher then 85ft/Lb loosening. Easily double what it was torqued to. Not sure what the torque was suppose to be, but in Nam we had to change a flat on one of our 6x6 trucks. We had the breaker-bar and a 6’ pipe extension and 4 guys on the end of that thing before it finally broke loose. Great - Now only 9 more to go. Only good thing about it - it wasn’t monsoon season. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 1:14am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-the-highest-torque-fastener-youve-ever-encountered-for-auto-repair/198408/4 "2024-12-17T01:14:40Z")
Yeah axle nut. Long pipe. ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 2:24am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-the-highest-torque-fastener-youve-ever-encountered-for-auto-repair/198408/5 "2024-12-17T02:24:51Z")
some lug nuts are around 450ft-lbs . . . for class 8 vehicles ---
**Author:** ![davesmopar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/davesmopar/32/41750_2.png) [@davesmopar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davesmopar)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 3:59am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-the-highest-torque-fastener-youve-ever-encountered-for-auto-repair/198408/6 "2024-12-17T03:59:57Z")
800 ft-lbs. for the lug nuts on the Lull forklifts…IIRC, it was a 6 foot torque wrench, broke it 3 times when the lug nut would pop… used a breaker bar and pipe after that… lol It was a rigid frame dial type torque wrench and the needle kept falling off from the massive jar of the lug nut popping while turning/tightening, you had to have someone watching the needle cause you could not see it from the handle it was so long… After breaking 3 of them (very expensive), we went back to the old German good-n-tight torque specs…