98 Forester rear axle nut torque please

[davebugs]

I see 145 in thread.

 

My buddy says his book says 174 for a 2000 year model.

 

He also remembers stripping one when he worked for a used car dealer and didn't really "enjoy the experience".

 

Anyone offhand know what it is?

[subaru360]

German spec. Gutentight.

 

2 foot pipe to tighten. 4 foot pipe to remove.

 

Seriously.

[davebugs]

Sounds like an axle nut on my old VW bugs. 6' to 8' cheater bar and stand and bounce on it. A few years ago we broke a 3/4 snap-on breaker bar doing a bug axle nut. Snap-on guy couldn't believe it.

 

He's paranoid of stripping it out.

 

He said he did the 174 and it seemed to tighten up. He was afraid to go any further.

 

Thanks for the quick reply Tom.

[subaru360]

I've been doing it like that for years, no failures. Works for me. I have seen them come loose from lesser tightening methods than mine.

[SuBrat84]

German spec. Gutentight.

 

2 foot pipe to tighten. 4 foot pipe to remove.

 

Seriously.

 

I second that. However.. after breaking (twisting the drive off) a couple of Craftsmen 18" x 1/2" drive breaking bars... (trying to remove.) Yeah.. broken breaking bars.. heh.. Now, I use PB Blaster and my 1/2" drive electric impacting gun from harbor freight. (To remove.) Works like a charm. A 150 pound man 2ft away from the nut (2ft cheater pipe) would be applying "300 ft pounds" of torque. I know it's not accurate.. but if you're using the correct size socket and being careful this is a reliable method to get the castle nut tight.. I mean really.. it's not going to get much tighter than spec anyway.