I did a search and did not find what I was looking for. It is getting close to that time where I want to rotate my tires. I have the torque wrench, but now I need the right socket. I would like one that does not scratch the lug or the wheel. Is anyone out there using one, and where did they get it? I have seen some, but all larger sizes. Can anyone help?

 

im also interested! anyone?

 

Google "protective lug sockets". Lots of hits. I couldn't find the ones I have though.
FWIW... Discount Tires will rotate for free.

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=40035

 

The closest one is close to 600 miles away.

 

I found that already, but I think the size for the MINI is 14mm.

 

If they work (I'm not insinuating they won't) that's a great price. I went to buy a set of the Snap-on truck once... if I remember correctly, it was about 200 bucks for a 4 or 5 piece set of special sockets to do the same thing.

Other than a 17000 dollar toolbox from Snap-on, I've got at least 40K in tools. Usually they are from major manufacturers but for tools that I use hardly ever, tools from Harbor freight work fine.

In fact, I spent almost 300 bucks Friday at Harbor Freight for tools "that I'll hardly ever use"... lol.

Try those sockets, for that kind of money, I'm sure they'll work fine.

Mark

 

The thread is 14mm. The hex on the bolt is 17mm.

 

I have a bunch of tools from harbor freight. Things like sockets with no moving parts work great no problems what so ever.

 

Just take a plastic baggie and wrap your standard socket.

 

I found what I have. Grey Pneumatic. The 17mm extra thin wall is PN 2017MTP. 1/2'' Drive x 17mm E.T.W. Wheel/Nut Protector.

 

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...+socket+set.do

 

Thanks for the link Nate.

That Griots set looks very much like the set I bought from Harbor Freight for a whole lot less money. For what it's worth the Harbor freight set works well.

 

ty

 

Thanks for the link... they've got some cool stuff. Very cool.


Mark

 

Cool: Yes. Cheap: No.

 

I went this morning and got the harbor freight set. They are just what I was looking for and worked great. They were 29 dollars and some change.

 

19mm is the size you need. The ones that are cushioned on the inside will throw off your torque reading because the inside of the socket gives a bit. Try using masking tape.

 

I don't think the nylon insert on the inside of the socket will affect the torque readings, because the metal faces of the socket are still in direct metal-to-metal contact with the flats of the bolt. The nylon insert just protects the smooth face of the bolt head by keeping it from bottoming out against the bottom of the socket well.

The picture from the Griot's Garage link earlier in the thread shows a good picture of the insert in the socket.

 

I might as well ask this question here:

I used the factory jack to rotate the tires. I put it in the front jacking point and lifted it up high enough to lift both tires. The only problem I had was with the jack. It kept coming apart. Is it broke, or do they do this. It worked fine when it had weight on it, but when you were trying to get it to the right height to reach the bottom of the car it kept coming apart. It made me feel like it was a little dangerous.

 

Invest in a hydraulic floor jack, or, even better, two floor jacks. The MINI doesn't weigh very much, so you can get two small decent quality jacks for around $25-$40 each. I use the type with steel safety pins that prevent the jack from accidentally giving way once the car's jacked up. (although I never get under the car unless it's on jack stands or ramps!)

 

It doesn't matter what's in the socket, could be bubble gum. If the material inside is soft, it will keep compressing until it can exert a force enough to reach your desired torque on the lug.

 

Look at the picture again. Look at where the nylon insert is within the socket. More importantly, look at where it *isn't*. There's no nylon or any kind of liner on the *flats* of the socket where they contact the flats of the bolt - it's a direct metal-to-metal contact between the socket and the bolt.

The only force that the nylon insert could impose on the bolt is a totally longitudinal force along the bolt's axis, and such a force causes *no* torque whatsoever on the bolt. It's the same reason you can't turn a bolt by just pressing in on the bolt head - there's no torque.

You're not going to compress the nylon insert at all unless you're pressing the head of the torque wrench into the wheel, and even in that case, the pressure won't change the torque reading because such pressure doesn't exert any torque on the bolt.

EDIT - Here's another way of thinking about it. Take a regular deep socket with no nylon insert or anything like that. Now, drop a gumball into the socket and then use the socket to torque a bolt. You can torque the bolt to 50 lbf-ft, 100 lbf-ft, or 200 lbf-ft - it doesn't matter. As long as you're not pressing the socket into the bolt (which you shouldn't when torquing bolts anyway), you can tighten the bolt to any torque spec you want and you won't crush the gumball or even dent it. Likewise, the nylon insert in the Griot's socket doesn't experience any compressive force while you're torquing the bolt, so it doesn't exert any reactive force on either the torque wrench or the bolt.

 

Right. I was agreeing with you and not with the other poster. I guess quoting both probably wasn't clear.
You can put the gum all over inside the socket and it won't make a difference. It will either A) compress forever and never reach your required torque, or B) compress to the point where it will become static and stop compressing and exert an equal and opposite force to the lug at which point it will act like it's not there. Realistically it will continue to compress slowly as the lug is being torqued and both the lug and the gum will reach the target torque at the same time. As long as the wrench is turned slow and steady, as it should be no matter what, it should have a negligible effect on the result.
If the gum can't handle the ft-lbs of compression your are trying to reach, it can't affect the final reading in the first place. Clear as mud?

 

You're correct - if you're holding the wrench steady at a certain applied torque value, neither the wrench, the bolt, nor the liner will be in motion, so the net torque on all of the components must be zero. So if the torque wrench is reading 103 lb-ft, that's the torque that the wrench is applying on the liner, and that same torque is transmitted in full to the bolt. Likewise, the bolt will be exerting 103 lbf-ft on the liner, and the liner will be applying 103 lbf-ft on to the wrench.

If any of these values were different, it would cause a net torque on one or more of the parts, and that part would therefore have to move.

Good post - my initial gut instinct was that putting a liner on the *flats* of the socket would affect the torque readings, but that's not the case after all.