Sump plug help

[Fishframe]

Originally Posted by drover

I'm not even sure its actually steel...............

I’d say it is considering they are magnetic !

[drover]

Originally Posted by SouthernComfort

Same with wheel nuts and all similar fasteners, torque wrench is your best friend. Rattle guns should be consigned to the garbage.

Rattle guns are good for spinning wheel nuts off just shouldn't use them to tension things up, most don't know how to use them properly and have the tension setting wrong, torque wrenches not set correctly can also have the same effect as a rattle gun, have had the tyre fellas out with a gas axe to cut some off..................

Originally Posted by Fishframe

I’d say it is considering they are magnetic !

Quite often a plug can be alloy and the magnet is a stud fixed to the end....

[SouthernComfort]

If nuts are torqued up properly a gun isn't needed to get them off. It's just a time saver for shops. I reckon many shops would leave the gun on 'one setting fits all' i.e. sledge hammer.

I lost a wheel off a 6x4 trailer some years ago, I was doing 90kph on a country road. Said wheel overtook me and thankfully threw itself over the verge into a paddock. The hub was not a pretty sight. When inspected later the conclusion was nuts over-tight, lugs had sheared. Trailer was only a year old, manufacturer fitted wheels with a rattler...

I've been paranoid about my nuts ever since! (pun intended).

[OLMATE]

When ever I get new tyres fitted I always crack the nuts loose once home and re torque them myself, far easier at home in the shed rather than struggling out on the open road miles from no where with limited tools

[Fishframe]

Originally Posted by OLMATE

When ever I get new tyres fitted I always crack the nuts loose once home and re torque them myself, far easier at home in the shed rather than struggling out on the open road miles from no where with limited tools

Exactly what I do. Better safe than sorry. And I check them again after 50 - 100 km’s.

[johnnywal]

A few years ago I had new tyres fitted to my then Territory before heading up the centre and down the west coast with van in tow. Got home after 15000 km to find my driver's side rear only had 3 nuts left, gave me a hell of a fright! Always check the GC and van wheels every couple of weeks when on the road ever since.
I had never lost a wheel nut in the previous 50 years to motoring before that

[drover]

Have always banged on about checking wheel nuts on van and vehicle, once the workshop said your truck is ready so I dumped the shitbox yard rig and climbed into my big Volvo and 1.5kms later just as I went thru the main street of town a set of duals came off into the paddock.....they forgot to tighten the nuts..........A mate was a day late getting to my place, he said he heard my voice when he realized his van had spat a wheel off, 10kms form home day after a service..............

Always check them after a service or tyre change before you leave the yard.....then you can demand some goodies if they are loose.


I followed a snail trail of oil once, took awhile but wasn't long till I spotted one of my mates on the side of the road and his truck with no oil, someone forgot to tighten the sump plug after the service, truck engines aren't cheap either...........don't assume a professional worked on your rig.