Just had the rear wheel out of my XT660z for deep cleaning around the rear and now its time to put the rear wheel back on, but, do I torque wrench the rear 22 mm U-flange nut to 105nm or tighten to ��.as hard as you can without using the torque wrench��.

This isn�t the first time, in not using the torque, I�ve been told this this week as, apparently, using the specified wrench will overtighten the nut and thus be a real problem in undoing it at a later date, too, using the torque, at 105nm, will over tighten the nut as to ruin the bearings...


So, do you guys� torque to the correct setting or does doing it by hand give you more piece of mind or does both ways work okay�???

Thanks�

Have done in the past , but hey how many folk carry a torque wrench of in the wilds ???
Changed many tyres in the wilderness and never had a nut drop of !!! been away for civilisation a few time and got used to giveing the bike a once over often , get to know you bike , easy for me to say perhaps but i think it's a worthwhile habit

Phil

__________________
"I'm here for a good time, not a long time"

I use the torque wrench in completely the opposite fashion. I was always told if it feels tight by hand that is good enough. However, this would always lead to various kinds of damage striped threads, u name it, I've made a mess of it, with the safety net of always using a torque wrench set to a little under specification has led to less self inflicted damage.
Yes I carry a torque wrench with me or plan to when I finish Pleiades 'tube tube'. U can by some really small digital torque wrench that would fit in your pocket.

At home I tend to use the torque wrench once in a while, but not always. It helps get a feel for how much force you need to put on the nut to get it tight enough.
For 105Nm do not tighten it as hard as you can, it will be way overtightened. The only bike I ever had too use a decent amount of force to tighten the rear wheel nut was a TDM900 which for some reason required 150Nm.

You can train yourself to get a feel for it. Try it a couple of times with a torque wrench, then try it with a regular wrench/ratchet and check with the torque wrench.

It is better to have it a little looser than spec than tighter. You'd have to be way too loose before it becomes a problem, but it can be pretty easy to strip threads if you go too tight.