that's interesting....I find it a bit scary

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Cathleen
First that moose was about 8 feet off the road and munching away on the vegetation so no telephoto needed. We told some fellow campers where and when we saw him the next day and they drove up there. Yup came back out of heavy timber about the same time and four vehicles with quiet respective folks got all the photos they wanted then drove away and he was still there.
Second I very much doubt that you’ll have any lug nuts come off in 28 miles. As you leave Chilliwack you could check them with any 13/16 socket on a half inch drive and ascertain that they are “tight”. Then using the conventional “star” pattern at your first stop even them up if they are off of the desired 95 ft lbs. at least 95 is what is desired by most folks.
It will all work out. Did I ever tell you about the time……….
Iowa Dave

 

[Ron in BC]

Second I very much doubt that you’ll have any lug nuts come off in 28 miles. As you leave Chilliwack you could check them with any 13/16 socket on a half inch drive and ascertain that they are “tight”.

I have several torque wrenches but if I ended up without one I wouldn't worry. I learned years ago that my arms pushing firmly on the end of a breaker bar came very close to the desired torque. What you're likely to find the first few times, maybe once or twice, is that a couple of lug nuts are slightly less than they should be. But there's certainly no danger of the wheel falling off.

It will all work out. Did I ever tell you about the time……

Iowa Dave

Many times Dave, many times. ;D

Ron

 

[Cathleen Shea]

It will all work out. Did I ever tell you about the time……….
Iowa Dave

Heehee... thank you, Dave. Great comfort and kind support.

I went looking for a moose during our NY years, only came away with a photo of bear poop on a dirt road in the Adirondacks.

Star pattern! Right. I vaguely recall watching my dad do that configuration in lug tightening. We got this...

 

[GinoandLinda]

Star pattern! Right. I vaguely recall watching my dad do that configuration in lug tightening. We got this...

You're going to do fine. Towing a camper is a learning experience. You're off to a great start by asking questions, but there is nothing like getting out there and doing it. Take your time, don't let anybody rush you and keep a sense of humor.

Like you said, you got this.

 

[Cathleen Shea]

You're going to do fine. Towing a camper is a learning experience. You're off to a great start by asking questions, but there is nothing like getting out there and doing it. Take your time, don't let anybody rush you and keep a sense of humor.

Like you said, you got this.

Nancy and I are blessed with humor. We still giggle at phrases like "torque your nuts."

 

[MrLynn]

Re torque wrenches, I finally broke down and bought one for our Escape, not for lug nuts but for the trailer ball. On our Casita ours came loose, and while standing on a pipe wrench fixed it well enough, I read that you needed 250 foot-pounds, so I figured with this heavier trailer I should have a proper wrench.

For lug nuts I always carried the old-fashioned 4-way cross wrench in my cars, and that always worked fine. But now that I've got the big torque wrench, I check my lugs with that—and they always pass.

 

[Cathleen Shea]

Being of smaller stature... I need all the help I can get for cranking on wrenches. Good stuff to know. Thank you, Mr. Lynn. ��

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

if you need XX ft-lbs torque, you don't want to use a wrench that has a highest setting much over 4X that value. so a wrench that can do 250 ft-lbs, I would not want to use for anything less than 250/4 = 62 ft-lbs.

for something like the trailer hitch ball mount, I turn the towbar sideways, put a 3/4" breaker bar on it with the correct size socket such that the handle is basically level, and if the breaker bar handle is 4 feet long, I put 250 lbs / 4 onto the end of the handle. if its 3' long, then 250 lbs / 3 = 85 lbs. I weigh 220 lbs, so applying that kind of force isn't hard if its 'downwards'. It only has to be close, not exact. measure the handle length from the center of the socket to the center of where you are putting the weight on it, not the tip, so a typical 40" long breaker bar, figure on 36" = 3 feet.

 

[Cathleen Shea]

Holy cats! There's math involved???

But seriously, thank you. Now, I need to go find a diagram to learn what the heck the "towbar" is, and... when I might have to ever remove the towball?

Which, in our case, maybe never? As our E19 is all we own, and all we will ever tow.

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

what I called the towbar is actually properly called the tow ball mount. its the bar that fits into the receiver in your tow vehicles bumper and holds the ball.

I've only had to install a ball when I bought the ball and ball mount separately, or I was changing the ball for various reasons.

 

[Mike G]

I went looking for a moose during our NY years, only came away with a photo of bear poop on a dirt road in the Adirondacks.

So... that bear left you a message, and the message was, "Scat!"

 

[Cathleen Shea]

what I called the towbar is actually properly called the tow ball mount. its the bar that fits into the receiver in your tow vehicles bumper and holds the ball.

I've only had to install a ball when I bought the ball and ball mount separately, or I was changing the ball for various reasons.

Ah, thank you for the clarification. I was finding pictures of the bars of the trailer tongue.

I'm feeling confident that ETI will see us out the door properly outfitted. If not, we're staying at the Ooestema Farmstead for 6 days. Well within reach of ETI. The border guards will get to know my shiny red Tacoma right quick. Haha!

 

[Ron in BC]

Holy cats! There's math involved???

.

Not for me. The odd time that I have to tighten something large like a ball I just put about a 3' piece of pipe on a breaker bar and reef hard on it. Been doing that since I was a teenager and never had a problem.

Smaller stuff I'm more careful with, especially lug size or smaller because it is possible to snap a stud. As many old timers will remember when they first encountered the LH threads on Chrysler products.

Ron

 

[Cathleen Shea]

So... that bear left you a message, and the message was, "Scat!"

LOLOLOL Too true.

Well, when we lived in Binghamton, NY... NE side of town... I learned about industrious suburban bears, and why one mustn't leave a 50 gallon trashcan filled with birdseed, on the back deck. That bad boy ate aaalllll the bagged seed, bent three iron poles double to eat the feeder stock... and then... then...

Yep, I learned that bears do not exclusively shít in the woods.

If I knew how to post photos... I'd show you. ~

 

[Cathleen Shea]

As many old timers will remember when they first encountered the LH threads on Chrysler products.

Ron

We had Fords (until I bought a Toyota). My dad used to lift me up into the engine compartment on his truck and hand me a wrench. But I was a very tiny 5-yr-old... I rarely got a nut to turn on my own.

 

[Iowa Dave]

In the service station we worked on whatever came in. All the adults I worked with were World War I or II or Korean War vets and most of the customers too. They knew and used every field expediency adaptation I’ve ever seen. An education from 60 years ago held up for me for Life. And I appreciate it every day.

We changed trailer hitch balls for customers from 1 7/8 to 2 inch to 2 5/16 I think it was. Before long people with multiple trailers just bought a second or third stinger. And the “turnover” stingers with two or three balls became popular. It all happened as people got more money, more toys and wheel diameters increased on trailers so rise and drop stingers with the correct ball for the trailer at hand became the choice of the day.
That’s how it happened for me. YMMV
Iowa Dave

 

[Cathleen Shea]

Learning to survive after facing the atrocities of war leads to all kinds of adaptation. I've been at it for 30 years now. But just the one ball.

 

[GinoandLinda]

...we're staying at the Ooestema Farmstead for 6 days. Well within reach of ETI. The border guards will get to know my shiny red Tacoma right quick. Haha!

We stayed at Oostema Farmstead when we picked up our 5.0. Good people there.

 

[MrLynn]

Not for me. The odd time that I have to tighten something large like a ball I just put about a 3' piece of pipe on a breaker bar and reef hard on it. Been doing that since I was a teenager and never had a problem.

Smaller stuff I'm more careful with, especially lug size or smaller because it is possible to snap a stud. As many old timers will remember when they first encountered the LH threads on Chrysler products.

Ron

I snapped a stud on my 1965 Plymouth Belvedere Wagon. It was frozen, so I used the pipe on the breaker bar. I don't think I was turning it the wrong way. . .

 

[Cathleen Shea]

We stayed at Oostema Farmstead when we picked up our 5.0. Good people there.

They've been really kind in email. I'm looking forward to meeting them in person. We're going to spend two nights prior to trailer pick up day in their farm cabin, then six nights in our new home, Scooter.