Finally broke my trusty Harbor Freight breaker bar

[rust in the eye]

Harbor freight sells a 25" long 1/2" breaker bar for just over twenty bones so I bit a few years ago.
It has removed all sorts of very tight fasteners since. It is a bit bendy, sometimes scary wrap it in a towel bendy but always did the job. It has removed the crankshaft dampener bolts on BMW engines (euphemistically referred to as the Jesus bolt) which are tightened to something like 300# and only Jesus knows the breakaway torque. It has removed or broken anything in its way.
Lug bolts of all things finally did it in. Some ham handed, mega impact wrench equipped "mechanic" tightened the lug bolts to some astronomical amount. This 25" bar along with an old motorcycle fork tube(my favorite cheater) was required to get them off. The bar failed at the 20th and final bolt! It did break that last bolt free so gave its life for a successful mission.
HF gladly exchanged it for new one. The guy was a bit wide eyed when he saw it snapped in two.

EDIT: Just as an aside; WTF does this? Nobody has a chance in hell of a roadside tire change after some numbnuts gorilla overtightens things like this. Especially given the piss poor tire changing tools in most cars. $%&$& assholes!

 

[cgrutt]

Wow snapped in two? That's always been my fear with HF and other inexpensive tools you're lucky sounds like it could have caused catastrophic injury.

I saw a video once of a barbell failing like that. Of course it had an astronomical a
amount of weight on it at time of failure but the unfortunate lifter immediately impaled himself in the neck and died pretty much instantly. I bought IVANKO bars that were tested for voids and other imperfections in steel dispite knowing I'd never put that much weight on them. The bars were ridiculously expensive due to the testing and quality of steel used. Something of the order of 10x the price of a standard bar. That's sort of been my philosophy with buying Snap on vs cheaper imports (mostly) over the years. Had a USA made tool shatter years ago that put a piece of chrome flake through my best friend's eye. Fortunately he's OK bud did undergo several surgeries to repair the damage cause by the failed tool. I've cracked Snap on sockets before but never in two. Anyway sorry for long story glad you're OK.

 

[rust in the eye]

"snapped in two" perhaps paints a different picture of equal halves. I might have phrased this better. It broke right at the swivel end. It gave plenty warning, it had already bent permanently about 15* loosening the others. I was ready for it but it was still a big jerk to my spine when it let loose.
The cheater pipe added another 20" or so leverage. The end I was pushing was easily 45* from the business end. I was far enough away that I didn't bother wrapping the failure point to contain it. Your story about the chrome flake reminds me I should be safer. Eye surgery is no fun.

 

[JeepYJ]

20” cheater? Pffft. A 3’ jack handle is the minimum length by osha standards, that keeps you away from three carnage.

 

[CR888]

Well they are so cheap at HF and u were handed a replacement easily I think that's pretty good. I just find most of the Taiwan price range 25" 1/2"-drive breaker bars a little too flimsy, too much flex. I much prefer to get a 3/4"-drive bar and use a quality adapted to run 1/2" sockets. The 3/4 bars are much thicker and just don't flex like rubber

 

[rust in the eye]

I can't resist telling my favorite cheater bar story;
I needed to remove the dampener from a Buick V-8 many year ago to replace the timing set. I removed the crank bolt and put on the puller which uses three bolts through a yoke threaded into the hub of the dampener where the pulley would attach, a central acme screw then bears against the crank snout.
I was struggling to get it to move so tried a longer bar but still it would NOT budge. My father in law(God bless him) came up with a heavy wall pipe about 5' long which I applied along with all my weight hanging and bouncing on it. It finally let loose with a tremendous bang.
I had missed the washer under the bolt which was buried in dirt and grease so I was pushing against the washer, not the crank. The dampener had exploded with the forces applied against itself. My Buick parts man had a good laugh.

 

[dutchgray]

20” cheater? Pffft. A 3’ jack handle is the minimum length by osha standards, that keeps you away from three carnage.

Have put 10' tubes over 3/4" breaker bars.
Or just pushed on it with an excavator bucket.

 

[rust in the eye]

Have put 10' tubes over 3/4" breaker bars.
Or just pushed on it with an excavator bucket.

Crude but effective

 

[JeepYJ]

HF 3/4” breakers are a good deal too.

3/4 in. Drive 20 in. Quick Release Breaker Bar

Amazing deals on this 3/4In Dr 20In Quick Release Breaker Bar at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[moon_tanner]

That's wild. My 1/2" HF Breaker Bar has been around for 10 years or so and helped me take down several transmissions that had subframe bolts bound to place by years of Colorado winters.

 

[cherrybomb]

That is a great safety tip to wrap the socket and anvil with a shop rag.Another is check the lugs after tire work,if their not correct,this is the time and to carefully and professionally school the tech on proper techniques and torque values.

 

[JeepYJ]

this is the time and to carefully and professionally school the tech on proper techniques and torque values.

After doing your teaching I’d never go back there again unless you want your lug nuts and wheels Loc-tited and JB Welded and installed with a 1200 ft lb impact gun, cross threaded of course.

 

[txvwnut]

Back when I had my veedub shop full time I would break a Snapon half inch breaker bar about every two months. My dealer finally asked me how I was managing to break the best tool on the market. I showed him the nut that holds the rear brake drum on and told him the torque spec. He said he would only warranty my breaker for the value against a 3/4" drive setup to use on the drum nuts. I ain't broke that 3/4" drive rig yet and I've had it for close to forty years.

 

[rust in the eye]

this is the time and to carefully and professionally school the tech on proper techniques and torque values.

Tech, huh?
The only educating I'd like to give the clown that did this is a hard kick in the nuts.

 

[dnschmidt]

Breaker bars? What are they? Milwaukee High-Torque, Dewalt DCF900 and if air is handy ASTRO Thor and Aircat 1250K. Damn cavemen.

 

[BombShelter]

BMW (and maybe others, I don't know) Lug Nuts will not turn if you don't do take them off a little at a time. If you take four out, the last one will not want to turn at all, something binds the heck out of it.

With snow tire season I've learned my lesson, several times......

 

[rust in the eye]

BMW (and maybe others, I don't know) Lug Nuts will not turn if you don't do take them off a little at a time. If you take four out, the last one will not want to turn at all, something binds the heck out of it.

With snow tire season I've learned my lesson, several times......

Never experienced this myself. I always crack them all loose and usually spin out at least three before lifting the car.
The wheels are "hubcentric" so a tight fit to the hub. If only one bolt is tight I could see the wheel itself maybe being a tiny bit cocked on the hub but don't understand why the last bolt would be tougher to undo.
I'll keep this thought in the back of my feeble mind and experiment next tire swap.
EDIT: See post #30

 

[rooster59]

Every time anything comes back from the tire shop, every lug-nut gets loosened and tightened again with a t-wrench. Learned that lesson the hard way long ago.

 

[VolvoRyan]

Back when I had my veedub shop full time I would break a Snapon half inch breaker bar about every two months. My dealer finally asked me how I was managing to break the best tool on the market. I showed him the nut that holds the rear brake drum on and told him the torque spec. He said he would only warranty my breaker for the value against a 3/4" drive setup to use on the drum nuts. I ain't broke that 3/4" drive rig yet and I've had it for close to forty years.

What's the torque spec on those brake drums? Volvo used a stupid tight nut to hold the front hubs on 740/940's. Myself and a mentor each broke a Snap-On bar on those. 3/4" is the way to go.

After a repair, the late-1970's Snap-On bar still lives.

-Ryan

 

[VolvoRyan]

HF 3/4” breakers are a good deal too.

3/4 in. Drive 20 in. Quick Release Breaker Bar

Amazing deals on this 3/4In Dr 20In Quick Release Breaker Bar at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

Just buy the Tekton 40-incher.

-Ryan

 

[JeepYJ]

Just buy the Tekton 40-incher.

-Ryan

That’s 3x the money, 4x if you have a coupon at HF! Or get the Icon 36” for about the same money with a coupon

3/4 in. Drive Professional 36 in. Breaker Bar

Amazing deals on this 3/4In Dr 36In Quick Release Breaker Bar at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[kody1234]

I trade with Discount Tire they all ways use torque wrench.

 

[Kuma601]

That breaker bar served you well.

The tire shops I use hand torque the lugs with a proper torque wrench. I'm suspicious what they set them at though so far, they do it within the 76#'s for the Toyota Alu wheels. AAA in So. Cal the tow driver has a battery operated impact. I didn't like when he retorqued the wheel with it but in an emergency, I'm not going to make a stink on the side of the road in some so-so area. Back at home it wasn't gorilla level excessive tight and each lug broke free at similar effort so at least it was consistent.

 

[zendriver]

Harbor freight sells a 25" long 1/2" breaker bar for just over twenty bones so I bit a few years ago.
It has removed all sorts of very tight fasteners since. It is a bit bendy, sometimes scary wrap it in a towel bendy but always did the job. It has removed the crankshaft dampener bolts on BMW engines (euphemistically referred to as the Jesus bolt) which are tightened to something like 300# and only Jesus knows the breakaway torque. It has removed or broken anything in its way.
Lug bolts of all things finally did it in. Some ham handed, mega impact wrench equipped "mechanic" tightened the lug bolts to some astronomical amount. This 25" bar along with an old motorcycle fork tube(my favorite cheater) was required to get them off. The bar failed at the 20th and final bolt! It did break that last bolt free so gave its life for a successful mission.
HF gladly exchanged it for new one. The guy was a bit wide eyed when he saw it snapped in two.

EDIT: Just as an aside; WTF does this? Nobody has a chance in hell of a roadside tire change after some numbnuts gorilla overtightens things like this. Especially given the piss poor tire changing tools in most cars. $%&$& assholes!

I have that same breaker bar. Probably fine, but I did not like how it flexed.

Sits like new, unused now, as I just went and purchased their cheapie 3/4" breaker bar and socket adapters.

No flex with that beast even with a cheater pipe.

 

[woody 73]

This post made me laugh, I thought my son was changing his oil, but as it turns out he was sneaking to the corner oil place to have then do it. Turns out my son asked me to get the bolt out of his oil pan and even after the longest cheater pipe I could find that darn bolt would not budge.

I said to my son, how tight did you get that on the oil pan and that's when he told me the shop did the job! So, I said Well son looks like you need to go back and have them take it off for you. Needless to say, I think he learned a lesson that day. I wonder if they used an air impact on it???

 

[txvwnut]

What's the torque spec on those brake drums? Volvo used a stupid tight nut to hold the front hubs on 740/940's. Myself and a mentor each broke a Snap-On bar on those. 3/4" is the way to go.

After a repair, the late-1970's Snap-On bar still lives.

-Ryan

217ftlbs, but after a few years of driving in the elements the breakaway torque can be double that or more sometimes.

 

[MikeC55]

I also have that same breaker bar and the bending just gave me the willies. It just takes up space in the toolbox...

 

[BombShelter]

I was thinking you were talking about the BMW but yea, it's pretty common, I have enough of a sample set to prove my theorum and I've found similar threads on forums with the issue. I think it's when it's on the ground getting them initially cracked, if you loosen four too much the fifth won't budge.

 

[General Geoff]

Just buy the Tekton 40-incher.

-Ryan

Thought about getting one of those. Ended up with a Titan 1-inch drive, with a 40" handle. I like overkill

 

[rust in the eye]

I was thinking you were talking about the BMW but yea, it's pretty common, I have enough of a sample set to prove my theorum and I've found similar threads on forums with the issue. I think it's when it's on the ground getting them initially cracked, if you loosen four too much the fifth won't budge.

So after reading the posts here regarding this phenomenon I decided to experiment. Yesterday I needed to swap out all four tires/wheels on one of my BMWs. I loosened and completely removed 4 of the bolts first before attempting the last one which needed no more effort than the others. I did this with the weight on the wheels and with the wheels off the ground. I am unable to duplicate what has been discussed.
OH! I decided to scram my bendy HF breaker bar and bought the Icon 25" bar. Haven't given it the acid test yet but in the task above it didn't flex a bit.

 

[CR888]

Just as 1/2" is a big step up in strength over 3/8" drive tools going to 3/4" is a BIG step up, the anvil is huge like 3 or 4x the mass of 1/2". And the 3/4" breaker bars are often sold in 20" which is both perfect for storage and perfect for cheater pipe extensions. I like 1" drive too but socketry and accessories gets very expensive. Plus I don't ever work in heavy machinery.

 

[cvairwerks]

Bought the Icon 3/4" bar to get some lugs off of one of my trucks. Turned it into a pretzel. Had to use an extension, support it with a floor jack and then jump up and down on it til the nuts broke free. I was probably well in excess of 1500 lb/ft while bouncing on it. Funny thing was I'd just had tire put on it the day before and the lugs were zipped down, but finished via torque wrench. Ended up having to use a pencil grinder to cut three of the nuts to break them off.

 

[Steve_P]

I have the Pittsburg 25" breaker bar as well- the old/cheap style without the forked/yoke end on the handle. These are super flexy because they neck down near the head- at the worst spot. But at the time, 10+ years ago, this was what they sold. I bent one setting up a pinion crush sleeve, got a free replacement, then bought an SK 3/4" and never used the HF again. I just checked and the HF one I have is $18, and the better style with the yoke handle end is $22.

 

[jonesg]

Harbor freight sells a 25" long 1/2" breaker bar for just over twenty bones so I bit a few years ago.
It has removed all sorts of very tight fasteners since. It is a bit bendy, sometimes scary wrap it in a towel bendy but always did the job. It has removed the crankshaft dampener bolts on BMW engines (euphemistically referred to as the Jesus bolt) which are tightened to something like 300# and only Jesus knows the breakaway torque. It has removed or broken anything in its way.
Lug bolts of all things finally did it in. Some ham handed, mega impact wrench equipped "mechanic" tightened the lug bolts to some astronomical amount. This 25" bar along with an old motorcycle fork tube(my favorite cheater) was required to get them off. The bar failed at the 20th and final bolt! It did break that last bolt free so gave its life for a successful mission.
HF gladly exchanged it for new one. The guy was a bit wide eyed when he saw it snapped in two.

EDIT: Just as an aside; WTF does this? Nobody has a chance in hell of a roadside tire change after some numbnuts gorilla overtightens things like this. Especially given the piss poor tire changing tools in most cars. $%&$& assholes!

i was told lug-BOLTS don't react to torque sticks the same as lugnuts.
So they probably just hammered them home with a impact and socket.
got my 1/2 " breaker bar from autozone, it still bends like a tuning fork and you really get a shock to the wrists.
i had to use the speedjack handle and a 24 inch steel pipe after a tire install.

 

[All]

I scanned this entire thread looking for pics of the carnage.

 

[Hannahranga]

Breaker bars? What are they? Milwaukee High-Torque, Dewalt DCF900 and if air is handy ASTRO Thor and Aircat 1250K. Damn cavemen.

Call me a cave woman sure but how many crank bolts can you get a high torque on without pulling the engine or removing 3/4ths of the car's front end?

 

[Rabid Badger]

I always feel compelled to post this when people start talking about how the Pittsburgh Pro breaker bar is a wet noodle:

 

[619DioFan]

Thought about getting one of those. Ended up with a Titan 1-inch drive, with a 40" handle. I like overkill

I have that same titan breaker bar. All you have to do is show it to a stuck fastener and they loosen all by them selves out of fear. LOL.

 

[dnschmidt]

Call me a cave woman sure but how many crank bolts can you get a high torque on without pulling the engine or removing 3/4ths of the car's front end?

Quite a few as most modern cars have transverse mounted engines who's crank bolts are readily accessible if you remove the passenger wheel and sometimes the inter fender cover.

 

[Bulldog13]

First time taking the wheels off my new to me Chevy Colorado….evidently Hercules decided to run the lugs down as tight as possible. Busted the impact adapter….finally got them off. 140ft/lbs seems a little overkill to me