DIY Git Shit Done 'Pro Tips' Thread

[skimaxpower]

I'm a firm believer that 1) No security system is perfect, and 2) If you make your security easy to use, you'll actually use it.

Picked up a bunch of Kwikset-style reprogrammable padlocks for our garage. Now bikes, motorcycle, expensive tools can be locked down and matched to the house key. I got the (now discontinued) Beefy Masterlock Magnum version. But there are still slightly less beefcake versions available from Masterlock and Kwikset.

Yeah, I know about the vulnerabilities of Kwikset, but if a thief really wants in they can break a window. I'm just trying to make it harder for them and easier for me. Besides, how many of ya'll actually lock up your bikes inside a locked garage?

[plugboots]

I'm a firm believer that 1) No security system is perfect, and 2) If you make your security easy to use, you'll actually use it.

Picked up a bunch of Kwikset-style reprogrammable padlocks for our garage. Now bikes, motorcycle, expensive tools can be locked down and matched to the house key. I got the (now discontinued) Beefy Masterlock Magnum version. But there are still slightly less beefcake versions available from Masterlock and Kwikset.
Besides, how many of ya'll actually lock up your bikes inside a locked garage?

After my garage was broken into and 4 bikes were stolen, I did. I hung the bikes on hooks from the ceiling, and ran a long bike lock cable through them and holes I drilled in the ceiling 2X6s. Each bike had a separate cable and color coded lock and key. It barely added to the time it took to yank a bike down to ride.

[mattig]

A few unrelated non sequiturs from this summer and last...

A medium duty Bosch demo hammer with a clay spade is a thing of beauty. I've busted up quite a few chunks of concrete around fence posts (old and rotten, couldn't be pulled, and didn't want to relocate) when I probably should have switched to a concrete bit. Wife needs you to dig up recalcitrant plant of any size? Now it takes 45 seconds. Spendy, but just charge your dirt bag friends a case of beer to use it and it should pay for itself over time.

The notion of a French Drain is vastly overabundant, and rarely truly needed. It's usually about grading. A lot of homes these days are hastily back-filled after excavation/foundation and need to be regraded after however many years. Worst case, the grade gradually shifts back toward the foundation and you can swim in your crawlspace after big rain. Big back patios with widely spaced control joints are good warning signs when they crack parallel to the foundation.

The Sun Joe 13.5 amp electric tiller from home Depot works pretty damn well for small projects.

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[Spats]

can you help me with this one

1. Buy a $10 hand grinder on ebay, something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Manual-Coff...s/332540737737
Since it's a burr grinder, not a blade, it makes better coffee anyway - especially if you want to make espresso.

2. Insert beans, put grinder together
3. Instead of attaching the crank handle to the spindle, attach the chuck of a cordless drill to the spindle
4. Press trigger, grind coffee

[skimaxpower]

3. Instead of attaching the crank handle to the spindle, attach the chuck of a cordless drill to the spindle

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that you're a bachelor?
My wife is very handy, enjoys working with tools, but she would not be cool with a cordless drill permanently moving into the kitchen.

[Spats]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that you're a bachelor?
My wife is very handy, enjoys working with tools, but she would not be cool with a cordless drill permanently moving into the kitchen.

It's my house and my girl respects that.

More importantly, she's happy to have a faster way to grind her own morning coffee!

[HHTELE]

Not sure how I managed to go most of my life without a cordless impact driver. Picked one up as part of a set when buying a new drill a couple weeks ago. Needed to pull apart part of my deck over the weekend and the driver was so much easier than previous times with a drill. Just sit and wait while the screw works its way out rather than overdriving the screw, stripping the head, and having to use an easy-out to get it out.

Removing potentially stuck ski screws. LOTS of downward pressure to prevent stripping.

[skizix]

Removing potentially stuck ski screws. LOTS of downward pressure to prevent stripping.

Never met a ski screw that heat didn't un-stick, making it np to remove with a hand-held screwdriver. Soldering iron in the Philips crosshairs for a few (or tiny drill bit into the same, run backwards), and the epoxy lets go (wood glue normally doesn't even need it - just pops loose...which is why I don't use wood glue).

Impact driver seems like a logical choice though, if somehow it's really stuck (but seems like more chance of strippage).

[BC.]

Never met a ski screw that heat didn't un-stick, making it np to remove with a hand-held screwdriver. Soldering iron in the Philips crosshairs for a few (or tiny drill bit into the same, run backwards), and the epoxy lets go (wood glue normally doesn't even need it - just pops loose...which is why I don't use wood glue).

Impact driver seems like a logical choice though, if somehow it's really stuck (but seems like more chance of strippage).

^^^^2nd the heat....majority of stuck screws in my shop, I use a heat gun, and with that heat, they come out 99.9% of the time with a hand job.

[MultiVerse]

Use a torque wrench and torque your lugs to spec when swapping tires. Makes things easier the next time around because it avoids unnecessarily overtightening when otherwise done by feel.

[powdrhound]

I will NEVER again tighten spark plugs without a torque wrench. I have ruined two different heads by over tightening and stripping the aluminum.

[turnfarmer]

Anti seize compound for lug nuts and other things you want to get apart. A jar of it lasts forever. I have the aluminum version and with I would run out as using it makes me feel like I'm going to get Alzheimer's. Totally illogical, but today I'd by the copper version. Sadly I'm too cheap to throw the Aluminum one away.
Sure makes it easy to remove lug nuts and mower blades for sharpening.

[Norseman]

Anti seize compound for lug nuts and other things you want to get apart. A jar of it lasts forever. I have the aluminum version and with I would run out as using it makes me feel like I'm going to get Alzheimer's. Totally illogical, but today I'd by the copper version. Sadly I'm too cheap to throw the Aluminum one away.
Sure makes it easy to remove lug nuts and mower blades for sharpening.

You'll catch shit for using any lubricant on lug nuts, because for the same applied torque, the preload will be way higher (30% to 400%) than clean dry threads and is likely approaching the yield strength of the studs.

Just be sure of the torque you're applying and the resulting load on the fastener. Especially with an impact gun.

T=R*D*P

T is torque
P is clamp load
D is nominal dia. of the fastener

R is tightening coefficient:

R ~ .2 for dry threads
R ~ .12 to .15 for lubricated threads

R can vary with many factors between .05 and .35.

Fun fact: about 50% of torque goes into overcoming friction between the nut and the clamped piece (wheel in this case), 40% goes into thread friction, and about 10% actually tensions the joint.

So if you're careful with the antisieze and use a small amount on just the threads (so that none spooges out to the face of the nut in contact with the wheel) it'll help with removal/corrosion without overloading the stud... maybe.

Or just rotate your shit frequently like you ought to and don't mess with lug nut lubrication.

[skimaxpower]

You'll catch shit for using any lubricant on lug nuts, because for the same applied torque, the preload will be way higher (30% to 400%) than clean dry threads and is likely approaching the yield strength of the studs.

How does this work when I'm using a torque wrench on bikes? Is it assumed that bike bolts are greased or anti-siezed?

[XXX-er]

I've had lug nut s AND wheel rims frozen to the hub up narth so I will continue to use anti- sieze

[Norseman]

How does this work when I'm using a torque wrench on bikes? Is it assumed that bike bolts are greased or anti-siezed?

They're almost certainly designed to have adequate strength for tightening to the torque spec provided when lubricated, but the service environment of the fastener is a bigger factor in the lube/threadlocker requirements.

I believe that unless specifically mentioned, torque specifications for fasteners on bikes are written for lubricated threads.

Metal-impregnated antisiezes aren't usually used because bikes don't generate the high heat that cooks grease out of the compound. Some guys use it to prevent galling of stainless and titanium, but I'm not sure it's any better than a good grease.

Threadlockers are used sparingly, only in places where normal use could loosen the fastener.

Bike OEM or component mfgr should have the specs available

[Norseman]

.... wheel rims frozen to the hub up narth so I will continue to use anti- sieze

Not as big a deal to grease the wheel/hub interface with hub-centric wheels, since there's a feature on the hub that locates the wheel and prevents it from shifting on the face of the hub...

But with lug-centric, if the interface is lubricated, you'll stand a much better chance of having lugnuts loosen due to the shifting motion of the joint. This is a main cause of fasteners loosening themselves. The joint relies on the friction between the two clamped pieces. When the friction is reduced, the lugs carry more load and stand a better chance of failure.

Shrug, just keep an eye on them eh?

[XXX-er]

The tire blew coming down off the hill after a couple of pints and just finishing a reefer. Couldn't get the wheel off so i figured a wrecker would be 100+ but a new tire would be cheaper than a wrecker and the tires were shot anyhow so we drove my golf 20 kms to the tire store with a flat tire it stopped making noise after all the tire casing ripped off

[swissiphic]

The tire blew coming down off the hill after a couple of pints and just finishing a reefer. Couldn't get the wheel off so i figured a wrecker would be 100+ but a new tire would be cheaper than a wrecker and the tires were shot anyhow so we drove my golf 20 kms to the tire store with a flat tire it stopped making noise after all the tire casing ripped off

anybody have any pro tips on how to get a stuck wheel off the hub? If it does happen, any special prybar or tool to have in the emergency box?

I live up north too and seems to be a problem every time i gotta change a flat or rotate tires or something. I usually just end up kicking the wheel or ram rodding it with a log till it loosens but it's always a bit of a worry being stuck out in the boonies and what if the damn thing wouldn't come off?

Don't use any anti seize compound stuff....XXX'er since u started using the anti seize on the mating surface of wheel/hub, is it a game changer where the wheel just pops off like butta or do still have to wang bang it a bit?

Norseman: how do you identify lug centric vs. hub centric wheels?

[nickwm21]

1. Buy a $10 hand grinder on ebay, something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Manual-Coff...s/332540737737
Since it's a burr grinder, not a blade, it makes better coffee anyway - especially if you want to make espresso.

2. Insert beans, put grinder together
3. Instead of attaching the crank handle to the spindle, attach the chuck of a cordless drill to the spindle
4. Press trigger, grind coffee

I've chucked a pepper grinder to a drill motor to get a bunch of fresh grounds for a big piece of meat.

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[Timberridge]

anybody have any pro tips on how to get a stuck wheel off the hub? If it does happen, any special prybar or tool to have in the emergency box?

I live up north too and seems to be a problem every time i gotta change a flat or rotate tires or something. I usually just end up kicking the wheel or ram rodding it with a log till it loosens but it's always a bit of a worry being stuck out in the boonies and what if the damn thing wouldn't come off?

Don't use any anti seize compound stuff....XXX'er since u started using the anti seize on the mating surface of wheel/hub, is it a game changer where the wheel just pops off like butta or do still have to wang bang it a bit?

Norseman: how do you identify lug centric vs. hub centric wheels?

How nice are the wheels?

Take a small 2x4 and a hammer and whack the 2x4 against the back side of the wheel using the hammer--should pop off. If not you're gonna need some penetrating fluid on it--just remember to wipe down the brake disc with brake cleaner after.

[nickwm21]

My girlfriend has one of those cheap small electric screwdrivers. The thing is the shit. Not powerful enough to get you in any trouble (won't strip a screw or cross thread)... but it is super convenient for hard to reach places, or items that would be too gentle for the impact but still require a lot of screw turns to do (ikea furniture, mtb disc brake rotors, etc...).

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[swissiphic]

How nice are the wheels?

Take a small 2x4 and a hammer and whack the 2x4 against the back side of the wheel using the hammer--should pop off. If not you're gonna need some penetrating fluid on it--just remember to wipe down the brake disc with brake cleaner after.

wheels are not nice, completely bush trashed.

good tip on 2x4 and hammer system...thinkin' about it, longer piece of 2x4 to reach clear through to other side of vehicle so you can hammer on it while relatively straight rather than on an angle would be optimum.

Had good results using a sledgehammer at home but feared breaking stuff while swinging like a mad man to try to pop it off at and awkward angle from underneath the truck. Neighbors staring out the window gave me the hairy eyeball. teeheehee.

thnx Timberridge.

[SumJongGuy]

The tire blew coming down off the hill after a couple of pints and just finishing a reefer. Couldn't get the wheel off so i figured a wrecker would be 100+ but a new tire would be cheaper than a wrecker and the tires were shot anyhow so we drove my golf 20 kms to the tire store with a flat tire it stopped making noise after all the tire casing ripped off

I hope you also replaced your wheel bearings after driving on a super hot rim for 10 miles.. How bad was the hub smoking when you pulled in to the tire shop? I had to replace the wheel bearings on my Scirocco many years ago but that was just from wear after 150K miles.

Heck, car up the street today snapped an axle at the hub and lost the wheel.. There are consequences for poorly executed tow and repair jobs.. But, when you're lit it doesn't matter. Just want to get out of there off the side of the road as fast as possible before someone shows up wearing a badge..

[XXX-er]

Nothing that dramatic happened

It's a rear wheel of a golf so not much weight on it, just keep the speed down to 20 km, even after the casing ripped off there was about 5" of the tire left on the rim which cushioned the rim a little, Kal tire said the rim was still good so I mounted the new set of nokians next winter and there have been no problems.

On retrospect maybe hit the brakes with no lug nuts would loosen the wheel from the hub in retro spect ?

I could have got it off at home but on a ski Hill road with just the tools for changing a tire forget it, 100$+ to get a tow truck and there is no cell up there so ... Drive it like you stole it