ajg617

Replaced my RF axle today with my Raxle's one. M16 bolt and I have no clue whether I have the bolt tight enough. Torqued to 140 ft lbs using my old trusty beam torque wrench and then put my half inch craftsman breaker on with the handle from my old floor jack to extend it. Got it to move maybe 30 degrees extra before the breaker bar snapped in half. Hell of a feeling. Only lasted 40 years. Guess I'll head to Sears tomorrow.

Wasn't happy with the 30 so got my son's 1/2 inch breaker and between the two of us got maybe another 30 degrees. Not close to 180. Between my son and I, 450 lbs tugging on it and it would not budge any further. Think I'll stop with one broken breaker bar on this side. Need the other to replace on the other side tomorrow. Granted the beam isn't the most accurate when you trying to look and torque at the same time. But just re-read Raxles instructions and it says 90 degrees. So I think I'm pretty close.

johnkk

torque is good when the breaker bar snaps. I have never been able to get the full angle torque and just use the same 1/2" breaker bar and crank as tight as I can. My 40yr+ breaker bar hasn't broken yet...maybe the next time!

nickcarguy

I just replaced both axles on my 2000 A6 Avant, 143k miles, with Raxles units, had the same happen when attempting to torque those damn bolts.
With a 25" half inch breaker bar I could only get about 15 additional degrees.
PS: when I removed the bolts they were only slightly more than snug..
And the last time the axles were touched to replace both outer boots it was done by a local Audi dealer. I guess they don't own a torque wrench.
Go figure.

CRuby

I know the feeling. I used a 1/2" breaker bar + a 3 ft extension pipe to give me some leverage. During the angle of turn, a part snapped & I went flying. I thought I snapped the bolt, because I kept thinking, "I hope this bolt doesn't break". But instead I snapped the H.F. stubby 1/2" wobble extension I was using. Lesson Learned.
Let my son torque these bolts from now on!
And... don't use H.F. wobble extensions at high torque levels.

indoor

No Raxels here, just replaced two outer rubber boots and one inner. One outer boot on allroad, the other two on a c5 a6. Both times I went with the 155 ft per pound initial torque (or whatever the service manual says, but IIRC the allroad wants more torque) then another 180* once wheel is on ground. Big breaker bar from autozone(lasted both times) I had to jump on the breaker bar for the last 15*, but it did the trick.

The original bolt came off easily(stretch bolt so even if it might seem loose it could have been torqued to spec in the first place).