Finally realized I was overtorquing washing machine bolts for years

Last Tuesday I was swapping out a drum bearing on a Samsung front-loader and the new bolt just snapped off halfway in. I had been using my impact driver on high speed this whole time because I figured tighter was better. Then a guy I met at a supply shop in Cleveland told me those bolts only need like 8-10 ft-lbs of torque. I stripped three perfectly good machines before that tip. Anybody else make this mistake or just me?

2 comments

2 Comments

willow2445d ago

Hold on, I gotta push back a bit here. I've been cranking washing machine bolts down with my impact driver on full power for over a decade and I've never snapped one or had a machine leak or wobble. If you're following the manufacturer's torque spec to the letter you might end up with a loose drum that walks itself apart after a few heavy loads (especially on those Samsung models). I think people get too scared of stripping things and end up under-tightening, which causes more problems down the line. Maybe your bolt was just cheap or had a defect, you know?

jamierodriguez5d ago

Man, I gotta push back on you pushing back. Eight to ten foot pounds is barely anything, if you're using an impact driver on full power you're way past that. I've seen what happens when people overtighten machine bolts, it's not just snapping them. You warp the frame on those Samsung models, then the drum starts rubbing and you get that godawful thumping noise. Stripping three machines tells me the torque was the problem, not a bad batch of bolts.