Tim? Have you ever measured the torque that produces?
Impossible to measure, but capable of estimation. A 1kg hammer moving at 10m/sec hitting with an impact sufficient to move the spinner 10mm (or .01m) will have KE of 500J so applying 50 Newtons at say .1m from the centre of the wheel indicates an applied torque of 5Nm. As the spinner gets tighter the movement becomes less, increasing the applied torque.
A final blow which moves the spinner just 1mm would give a torque of 50nm.
Actual hammer blows in the real world are likely to be considerably less energetic, more in the region of 3m/sec at a guess, and nobody continues to smack away at a spinner once it's tight and no longer moving.
I've had my car 26 years, it's done just over 130k miles and the wheel splines are in fine condition so I'm perfectly happy with my technique.
