and the cost of a few torque wrenches is far less than a service repair.
Do u use a torque wrench?
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 4,229
Likes: 10
From: Oklahoma
I use one because I am a part time week end Mr Goodwrench. That and some of the soft alloys scare me. I once stripped out the threads that hold the A/C hardware on. I've been told that an experienced mechanic can feel the torque surprisingly well without a torque wrench. True or false?
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 27,097
Likes: 4,676
From: Frozelandia, Minnysota
Just about on everything. Lot of guys say no to primary and other covers, but I've sure seen many posts about "how do I remove/fix a broken/stripped primary cover screw" from guys that skipped the torque wrench; I always use a torque wrench on them, and use the tightening sequence. I also use a 1/4 drive torque wrench on the little stuff, more accurate on the low end. In the aviation industry, we often ran across instructions not to use the bottom 10% of any kind of gage. I have enough torque wrenches in different sizes to usually avoid the bottom 25%. You can figure out how many foot lbs to use when inch lbs are given, but if you try using a 200 ft. lb torque wrench on a 20 in lb screw, you'll probably break or strip it; that low in it's range it's not much better than a wild *** guess. But I've known folks that tried...
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 27,097
Likes: 4,676
From: Frozelandia, Minnysota
I use one because I am a part time week end Mr Goodwrench. That and some of the soft alloys scare me. I once stripped out the threads that hold the A/C hardware on. I've been told that an experienced mechanic can feel the torque surprisingly well without a torque wrench. True or false?
When I'm putting screws in those soft alloys, I like to use a small 1/4 in lb torque wrench, set to the low side of the recommended torque range, and a small drop of blue loctite. Have never stripped one doing it that way, never had treads get messed up from over torquing - that's often what happened when you have a screw that's stiff to turn all the way out.
Novice
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
From: North East OK.
just about on everything. Lot of guys say no to primary and other covers, but i've sure seen many posts about "how do i remove/fix a broken/stripped primary cover screw" from guys that skipped the torque wrench; i always use a torque wrench on them, and use the tightening sequence. I also use a 1/4 drive torque wrench on the little stuff, more accurate on the low end. In the aviation industry, we often ran across instructions not to use the bottom 10% of any kind of gage. I have enough torque wrenches in different sizes to usually avoid the bottom 25%. You can figure out how many foot lbs to use when inch lbs are given, but if you try using a 200 ft. Lb torque wrench on a 20 in lb screw, you'll probably break or strip it; that low in it's range it's not much better than a wild *** guess. But i've known folks that tried...
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Club Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,694
Likes: 462
Never used one much working on my own cars or trucks unless I was in the engine. I use torque wrenches for almost everything on my Harley. It's much more important to get things right on a motorcycle and too many things that you can either strip out or not get snug enough.
