Your Torque Wrench?
Based on many posts here, it seems that many of you travel with a torque wrench. I have never owned or even used one, and I have turned many a nut or bolt with torque specifications just by guessing....
Forum Discussion
Started using torque wrenches for certain critical fasteners when I was an adolescent mechanical apprentice, before I even understood why. Beam and needle wrenches, which are adequate.
Bought a Craftsman "click" wrench, rated 50-200 ft lbs, in the late 60s when I had a car that wanted head bolts checked every 3000 miles (turning a $15 oil change into a $200 "inspection" when that sum represented half a month's military pay). Paid for itself every time I used it. That wrench eventually died from fatigue in the spring, and the famous Craftsman warranty does not apply to torque wrench calibration. Still useful as a modest breaker bar.
Bought a light needle and beam wrench in the 50-200 inch-pound range, useful for the few smaller fasteners I really feel more comfortable torquing, at torque values out of range for larger wrenches.
Bought a cheaper click wrench in the 100-250 ft-lb range (whatever is Lowe's brand) specifically for my motorhome lugnuts, though it gets other occasional uses.
It is important to have a torque wrench, particularly a click wrench, sized to the job. The wrenches are reasonably accurate over a narrow range, e.g. don't expect a wrench designed to measure 200 ft-lb to give you a good measurement at 80 inch-pounds. Torquing smaller fasteners, like oil pan drain plugs, can be important because too little and you don't get a seal on the gasket, too much and you strip threads. Good mechanics have a collection of wrenches in different sizes.
Bought a Craftsman "click" wrench, rated 50-200 ft lbs, in the late 60s when I had a car that wanted head bolts checked every 3000 miles (turning a $15 oil change into a $200 "inspection" when that sum represented half a month's military pay). Paid for itself every time I used it. That wrench eventually died from fatigue in the spring, and the famous Craftsman warranty does not apply to torque wrench calibration. Still useful as a modest breaker bar.
Bought a light needle and beam wrench in the 50-200 inch-pound range, useful for the few smaller fasteners I really feel more comfortable torquing, at torque values out of range for larger wrenches.
Bought a cheaper click wrench in the 100-250 ft-lb range (whatever is Lowe's brand) specifically for my motorhome lugnuts, though it gets other occasional uses.
It is important to have a torque wrench, particularly a click wrench, sized to the job. The wrenches are reasonably accurate over a narrow range, e.g. don't expect a wrench designed to measure 200 ft-lb to give you a good measurement at 80 inch-pounds. Torquing smaller fasteners, like oil pan drain plugs, can be important because too little and you don't get a seal on the gasket, too much and you strip threads. Good mechanics have a collection of wrenches in different sizes.
