check your lug nuts + torque wrench madness

[crashz]

Where would the average Joe be able to get his torque wrench calibrated? I have pretty much done all the things thatI'm not supposed to do with mine.

- I usually leave it set at 110 ft-lbs from torquing my wheels.
- It has bounced around inthe my truck tool box for 5 yrs or so.
- I have removed tight lugs with it (in leiu of the proper breaker bar).

Considering those things I bet its way outa whack.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Where would the average Joe be able to get his torque wrench calibrated? I have pretty much done all the things thatI'm not supposed to do with mine.

- I usually leave it set at 110 ft-lbs from torquing my wheels.
- It has bounced around inthe my truck tool box for 5 yrs or so.
- I have removed tight lugs with it (in leiu of the proper breaker bar).

Considering those things I bet its way outa whack.

Its not worth it to be honest. Wait till HF has them on sale and get a new one with a case for $9.99 with the coupon. I know 10 or so guys with them and they are accurate enough for most purposes. I believe they are accurate to plus or minus 6% or something like that.

Chris

 

[mjw357]

All lug nuts should be retorqued after a brief run regardless of whether or not they were done at predelivery. You would be hard pressed to find an operator's manual or tire shop invoice that didn't say so in plain English.

Yes, and that applies to any vehicle, anytime a wheel is taken off and reinstalled or replaced. Rust and dirt on the drum/wheel surface, temperature, paint on the wheels can all allow the lugs to loosen slightly. If you are on the road and really in a bind time wise, simply stopping every couple hours and putting the cross wrench on each lug nut will tell you if anything is moving.

 

[RobertN]

You could look locally for calibration businesses, thru yellow pages or a google search. I have searched while looking for Cal services that our in-house lab does not offer(I work at a large electronics comapny; we have an in-house Cal lab that does probably 75% of internal calibration; some stuff has to go out for various reasons).

It may cost more than a $9 cheapo import as Chris mentions though....

Quality on the cheapo import tools varies widely though; I would be suspicious, even if an occasional sample is good...

Where would the average Joe be able to get his torque wrench calibrated? I have pretty much done all the things thatI'm not supposed to do with mine.

 

[Diamondpilot]

If I were maintaining my million dollar each airplane engines or building high dollar high HP race engines I would also be concerned with quality. For trailer hitches, lug nuts, diff covers, oil pans, tranny pans, ect the HF units are just fine. Heck, even if it were off 5% or even 10%, that is close enough. The key is to get uniform torque.

Chris

 

[crashz]

I can see Chris's point. HF makes it so cheap to get the tool, that it certainly beats out the difficulty of getting your existing wrench calibrated. I'll also not in the business of building rockets, so a wrench within 10% would probably be acceptable.

 

[RobertN]

Depending on your area, it would not be hard to get it calibrated. The issue would likely be price...

At least for me, being close to the greater Sacramento area, it is more about driving there/back, and the actual cost. Of course, it would be similar drive to go to Harbor frieght too.

Edit: I asked the internal Cal Lab here; when they send them out it is about $70

I can see Chris's point. HF makes it so cheap to get the tool, that it certainly beats out the difficulty of getting your existing wrench calibrated. I'll also not in the business of building rockets, so a wrench within 10% would probably be acceptable.

 

[sparc]

doing a quick Google search i found this place right off the bat.

Torque Tool Service, Repair and Calibration Lab - Team Torque Inc.

Looks like $47.50 will get your click type wrench cal'd (up to 250#) with a
4 day turn around. http://www.teamtorque.com/documents/torquepricing.pdf

there are plenty more. i know nothing about the above company, we have our own cal lab where i work staffed by a dozen or so techs who do nothing but cal all our test equipment from torque wrenches to o-scopes and everything in between.

here's another

Transcat Torque Calibration Services | Torque Wrench Repair | Stahlwille Torque Products

Transcat I have used in the past for gauge calibrations, but not torque.

 

[shortthrow50]

i never use a torque wrench and never had for any tire. If i dont hammer lug nuts on with my impact gun, ill put half of my 240 pound weight on each lug with my foot on my wrench.:thumbsup:

 

[RobertN]

Now now, remember there ares a fair number of engineering types here, who want to see accurate values to the third digit when using correct torque for loose loader mounting bolts ect...

Anything less, and my tractor will fall apart First there were ROPS police, next Torque police...

I would though, like to know how my wrench is reading...

If I were maintaining my million dollar each airplane engines or building high dollar high HP race engines I would also be concerned with quality. For trailer hitches, lug nuts, diff covers, oil pans, tranny pans, ect the HF units are just fine. Heck, even if it were off 5% or even 10%, that is close enough. The key is to get uniform torque.

Chris

 

[timswi]

i never use a torque wrench and never had for any tire. If i dont hammer lug nuts on with my impact gun, ill put half of my 240 pound weight on each lug with my foot on my wrench.:thumbsup:

I set my impact to # 2 and run them in evenly...Then double check with a 4-way. Never had a problem with anything in 25 years.

Probably not recommended, but I've done this with steel, alloy, mags, aluminum..Everything. Never had a wheel or rotor problem or ever had a cracked rim...None ever came loose either.

 

[brokenot]

It should be a concern with anything that has wheels. When new lugs are torqued cold, they will stretch when subjected to a couple of heat cycles, even if the nut doesn't turn, they will loosen.

Unless the lugs/studs we're talking about are made of butter, the amount of heat they're exposed to will absolutely not result in any stretching.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Not too difficult to check your wrench at various points on its scale by hanging known weights off the handle.
larry

 

[Diamondpilot]

Not too difficult to check your wrench at various points on its scale by hanging known weights off the handle.
larry

Good idea. You could chuck the socket end in a shop vise then hang say a 50# weight off it. Very smart.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Good idea. You could chuck the socket end in a shop vise then hang say a 50# weight off it. Very smart.

Could. I was thinking putting it on a large TIGHT nut. Squeezing a socket real hard would bother me. Ahh! Maybe hold a big bolt in the vise.:thumbsup: Dont forget to allow for length of the lever arm. L X Wt= ft-lb
larry

 

[crashz]

I researched calibration of my Craftsman torque wrench after reading this thread and found a multitude of reviews that are very unsatisfied with the wrench. Apparently the lockring breaks and the handle falls off, leading to a useless tool. Mine hasn't yet broken, but maybe I'll think of investing in a higher quality wrench when it does. Apparently its a "when" not an "if" situation. Too many detailed bad reviews to be just a few angry customers.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I researched calibration of my Craftsman torque wrench after reading this thread and found a multitude of reviews that are very unsatisfied with the wrench. Apparently the lockring breaks and the handle falls off, leading to a useless tool. Mine hasn't yet broken, but maybe I'll think of investing in a higher quality wrench when it does. Apparently its a "when" not an "if" situation. Too many detailed bad reviews to be just a few angry customers.

Those tools are replacement guaranteed. They will fix that problem in self defense.
larry

 

[RobertN]

Not torque wrenches. I have to read again in the manual for mine, but seem to remember a year gaurentee or something like that. There are a few tools Craftsman does not gaurentee.

Those tools are replacement guaranteed. They will fix that problem in self defense.
larry

 

[mwb]

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/parts-repairs/148455-torque-wrench-recommendation-2.html

I posted on a similar discussion on torque wrenches (see link); if you are looking to buy a wrench it might be worth reading.

 

[xtn]

What you are seeing there is a settling into the hub of the lug and the wheel, not a stretch of the lug. Otherwise yould be seeing engine bolts requiring re torque. Head bolts can benefit cuz of gasket settling, but metal to metal like rods and mains dont need it.
larry

I can't argue with that, so I'll consider it as probable as the bolt stretching explanation. Possibly it's some of both.

Usually the wheel to hub interface is metal to metal, as is the lug nut to wheel interface, right? How does this fit in with your assessment?

Might we consider that the metallurgy of rods and their bolts may be different than that of lugs and wheels? Also that lugs as typically installed have a wheel thickness's worth of space between the nut and the hub in which the threads are not engaged, and that rod cap bolts do not? Might these differences add up to the possibility that there is some lug stretching going on?

Well, either way the result is the same. Re-torque and THEN put on a dab of paint.