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I just realized I was torque wrenching my lugnuts wrong for 3 years
So I was at my buddy's shop in Austin last month and he watched me do a tire rotation. He goes 'dude, you're going way past the click, that's not how it works'. I always thought you just kept turning till it stopped clicking. He showed me the manual for his Snap-on and I felt like an idiot. Anyone else find out they been doing some basic thing wrong for way too long?
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keithbutler1mo ago
Nah man, torque wrenches don't work like that. You're supposed to go slow and steady until the click happens, then stop. If you keep cranking past the click you're just overloading the nut and stretching the stud. I've seen guys snap studs clean off doing that. Might want to check your manual or look up a video on YouTube, the click should be loud and you feel it in the handle, not a soft sound you have to hunt for.
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bennett.vera1mo ago
Those harbor freight torque wrenches are actually known for having a weaker click, especially the cheaper ones. I had one where the click was barely noticeable at 80 ft-lbs and I almost snapped a bolt on my control arm. The sound and feel in the handle depends a lot on the brand and how old the tool is. A Snap-on or a Precision Instruments will give you a much more pronounced click, but that doesn't mean the cheap ones are useless. You just have to go slower and pay closer attention to the handle feedback, not just the sound. If it's a soft click that you can barely hear, you might want to test it against a known good wrench to see if it's still in spec.
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wendy3911mo ago
Yeah I saw a thread on r/mechanicadvice where a guy kept cranking and his wheel almost flew off on the highway cuz the stud gave out. That click is your only warning, if you ignore it you're asking for trouble.
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