wcgman

Not everything is made in China. Snapon is still USA, Klein...I think SK is as well. But you pay top dollar.

Sometimes though you get the old bait and switch. Weathertech is that company that makes the laser measured floor liners. I bought a set of window wind deflectors for my pickup from them thinking they were made in the good ol' USofA. Imagine my surprise when the box was clearly marked "Made in Germany". I almost returned them over that just on principle. But I let it go and installed them anyway.

BlackShelbyGt500

i live in an apartment and were not allowed to work on cars in the complex(not me thought lol) so i high doubt they have tools. and yeah its strange that both torque wrenches are bad. at first i thought i was doing it wrong but i watch videos and read the directions first and i swear this thing never clicked.

on a side note the stock panhard bar that i removed makes a weird noise, it feels like there's some sands or loose metal inside it. if you were to put a little bit of sand in a pipe and turn it from my end to the other, that's what is sounds like.

Nohippychicks

It's exceptionally unlikely that your brand new torque wrenches have failed, especially two in a row...You can have them inspected at a Sears, though. They wont calibrate them but they will test them and let you know if they are within the factory tolerances. It mentions this in the instructions you read. When they are verified, you'll be able to figure out if it's your method or the tools. You may want to call ahead to make sure that the particular Craftsman dealer near you can do this verification; I've never seen one that won't do it, but that doesn't mean anything.

You stating that you remember how much torque it took to remove a fastener is totaly irrelevant to your wrenches working or not working. Even if it were possible for you to guesstimate what it took to remove a factory part, the torque value may or may not be the same as what is called for on your aftermarket part. Did you use your torque wrench to remove the stock fasteners? If so, you shouldn't use a torque wrench as a standard ratchet and especially for breaking torque; if not, was the tool you removed the (stock) fasteners with the same length as your torque wrenches? If the arm is different, the moment will be different, even if the weight is the same so it'll make it feel different for the same amount of torque. Previously tightened fasteners will very often require more torque to break loose than a nice clean factory fastener. All of this coupled with your body not being a tool calibrated near close enough to "remember," the removal torque means that just because it feels wrong to you doesn't make that the case.

BlackShelbyGt500

thanks for the input brother. and no i did not use the torque wrench to break the fastener i used a breaker bar with the same length as my torque wrench. before i started my project i watched videos and read different instructions i even bought thread locker for the fastener and full synthetic grease for the rubber bushing. is just that this torque wrench doesn't click just like in the videos. and i know i put more than 129 ft pound of torque because i can't turn the fastener anymore.

PNYXPRESS

You can verify the wrench clips by setting it to a lower torque setting first.

Norm Peterson

On the side note - yes, there is some stuff inside the OE PHB. It's there for noise & vibration control. If the PHB tube was empty it could generate a noise/tone that you'd hear, never mind that axle gear noise would be more noticeable at certain speeds.


Norm

BlackShelbyGt500

thanks for clearing that up brother. by the way i was able to re center the axle and i notice that the car is a little bit more planted to the ground on launch.

tbear853

I bought them for our '01 Mercury back in 2002 and knew they were made in Germany and they have the machined lip that goes in channel, I really like them!

wcgman

I like them as well. They fit pretty much perfectly and do what I want them to do. Yesterday was a fairly good snow storm here in Denver and I was able to ride home with the window cracked pretty good with the defroster on full. I don't care for the heat that much, so these are making my ride home better by letting the heat out of the cabin and off of me without the interior getting snow blown in.

I thought about buying a set for my wife's vert as a joke, but that would be an expensive joke! lol