Yeah, i have torqued them to 100lb/ft and feel happy now, though im having a bit of anxiety lol cus i heard that torque wrenches need to be stored at lowest setting and this one was 90lb/ft when i got it D: should be ok though right?

 

I guess that would be me? lol.

It will be fine. I didn't mean to worry you. It takes years of storage on a higher torque setting to stretch out the spring. Even then you would only be talking about a couple of pounds difference. I shared that as a best practice to allow your tools to maintain accuracy for years and years.

 

 

For occasional use, forget the click-style or digital torque wrenches. All you need (or should get) is a simple beam-style torque wrench, the kind with a pointer and a scale at the handle end, and as a side benefit won't ever drift off calibration because you forgot to reset it to the scale minimum after you finished a job.

You need to be able to get to 100 ft-lbs without using the entire range of the wrench. A 1/2" drive, 0 - 150 ft-lb is exactly what you need, and should be readily available. I've had one of those for 50 years - got it as a gift, actually - and I still use it.


Norm

 

+1 ^^^^

 

I always always always use a torque wrench on ANYTHING with a torque spec. I've got 3/8 and 1/2" drives, I personally only use craftsman or snap-on (I got a deal, $69.99 for both torque wrenches from Sears). After having several walmart brand tools break on me over the years, I just don't trust any other brands.

I changed my wife's tire on the side of the road (lucky it was 3/4mi from the house, cause she didn't have a jack or 4-way so I ran home to get em)... and I even used the torque wrench there.... she went to walmart the next day and they used an impact... sheared the stud (97 corolla, so it mightve been weak anyway).... let me tell you studs with a drum brake.... just jump of a bridge, it's easier!

Bottom line, get a decent torque wrench, or a good one if you have the money lying around (I save for tools since I work on my friends cars too, not all the time but enough to warrant it)

And if you want to believe this "gutentight" you can.. I used to... until you have parts fail, then you pay attention more....


And like others have said, store em right. I used a MWR shop's torque wrench, it was set wrong and snapped a stud on a GT500 Strut mount... that sucked having to replace that part ><

 

I torque my Mustang at 120ftlb and the fusion at 110ftlb

 

Really? did you use a torque wrench when you installed your spoiler? EVERY bolt and screw produced has a torque spec. 90% of the bolts out there common sense will tell you when they are tight enough.

 

90 to 100 lbs

 

I hate to rain on everyone's parade here but torque wrenches are somewhat unreliable. In our facilities, we re-calibrate/adjust/repair/replace torque wrenches every 60 days because we were finding that at 6 month intervals, we would have some that drifted out of spec. When that happened, we would have to recapture every assembly where the torque wrench was used and re-torque the fasteners. If you are using a torque wrench you've had for 40 years and have never had it calibrated, you might as well use a socket nailed to a 2 x 4. I've even seen brand new (expensive) torque wrenches that can't repeat within +/- 5%.

That said, nobody had a torque wrench when my father changed wheels through the 40's-80's or when I did clear up until maybe 10 years ago. Never had a wheel or nut come loose.