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Finally caved and bought a proper torque wrench after my lead called me out
I was using a cheap clicker for years, thinking it was fine. Then my lead at DFW watched me torque a strut bolt and said 'that's not even close, grab my Snap-on'. He let me check his against mine on a test stand and the difference was 15 ft-lbs off. Anyone else have a wake up call on a tool they thought was good enough?
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violamurray2mo ago
You're honestly better off with a cheap clicker if you're just doing basic work, the margin for error on a strut bolt isn't going to kill anyone. Most guys I've known who chase perfect torque specs end up stripping threads or overtightening plastic parts anyway. Save your money for a quality impact gun instead, that gap you found is unusual and probably just means your old wrench needed calibration.
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jamesf262mo ago
Honestly, @violamurray I gotta disagree a bit here. A cheap clicker might be fine for lug nuts or basic stuff, but a strut bolt on some cars is actually a critical fastener that can lead to a clunk or alignment shifting if it's off by more than 5-10 ft-lbs. I've seen guys snap a bolt using an impact that wasn't properly set, and that's way more hassle than just spending a few bucks on a decent beam-style wrench that's dead simple and never needs calibration. That gap you found sounds like your old wrench was just toast, not a reason to write off all precision.
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