That moment I realized I was setting my torque wrench wrong for 5 years

I was working on my buddy's Chevy Silverado last Saturday, just torquing down his lug nuts like I always do. He happened to look over and said 'dude you're supposed to click it until it stops, not just hear one click.' I had been doing it the opposite way since I bought the stupid thing in 2019. Made me wonder how many other simple tools I've been using wrong this whole time. Anyone else ever find out they were doing some basic mechanic thing backwards for years?

2 comments

2 Comments

hernandez.brooke6d ago

Wait, @averywright your buddy actually snapped a bolt from over-torquing though? That kinda proves the opposite point... I did the exact same thing on my Jeep last year, stripped a spark plug thread because I though multiple clicks meant "more secure." Now I just do one clean click and stop, seems to work way better honestly. These clicky wrenches are way too easy to mess up, wish they just came with better instructions.

averywright6d ago

My buddy Dan has a Snap-On digital torque wrench that cost like $800 and he still manages to mess it up sometimes. I actually think you might have been doing it right before, because most click type wrenches only click once when you hit the torque and then they slip. If you keep cranking until it clicks multiple times you're probably over torquing everything, especially on something like lug nuts where you want them exactly at spec. I learned this the hard way when I snapped a bolt on my old F-150's caliper bracket because I thought I needed to hear it click two or three times. So maybe your buddy has it backwards, not you.