I finally learned why my torque wrench readings were off after 8 years

An old timer at the hangar in Denver watched me torque a panel and just said "you're pulling too fast, kid." I laughed it off but looked it up later, yeah he was right. I always thought it was just about hitting the number, not the speed of the pull. After that I started going slow and steady, my rechecks dropped way down. Anyone else get called out on something basic like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor.mary27d ago

Oh man I used to think the exact same thing. I figured torque was torque as long as the wrench clicked at the right number. Then I had a buddy who builds race engines watch me do some stuff and he was like "bro you're gonna snap those bolts." I looked into it more and yeah the speed thing makes a huge difference, especially with smaller fasteners. Totally changed how I work on stuff now.

ivanlewis27d ago

I stripped a handful of bolts in my time using a fast setting on my impact driver. Switched to hand tightening with a beam style wrench and haven't had a problem since. Maybe your buddy's just used to working with more fragile race car stuff.