Just realized my torque wrench was lying to me for a year

Used a cheap clicker type for two rebuilds at the shop over on Route 9. Felt fine, clicked when it should. Last week I borrowed a digital one from a buddy to check my head bolts on an 80 7.3 and found it was clicking at 85 ft lbs when I set it to 110. That was 25 lbs off, scary close to gasket failure territory. What finally got me was testing it on a stud with a breaker bar and a dial gauge, the old wrench just gave up after I dropped it off a trailer last fall. Any of you guys ever caught a faulty torque wrench before it cost you a motor? How do you verify yours, or do you just trust the click until something breaks?

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theas2816d ago

Wait, you dropped it off a trailer and just kept using it on head bolts? That part got me. A torque wrench is basically a spring, so one good whack can throw the calibration way off and you would never feel it in your hand. 25 lbs low on head bolts is no joke either, that is how you get a blown gasket on the highway. I check mine with a beam style bar and a socket stacked on a vise every few months, mostly because I am cheap and paranoid.

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