That torque wrench calibration at the MRO saved my 737 main gear job

I skipped the calibration check last minute on a wing job and ended up snapping a bolt on the MLG trunnion. Bought my own digital torque adapter for $180 and it's been dead on ever since. Anyone else think these shop tools are way more off than we admit?

3 comments

3 Comments

alexk609d ago

...and then you get the side eye from the lead mechanic when you bring it up, right? I had the same thing happen with a torque wrench on a horizontal stabilizer job a few years back. Clicked at the right setting but the bolt still felt loose after. Switched to a beam style I keep in my own box and never looked back. Those shop calibrations are basically just a formality half the time, nobody wants to admit how many fasteners are getting overtightened or undertorqued daily.

logan_ellis9d ago

wait so your buddy told you about that side eye from the lead? yeah my friend Dave had a similar thing happen on a 737 flap track job. he grabbed the shop clicker torque wrench off the rack, set it to the spec, and it clicked but the bolt still spun another quarter turn. he just shrugged and moved on. later that week the flap track had a loose bolt situation and they pulled the data from the torque wrench logger. it was reading 15 foot pounds low on the click point. shop calibration guy just said "it's within tolerance" which is code for "we don't want to fix it." Dave bought his own CDI dial wrench after that and checks it against a weight every month. he says the shop tools are basically adjusted to pass a test, not to actually do the job right.

kim_johnson519d ago

Have you tried just bringing your own torque wrench to work? That's what I did after getting burned on a landing gear bolt, man. @logan_ellis your buddy Dave is smart to check his own gear like that. I picked up a used Proto dial wrench at a pawn shop for like forty bucks and it's been way more reliable than any shop tool I've touched. Those clickers lose their spring over time and nobody wants to send them out for real service, they just tweak the zero and call it good. I test mine against a pipe wrench and a bathroom scale every few weeks, it's not perfect but at least I know it's close. Saves you from that sinking feeling when the bolt feels wrong after it clicks.