PSA: I just learned my torque wrench has been wrong for 8 months

I was chasing a weird vibration on a freightliner last week, swapping out u-joints and checking balance on the driveshaft. Nothing made sense until I decided to check my torque wrench against a borrowed snap-on at the shop. Turns out my cheap husky one was off by 15 foot-pounds on the low end. I had been under-torquing everything from wheel nuts to flywheel bolts since I bought it in January. That explains why I had two different jobs come back with loose bolts in the same month. Now I feel like an idiot for not checking it sooner. Has anyone else found their own tools just stopped being accurate without warning?

2 comments

2 Comments

patricialee6d ago

Honestly sounds like user error to me. You buy a cheap husky torque wrench and then act surprised when it's not perfect? That's like buying a $20 socket set and expecting snap-on quality. Torque wrenches need to be calibrated regularly regardless of what brand they are, and dropping them even once can knock them out of spec. Nobody I know has ever had a snap-on or matco suddenly drift 15 pounds on its own without being abused or dropped. Maybe you left it set to a high value when you stored it, or you used it as a breaker bar somewhere. Tools don't just "stop being accurate" - they get beat up and then people blame the tool.

the_joseph6d ago

Oh, and here I thought I was the only one who bought a Husky torque wrench to save twenty bucks and then got a lecture about it eight months later. Well, Patricia, you make a good point about dropping them, but some of us don't treat our tools like Faberge eggs. I left mine set at about 80 foot-pounds in the drawer for three months without so much as a sneeze near it, and it still drifted. Not everyone has Snap-on money or the foresight to send a wrench in for calibration every time they bump a workbench. That said, I do feel a bit foolish for not testing it when I bought it. Live and learn, I guess. Just hope my lug nuts don't teach me that lesson again.