Torque wrench failure.

[dobbslc]

I've had an incident yesterday when a wheel on my son's Fiat 500 came loose and I think it's because my 1/2" Draper torque wrench is clicking off well under the setting!
It's quite old but has been looked after.
I did a very quick test against my Sykes Pickavant 3/8" one set at 65Nm and it does seem to be wrong.
Is there a redneck way to test one of these even if it's just to put my mind at rest that it wasn't my fault the wheel came loose?
Finally are there any recommendations for a new 1/2" torque wrench?
I have my eye on a Teng one or even the set they do with 3/8" and 1/2" ones in it.
Thanks.

 

[Kram]

If you weld a bolt head to a meter long bar and hang a pair of scales off it with the hook end on a solid anchor. You should see roughly 6.5kg when it clicks set at 65Nm.

 

[MetalMonkey]

Easy way to do a rough check it is to put the anvil in a vice, and hang a known weight off the end of the handle, measure the distance and do the maths to work out the force in appropriate units and compare them with the setting it clicks off at.

Even easier way is to buy one of those cheap digital torque gauges, they are pretty accurate for the price.

For new torque wrenches, there are Norbar, and then there is everything else. All mine are Norbar, picked up cheapish second hand or NOS.
That said, if you look at torque test channel, even the cheapy ones in their various tests turned out to be pretty accurate.

 

[Haz87]

How to Calibrate a Torque Wrench (with Pictures) - wikiHow

Mechanics rely on torque wrenches to provide accurate and reliable torque readings so they can apply the right amount of force on the nuts and bolts in a vehicle. However, torque wrenches need to be calibrated regularly to make sure...

www.wikihow.com

Depends if you've got a random weight lying about tho...

 

[daleyd]

Tighten a bolt and mark it, then with your “good” one start at a low value and increase in small steps until it moves

 

[oldbikedavey]

I've had an incident yesterday when a wheel on my son's Fiat 500 came loose and I think it's because my 1/2" Draper torque wrench is clicking off well under the setting!
It's quite old but has been looked after.
I did a very quick test against my Sykes Pickavant 3/8" one set at 65Nm and it does seem to be wrong.
Is there a redneck way to test one of these even if it's just to put my mind at rest that it wasn't my fault the wheel came loose?
Finally are there any recommendations for a new 1/2" torque wrench?
I have my eye on a Teng one or even the set they do with 3/8" and 1/2" ones in it.
Thanks.

The setup that I use all sits upon the various bits of my hydraulic floor press.
Essentially, there is a 12" long between centres bit of T-section that has a 1/2" square socket Very Solidly Welded on to it, and with a long 1/2" square extension bar running through the press frame pin holes. The end hole of the bar has a chain shackle in it , which engages on the load - hook of a pristine set of 0 - 300 lb Salter dial scales.
The upper end of the Salter scales engages with a BSA A.10 fork tube that hooks in nicely in the top beam arrangement of the hydraulic floor press...
It'd be nice to have a recording tell-tale on the scale needle, but that might be do-able with a bit of masking tape and a felt pen, or whatever.
It enabled me to calibrate the recording dial torque wrench that I use on my Sturtevant valve - spring pressure tester rather effectively.
' There's a difference between scratching your bum, and tearing the skin off in strips......'

 

[voipio]

It is possible to get some sort of feel for how tightly a bolt or screw is being done up without a torque wrench. I have a telescopic wheel wrench, whose handle centre is roughly 500mm from the bolt centre, when extended. A moderately heavy bag of shopping is about 10kg, so imagining that weight and pushing down on the wrench with equal force equates to rougly 50nm, and double that is around 100nm, which is close enough to the required tightening torque spec for my car. It also feels about right. Never had a wheel come loose using that method. I have had wheel nuts start to come loose after a tyre change, where the mechanic had only done the nuts up finger tight, and forgotten to torque them, but I've always carried a wrench in the car, so it was soon remedied.

 

[Ali]

https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/norbar-trucheck-torque-tester.139049/#post-2484921

 

[Arclikeharrypotter]

If you’re going to the effort of using a torque wrench either get it calibrated or buy a new one.

Recommendation wise, stahlwille, gedore, or norbar are my go to.

 

[500e]

 

[Turbo]

Wasn't there a torque wrench that was a rebranded norbar. Halford Pro maybe?

 

[dobbslc]

It is possible to get some sort of feel for how tightly a bolt or screw is being done up without a torque wrench. I have a telescopic wheel wrench, whose handle centre is roughly 500mm from the bolt centre, when extended. A moderately heavy bag of shopping is about 10kg, so imagining that weight and pushing down on the wrench with equal force equates to rougly 50nm, and double that is around 100nm, which is close enough to the required tightening torque spec for my car. It also feels about right. Never had a wheel come loose using that method. I have had wheel nuts start to come loose after a tyre change, where the mechanic had only done the nuts up finger tight, and forgotten to torque them, but I've always carried a wrench in the car, so it was soon remedied.

I also use the telescopic wheel wrench and have never had a wheel come loose either! I could tell that torque wrench didn't feel right but I'll see if I can lash up a test rig to give it a crude test.

Wasn't there a torque wrench that was a rebranded norbar. Halford Pro maybe?

I was thinking Halfords sold a good make but couldn't remember what it was. I'll have a look on their useless website to see if it's possible to actually buy something there.

 

[daleyd]

I also use the telescopic wheel wrench and have never had a wheel come loose either! I could tell that torque wrench didn't feel right but I'll see if I can lash up a test rig to give it a crude test.

I was thinking Halfords sold a good make but couldn't remember what it was. I'll have a look on their useless website to see if it's possible to actually buy something there.

Halfords ones are norbar - good value if you have got a trade card!

 

[dobbslc]

Yes the 300Nm 1/2" one is about £108

 

[Jack_K]

I would get a deflecting beam torque wrench (Warren & Brown). They last basically forever without needing calibration as the "spring" is never under tension when not in use. If I was using it every day for stuff not requiring perfect accuracy, I would get a Norbar or similar. Constantly resetting the W&B and the lack of built in ratcheting are the downsides for heavy use. For my occasional use, the W&B does the job and I don't need to worry about calibration.

 

[premmington]

https://www.zoro.co.uk/shop/tools-and-machining/dial-torque-wrenches/mw200-dial-indicating-torque-wrench/p/ZT1007812X?utm_source=google&utm_campaign=pla%2B%7C%2BTools%20%26%20Machining&utm_term=ZT1007812X&utm_medium=pla_css_2&targetid=pla-293946777986&loc_physical_ms=9041117&dev=c&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwreW2BhBhEiwAavLwfEsZVsBBLZ2t05dl9kCedLAJio-ClHuUaNS3wha1QBRv8GS5xp738BoCmSUQAvD_BwE

These are the weapon of choice if you gonna do up allot of car wheels.

Gedore Torqueleader - now rebranded Q-Torq

Ratchet - not preloaded - no need to adjust between differing vehicles. Nice rubber handle for your paws on cold days. Last a long time as well...

You can undo a wheel with them - but most people use reverse 1/2" square to put socket on (socket storage) - so you have deep 17mm and 19mm on torque wrench ready to go... Plus with spare socket on it - you can run in wheel bolts by hand - to speed the job up!

And the rules are: 1/2" Impact wrench the wheel fixings off - but put them back on by hand - dry and to the correct torque...

(but it is getting more common to spin wheel fixings in with 3/8" battery impact wrench turned right down - then finish job off with a torque wrench now - I tend to use a right angled cordless 3/8" non impact ratchet myself to speed the job up - I even bought some extra deep 17/19/21mm 3/8" sockets for the task)


........

Q-Toro MW200 Dial Indicating Torque Wrench (R6) | eBay

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[Smallfry]

Are you sure you remembered to tighten them properly in the first place ?

 

[prepman]

I've had an incident yesterday when a wheel on my son's Fiat 500 came loose and I think it's because my 1/2" Draper torque wrench is clicking off well under the setting!
It's quite old but has been looked after.
I did a very quick test against my Sykes Pickavant 3/8" one set at 65Nm and it does seem to be wrong.
Is there a redneck way to test one of these even if it's just to put my mind at rest that it wasn't my fault the wheel came loose?
Finally are there any recommendations for a new 1/2" torque wrench?
I have my eye on a Teng one or even the set they do with 3/8" and 1/2" ones in it.
Thanks.

Spring balance and vise is what I used to use. Oh! and calculator for leverage calc'

 

[dobbslc]

Are you sure you remembered to tighten them properly in the first place ?

Almost 100% yea but there's now that doubt in my mind that hopefully finding the wrench is fooked will mean I'm in the clear AND I get to buy a new tool

 

[indy4x]

Wasn't there a torque wrench that was a rebranded norbar. Halford Pro maybe?

Used to be, not sure if that's still the case