TIL my torque wrench was way off after dropping it once

I was torquing head bolts on a 4.6 Ford and kept getting weird readings, so I checked it against a beam style and it was off by 15 ft-lbs. Turns out dropping it on concrete last month messed up the internal spring. Anyone ever recalibrate their own click type wrench or just chunk it for a new one?

3 comments

3 Comments

mary_foster9225d ago

Why is everyone so quick to blame the drop? I've dropped my old Craftsman click-type at least four times over ten years and it still checks within spec on my beam-style gauge every time. Maybe your wrench was already borderline from wear or cheap manufacturing and the drop just exposed it. You should try recalibrating it yourself before throwing it away, grab a quality beam-style as a reference and a small screwdriver to adjust that internal spring tension nut, it is NOT rocket science.

oscar74328d ago

Bro that's so true, I had the same thing happen with my 1/2" drive Craftsman. Dropped it off the workbench onto a concrete floor and the clicker got bent just enough that it would slip way too early on the low end and not click at all on high torque settings. Took me forever to figure out why my lug nuts were all over the place spec wise. Ended up just buying a new one after I tried messing with the pawl spring myself and made it even worse. Those internal clicker mechanisms are super finicky once they take a hard hit even if everything still looks normal on the outside.

the_wren28d ago

You mentioned dropping it on concrete and that got me thinking. Have you checked the anvil and pawl mechanism inside? A hard drop can bend that little piece that clicks, even if the spring seems fine. Torque wrenches are tough but that internal clicker is the first thing to go when they hit the ground.