An old fleet foreman's torque wrench lesson from 2007 still sticks with me

Back when I was green at a shop outside Tulsa, this guy named Earl showed me how he checked torque on head bolts. He didn't use the clicker, he used an old beam wrench and told me to feel the bolt stretch instead of listening for the click. At first I figured he was just stuck in his ways, but after a blown head gasket on a 5.9 I never forgot it. He said, 'The click is for the guy who doesn't trust his hands.' I still use a beam wrench on critical stuff, and it's cut down my comebacks a ton. Anyone else have an old-timer teach them something that never made it into any manual?

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margaret_nelson18d ago

Man, that's the kind of stuff they just don't teach you in school.