Surprise find: my torque wrench was lying to me this whole time

I was chasing a weird vibration after swapping brake rotors last week and kept blaming the parts. Turns out my click-style torque wrench from Harbor Freight was off by nearly 15 foot-pounds on the lug nuts. I borrowed a buddy's digital one and re-torqued everything, vibration gone immediately. Anyone else tested their torque wrench against a known good one lately?

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spencer_johnson2218d ago

Click wrenches are funny that way. People treat them like they're set it and forget it, but the spring inside can drift over time, especially if it gets dropped or knocked around in a toolbox. I had a similar thing happen years ago with a beam style wrench I thought was fine, but it turned out the needle was bent just enough to throw everything off. The scary part isn't the lug nuts either, it's the stuff like head bolts or suspension parts where a few foot-pounds actually matters. Once you catch one wrench lying to you, you start to wonder about all the other tools you've trusted without question. I've made it a habit now to check mine against a digital unit at least once a year, takes ten minutes and saves a whole lot of headaches down the road.