I swore by torque wrenches for 12 years until I saw a NASA study on bolt preload scatter

Caleb Carter · 2026-10-16T19:05:03.346563+00:00

I used to turn my nose up at anyone who torqued by feel. Then a retired A&P showed me a NASA paper showing even calibrated click wrenches can scatter 25 percent on preload, and it's worse with worn threads. Anyone else here recheck with a torque stripe or just trust the wrench?

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I swore by torque wrenches for 12 years until I saw a NASA study on bolt preload scatter | Aircraft Mechanics - Free To Speak