Customer told me my torque wrench was off, made me double check my whole setup

Had a guy bring in his F-150 for a tire rotation in Denver last month and he handed me his own torque wrench saying mine was probably wrong. I humored him and ran a test on both wrenches with a digital adapter and sure enough mine was reading 5 ft-lbs low. Now I calibrate all my wrenches every 3 months instead of hoping for the best. Anyone else had a customer call them out and find out they were right?

3 comments

3 Comments

aaronsullivan1mo ago

And how long had you been running that wrench before you caught it? Because I'm sitting here wondering how many jobs I screwed up with mine before that customer spoke up. It's one thing to fix it now but it's another to realize you probably messed up a bunch of people's stuff already and never knew.

logan_mitchell1mo ago

Man that stings but honestly props to that customer for speaking up. I had a similar thing happen at my shop a few years back with a guy who insisted his lug nuts were being overtightened. I was pissed at first but then I actually checked my wrench against his and found it was reading 10 ft lbs over. It's embarrassing as hell when you realize the customer was right all along but you gotta just swallow your pride and fix the issue. I bet you felt that same knot in your stomach when you saw your wrench was off. At least now you know you're running accurate equipment and that's what really matters in the end.

the_terry1mo ago

Funny you mention that. Reminds me of the time I had a guy complain his brake pads were squealing after I did his rotors. I was so sure I torqued everything right I told him he just needed to break them in more. Turns out he was right and I left a dust shield bent up against the rotor. Customer was a total prick about it but he was right. Sometimes you gotta take the L and learn from it.