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Pro tip: torque specs beat my 15 year habit
A master tech in Hobbs called me out for zipping lug nuts with an impact gun, said I'd warp rotors by 50k. I switched to a torque wrench on every hub job, and I've had zero comeback comebacks since. Anyone else get burned by skipping the click?
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claire8721mo ago
Torque sticks are the devil's tool, I swear. My old mentor had a set that was supposedly calibrated but we checked them against a real torque wrench once and they were all over the place. He'd been using them for years and wondering why he kept having to replace wheel bearings. I had my own wake up call when I snapped a stud on a customer's F-150 and had to pay for the whole hub out of pocket. That was the day I bought my own clicker and started treating it like gold. Dropped it once too, and you better believe I sent it in for a check before using it again.
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aaron_mitchell1mo ago
Tight is tight, but then I watched a buddy strip every stud on a trailer axle.
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adams.uma1mo ago
Read a piece in some trucking forum about how those cheap torque sticks are off by like 20% out of the box... guy said his shop tested a bunch and only two were even close to spec. Stripping studs is one thing, but I've seen wheel studs snap clean off from overtorquing too. Always wondered how many folks actually check their torque wrench calibration after it's been dropped a few times.
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