Thread: Torqueing screws for cheapskates

Originally Posted by gundoc

Complete waste of time! Just nip them up firmly with a drop of LocTite on the threads (bases only). After fitting literally thousands of scopes over the past 60 years I believe torquing scope screws has about as much validity as getting 72 virgins after blowing yourself up!

Having said that, I would respectfully suggest that your particular hand is a lot more highly experienced at hitting the 'correct' torque than someone who's come off a lifetime of pedalling an office desk! My viewpoint on it is that the actual torque value is less important that how you bring an assembly up to torque and how repeatable you can hit the same torque and that also applies to how you use a torque wrench. I've seen some people side load a click-type torque wrench to the point that the internals are bound up (this is the cheaper type obviously) and at a check of their work the fasteners were all over the place with some finger tight and some white-knuckled gorilla fashion.

The thing about torque wrenches is that they are just a tool and an idiot can still stuff the job up even with the best tool whereas a good tradesman can do excellent work with a table knife and a meat sabre...

As far as the cars I do torque them, purely for the risk of doing them so tight my beloved can't get the freaking things back off if she has too. She's perfectly capable of swapping a tyre over but what stops her is dickheads at tyre shops not understanding the difference between the torque limiting adapters on their rattle guns and torquing everything up to 6,000,000Nm. I was standing there at one shop when the guy on the next car over grabbed the chattering nut fu*ker and started in on a Honda Jazz. I had the "you're about to fu*k this up buddy" look on my face as the boss walked around the corner (he was doing my job fixing a puncture) and kicked the young fella in the arse. Oi, use the little gun and the manual torque wrench - or you break the studs it comes out of your lunch hour replacing them! Fair call I thought.

I've actually given her a small torque-limited torque multiplyer tool which means getting stupid-tight wheel nuts off is still a one-finger operation, and going back the other way it's internally set to something like 80ftlbs. Woman-friendly tyre tools... Although with the new Outlander she has Mitsi roadside assist - thank you Mitsubishi!

The other issue with overtorquing wheel nuts is steel rims on steel taper nuts both the nut taper and wheel recess will flog and flatten requiring a new wheel and set of nuts. Most commonly seen on Trojan wheels and hubs (the old 5-stud Ford pattern) and I've got about three sets of rooted nuts sitting in the shed from replacing damaged ones!