If you are using a 150 ft/lb torque wrench, they don't work very well at lower torque settings....sometimes it is nearly impossible to hear/feel the click (especially if they are not a high quality wrench).

If you have a cheap wrench.....use the dial one for the lower torque values.

1

Dave wrote on 08/15/16 at 10:33:26:



I think that's pretty much guaranteed.

It's a Craftsman Microtork 150 ft lb. He bought it at least 10-15 yrs ago when I was a kid. I remember we used it to overhaul a tractor engine long ago (probably when it was new or close to it), and that old tractor ran very well.

Dad's had it for awhile. He has another one that might be rated for 200. He has always pooh-poohed his dial wrenches in favor of the clickers.  He just didn't seem to like 'em or want to use 'em. Now I know better.  

So, I'll be better off with the other one you say? It's 150 lbs too, but I take it that it is simply more reliable at lower torques? It looks like it works by simple leverage. I'm guessing the tempered needle is attached somehow to the handle and the head pushes near its base, flexing it very slightly at its base, but alot at the tip. Am I correct? I can say that it seems that one is more in tune with things with this old-fashioned style piece than the clicker. You can tell what you're doing, just as long as your in position to read the dial. The clicker is confusing... trickery... You expect it to break away (the click is not always audible, but you feel it) at the torque you want, but when it doesn't, bad things happen because you're relying on it to click rather than paying attention to your own perception of what's going on. The clicker dulls the senses a bit. Agreed?

The clickers are good for fast work because the ratchet, and you don't have to go slow and watch the dial, right? Keep talking... This torque wrench discussion is interesting. The old fashioned beats the high-tech?

I'm figuring that if I used a clicker, I would have been better off with a 3/8 inch drive with high inch pound rating, yes? I had to use an adapter to go to 3/8 inch drive anyway. It seems that 3/8 torque wrench would naturally fit the torque range, right? I only had a 1/4 inch drive that ran up to 200 inch pounds, and then the 1/2 inch ones.

Do you think that 1/4 incher will work okay for the clutch cover bolts? I can click it with my bare hands at the lower settings. Its a taiwan no-namer job. Don't want to ruin those bolts either....

What did you lubricate the threads with?  

I never lubricate smaller nuts and bolts with anything more than a drop of Locktite.  Makes it too easy to over-torque and damage threads.  Dry threads produce more accurate readings unless the specs call for lubrication.  When threads are lubricated, it reduces the amount of torque required to achieve the desired amount to "stretch" on the bolt.  So if you torque lubricated bolts to spec, you are almost always over-torquing them.

Read these:

http://benmlee.com/4runner/threads/threads.htm

http://www.cycleworld.com/2014/07/25/ask-kevin-if-i-lubricate-threads-or-use-...



cheapnewb24 wrote on 08/15/16 at 10:01:56:

cheapnewb24 wrote on 08/15/16 at 10:53:00:



Looks like you might have.  I'd replace all of those fasteners.