I second this point. We tighten a lot of expensive parts with cheap torque wrenches. It is madness!!!
I had a pretty new pro wrench, but eventually snapped a bolt in a stem, and crushed a carbon post in short order. I immediatly ordered a pretty good park tool wrench. I verified torque on the pro and at 4nm, it was torquing more like 6nm!!! I threw it in the garbage.
I always did proper tightening protocols, and always zeroed the wrench at the end of use. The mistake I think I made was using it to loosen the same bolts i tightened now and then. I got lazy. Apparently this is a no-no, even though the wrench works in both directions. And when the wrench clicks... stop!!!!
So don’t loosen bolts with your torque wrench, and verify the accuracy. Also stay clear of max torque specs for a part if you can, as a margin of safety is ideal.
My next torque wrench will be a 300-500$ professional quality one like snap-on. No more kids toys.
I bought a few cheapies off amazon and was snapping bolt all over the place.
I now have a Shimano one (looks very similar to the nashbar one). But even now I hand tighten before using the wrench and then start well below and work my way up the torque settings to be safe.
Long story short: don’t blindly use the torque wrench, if you feel you are over tightening, then you probably are.
I had a pretty new pro wrench, but eventually snapped a bolt in a stem, and crushed a carbon post in short order. I immediatly ordered a pretty good park tool wrench. I verified torque on the pro and at 4nm, it was torquing more like 6nm!!! I threw it in the garbage.
I always did proper tightening protocols, and always zeroed the wrench at the end of use. The mistake I think I made was using it to loosen the same bolts i tightened now and then. I got lazy. Apparently this is a no-no, even though the wrench works in both directions. And when the wrench clicks... stop!!!!
So don’t loosen bolts with your torque wrench, and verify the accuracy. Also stay clear of max torque specs for a part if you can, as a margin of safety is ideal.
My next torque wrench will be a 300-500$ professional quality one like snap-on. No more kids toys.
SBRinSD wrote:
Cheap can be expensive. I bought a few cheapies off amazon and was snapping bolt all over the place.
I now have a Shimano one (looks very similar to the nashbar one). But even now I hand tighten before using the wrench and then start well below and work my way up the torque settings to be safe.
Long story short: don’t blindly use the torque wrench, if you feel you are over tightening, then you probably are.
Last edited by:
Rocket_racing: Jan 12, 19 14:56