Do torque sticks wear out?

[2ndGearRubber]

Lived a lot of years without a torque wrench, swapped a few spares and rotated a few tires too. Knew a lot of farmers growing up, never saw or heard of a torque wrench being used anywhere on anything.

Growing up poor - tight was tight...

I own three torque wrenches now and use them regularly, they're handy and I like them. But I'm also pretty comfortable with the idea that I could get a wheel to stay attached without one. Wouldn't even worry about warping the rotor either..

I always wonder how many people have gunned lug nuts onto a rotor with no wheel mounted, with or without adapters to mimic the clamp path of a wheel, then used a dial indicator to check for runout changes. I have, I'm guessing most have not.

 

[MovingAlong]

I always wonder how many people have gunned lug nuts onto a rotor with no wheel mounted, with or without adapters to mimic the clamp path of a wheel, then used a dial indicator to check for runout changes. I have, I'm guessing most have not.

You're correct of course and I will gladly concede the point to a professional like yourself. Accuracy in torque values makes a difference.

Was just remembering how much work used to get done though before I "knew better"... Now I sometimes let perfect become the enemy of good.

 

[Vinny]

Lived a lot of years without a torque wrench, swapped a few spares and rotated a few tires too. Knew a lot of farmers growing up, never saw or heard of a torque wrench being used anywhere on anything.

Growing up poor - tight was tight...

I own three torque wrenches now and use them regularly, they're handy and I like them. But I'm also pretty comfortable with the idea that I could get a wheel to stay attached without one. Wouldn't even worry about warping the rotor either..

Same, but it always amazed me seeing how little torque was required on some of these fasteners. Especially lug nuts being in the 100 ft lb range. I used to jump on the breaker bar when tightening them.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

You're correct of course and I will gladly concede the point to a professional like yourself. Accuracy in torque values makes a difference.

Was just remembering how much work used to get done though before I "knew better"... Now I sometimes let perfect become the enemy of good.

100%, I was agreeing with you. I was just stating the idea of causing runout issues from lugs is overhyped. As you said, perfect versus good.

It doesn't make a difference torqued at 100ft/lb versus brap-brap with a gun, I've tested it. My dial says it's fine. At least not with any torque someone would apply with a semblance of sanity. If the goal is to run an M18 high torque until the socket stops moving, IDK how that will turn out. Although I still doubt it matters at all. Now if the hub is bent relative to the center line? Totally different story. But that will show up just slapping the rotor on the hub, and checking with a dial indicator.



IDK much about farming, but they're right on with torque specs for a large number of fasteners. "Tight" is enough. I wouldn't build an engine like that, or use TTY bolts like that, but it'll hold a wheel on. My number one reason for torquing things is to remove variation from myself, and assure future disassembly. Caliper bracket bolts are a good example, people go wide open with a gun to tighten them. Which is fine, they don't fall out. But after 30-50K worth of rust, now it's a PITA to remove. I also want the righteousness to ***** when I encounter one way over tightened, thus I need to play by the rules of proper install.

 

[tak1313]

This is my OPINION, and I don't care if you agree with me or not, just because I like to give my opinion and I'm opinionated (so says my wife).

Torque sticks have their place. I have a set I bought years ago, but have only used them a couple of times. Tire shops et. al have to work for speed/volume/training/employee skill level, etc., so I don't blame them. I have personally seen a worker installing tires with a torque wrench, but kept cranking after it clicked. Torque sticks allow them to get reasonably close in a speedy manner, with reasonable variance between lug nuts.

I prefer to get reasonably close with a wrench/ratchet/impact, then drive it home with a torque wrench. I take my wheels to the shop, then install the wheels myself. If my wife takes her car to the shop for tires/whatever work that needs the wheels to come off and reinstalled, I loosen the lugs and retorque.

I also BELIEVE torque sticks wear out. I'm NOT a metallurgist, and don't play one on TV, so I do not have the data to back my belief up. I can't imagine that a piece of steel can take that kind of beating, where its mode of operation is to twist and flex to absorb the impact from an impact wrench, time after time, does NOT wear/fatigue over time.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

This is my OPINION, and I don't care if you agree with me or not, just because I like to give my opinion and I'm opinionated (so says my wife).

Torque sticks have their place. I have a set I bought years ago, but have only used them a couple of times. Tire shops et. al have to work for speed/volume/training/employee skill level, etc., so I don't blame them. I have personally seen a worker installing tires with a torque wrench, but kept cranking after it clicked. Torque sticks allow them to get reasonably close in a speedy manner, with reasonable variance between lug nuts.

I prefer to get reasonably close with a wrench/ratchet/impact, then drive it home with a torque wrench. I take my wheels to the shop, then install the wheels myself. If my wife takes her car to the shop for tires/whatever work that needs the wheels to come off and reinstalled, I loosen the lugs and retorque.

I also BELIEVE torque sticks wear out. I'm NOT a metallurgist, and don't play one on TV, so I do not have the data to back my belief up. I can't imagine that a piece of steel can take that kind of beating, where its mode of operation is to twist and flex to absorb the impact from an impact wrench, time after time, does NOT wear/fatigue over time.

I don't have the degree in metallurgy, but I've seen them bent before! Who knows how they react after that, but I'm sure it still limits output to some degree.

 

[rlitman]

...I also BELIEVE torque sticks wear out. I'm NOT a metallurgist, and don't play one on TV, so I do not have the data to back my belief up. I can't imagine that a piece of steel can take that kind of beating, where its mode of operation is to twist and flex to absorb the impact from an impact wrench, time after time, does NOT wear/fatigue over time.

Believe what you want, but that's not necessarily true. If it were made of aluminum or even copper, then you'd be right, but its steel, which means we need to know more before we can answer if it's fatigue life is limited or not.

 

[f121]

But in this day and age, who is using a half-inch gun for lug-nut work? Mostly I'm using a Snappy "1/2-inch, extended anvil in a 3/8-inch impact wrench body" MG3255L. The extended anvil works with lug-nut "flip sockets".

Snap-on Store

shop.snapon.com

Almost everyone? I always pick up the high torque 1/2” gun to undo lugs because I know it will do it everytime, instantly, and I won’t have to go pick another gun to finish the job. Doing them up, depends what gun I have in my hand at the time, but usually it’s a 1/2”.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Almost everyone? I always pick up the high torque 1/2” gun to undo lugs because I know it will do it everytime, instantly, and I won’t have to go pick another gun to finish the job. Doing them up, depends what gun I have in my hand at the time, but usually it’s a 1/2”.

Almost everyone who uses impacts as part of their job. LOL

I had a coworker try an M12 stubby for lugnuts. **** got REALLY old. 5+ seconds on a lug nut, obviously no progress, use air gun, remove instantly, back to 5+ seconds of M12 for the next lug nut, repeat. You could use a stubby astro nano for wheels, that will just barely work, eventually you'll break the hammers. Same with an M18 midtorque, it works okay and most days you won't need a real gun so long as you change the batteries when they get below 3 bars of power. Obviously the noise of it rattling is just unbearable to listen to over and over plus the aggravation of the time factor. Few things frusterate me more than someone with a dogshit impact with zero balls just rattling away for several minutes to remove wheels.

There's this obsession on GJ to use underpowered impacts. IDK if people just read the labels for power and compare to what the install torque spec would be? Like you said, just pick the tool that will get the job done. I'll sometimes swap to a smaller gun for install, but if there's any question like an F250 with steel wheels and open lugs, get a proper impact. If I can count "one one thousand, two one thousand" and something isn't moving we have an issue.



EDIT: I actually worked with a guy with one of those necked down 3/8 with 1/2 anvil snap on guns. That thing was completely awful to be around.

Believe what you want, but that's not necessarily true. If it were made of aluminum or even copper, then you'd be right, but its steel, which means we need to know more before we can answer if it's fatigue life is limited or not.

I think we need to define "wear out". If the drive end is all wallowed out and loose, that's worn out. They objectively "wear out" in that sense. I'd generally agree the shaft itself is going to be consistant over time, and it really only needs to last long enough for the detent ball/hog ring area to fail, or the end to wallow out.

 

[PhantomEB]

wrong thread lol

 

[VolvoRyan]

I have a set of Volvo torque sticks from the 1980's. Made by Momento. 83 ft-lbs for 240's and 65 ft-lbs for 700/900 series Volvos. These were handed down to me from a friend, mentor, and former Volvo master tech from the era. They're still spot on even after decades of flat rate.

When they were placed in my hand, I got a set of instructions to follow that was like from the movie Gremlins. No direct sunlight, don't get them wet, and never feed after midnight. I use an IR 2135, never electric. These were never used to remove lug nuts, only install. Never abused or misused. Still tight on both ends of the tool, too.

Sooo..... My take torque sticks can probably wear out.... but also kinda not? Shrug.

-Ryan

 

[f121]

I had a coworker try an M12 stubby for lugnuts. **** got REALLY old. 5+ seconds on a lug nut, obviously no progress, use air gun, remove instantly, back to 5+ seconds of M12 for the next lug nut, repeat. You could use a stubby astro nano for wheels, that will just barely work, eventually you'll break the hammers. Same with an M18 midtorque, it works okay and most days you won't need a real gun so long as you change the batteries when they get below 3 bars of power. Obviously the noise of it rattling is just unbearable to listen to over and over plus the aggravation of the time factor. Few things frusterate me more than someone with a dogshit impact with zero balls just rattling away for several minutes to remove wheels.

I love my m12 stubby…it’s a great replacement for my f80 when disassembling. The way I see it is ‘would I attempt to use a standard length 3/8 ratchet for this task?’ If the answer is no, get a bigger impact.

 

[tak1313]

Believe what you want...

I will

 

[bwringer]

I see this has turned into another meeting if Overthinkers Anonymous...

Anyhoo, one of the finest bits of kit I own is a Ryobi brushless 1/2" impact with a wonderful magical electronical automatic mode that reliably and repeatedly zaps lugs nuts on to about 60 ft-pounds.

That's plenty to drop the car, then torque to taste by hand.