The last mechanic I went to torqued these to hell...what are the chances he also tightened my spark plugs this much?

Never again...my other mechanic never overtorqued things this much.

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[–] 31 points 5 months ago (13 children)

Maybe a guy with an air tool or battery impact driver that has no torque settings.

Some are under the impression that saving 10 seconds on tightening a bolt is great, but they spend 10 minutes looking for the air hose.

I always do small stuff, and even lugnut tightening with a torque wrench. Because damaging a fastener sucks, but ruining the thread in a mating part is diasterous.

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  • [–] 17 points 5 months ago (6 children)

    torque wrench

    I love those. They give the feel of having it done right.

    Got three, each a different range but they overlap.

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  • [–] [S] 11 points 5 months ago (4 children)

    I just got one EXACTLY to not overtorque things...guess I should have made sure that this mechanic I went to had one before I got one lol...

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  • [–] 12 points 5 months ago (3 children)
  • [–] [S] 10 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    forgotten somewhere behind a pile of beer, probably set to the max torque so the spring is destroyed anyway

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  • [–] 8 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    Bahahaha I know a guy who tried to save time by using an impact to tighten his oil pan bolts. All because he had the impact on hand and didn’t want to “waste time”.

    So, long story short, he was looking for a new vehicle the next day.

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    I had to learn ... and I think most sensible people learn ... the hard way.

    I've broken several bolts over the years and now I torque wrench everything down to the 5lbf if I have to. It's a real pain, especially if you start owning things that are 10, 20, 30 years old. The combination of aged metal that may have become weaker over time and use as well as the complication of finding the right part again (or a matching part) is just a huge headache.

    I'd rather look like an uptight idiot torquing a tiny bolt than in being that guy looking for a bolt that either doesn't exist anymore or is buried in a wrecking yard somewhere far away.

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