Does everyone use a torque wrench?

[Latitude]

I just received delivery of one after tightening screws by guess for a couple of months. I assume it’s good practice to use one, and have checked/reset some. Advice?

 

[Sierratim]

I have one in the shop I use for most bog jobs to be sure the big fasteners (thru axles, etc) are tight enough and that small fasteners are not over tightened.

 

[ruffruff]

I use this one on the small stuff when I get it in the space. Works well.

https://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-Digital-Adapter-Audible-ARM602-4A/dp/B004VYUKTC/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&aaxitk=AbnuhzPZbvHLlHSxKmhuuw&hsa_cr_id=3878677020801&pd_rd_r=90904cb8-85c2-45d1-9844-6f8bff42c7e7&pd_rd_w=Pe43X&pd_rd_wg=5tnHR&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_0_title&th=1

 

[fooferdoggie]

gapped all around tool no too expensive https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JKJTDWC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[rich c]

Been working on cars, trucks and machinery for around 58 years. The advantage of being mechanically inclined and a farm boy. Started pulling wrenches around the age of 10, I'll be 68 at the end of the month. I have a torque wrench for engine work, but figure I'm trained well enough to tighten some bicycle parts without stripping threads.

 

[Latitude]

gapped all around tool no too expensive https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JKJTDWC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That’s the one I got. Looks to be very nicely made.

 

[ChezCheese:)]

No.

 

[Latitude]

Been working on cars, trucks and machinery for around 58 years. The advantage of being mechanically inclined and a farm boy. Started pulling wrenches around the age of 10, I'll be 68 at the end of the month. I have a torque wrench for engine work, but figure I'm trained well enough to tighten some bicycle parts without stripping threads.

A mechanically inclined farm boy here as well... and appreciative of that upbringing!

 

[Cyklefanatic]

I just received delivery of one after tightening screws by guess for a couple of months. I assume it’s good practice to use one, and have checked/reset some. Advice?

Only use one one engines.
For everything else I just make a click sound when I feel it’s tight enough.

 

[byunbee]

Yes

 

[harryS]

I'm like richC, been working in engines since I was 18. Had an uncle, who would stay over on weekends, and then leave on Monday morning for his second shift job. In the summers, we kids would watch him try to get his car started. We didn't know any better. My dad couldn't afford a car, so we thought all cars needed to be wrenched after a weekend, in order to start. Once he changed his brake linings in the morning and while yanking on a brake cylinder, the cap popped off and I caught a stream of fluid in my face. So I followed in his footsteps, but unlike him, I had better tools, and the shop manuals. I have torque wrenches. Don't need them for bikes.

 

[PDoz]

I thought I was good enough - 40 years of spinning spanners on motorbikes, hundreds of thousands of km rattling those bikes through silly places - only had one bolt come loose!

The other day I was trying to get rud if an annoying creak on the giant and decided to try the torque wrench - I was surprised to find anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 a turn on every one.

Perhaps I'm nit as accurate as I thought ? The logical thing would be try 2/3 times with each bolt and see just how accurate the torque wrench us - should try that one day.

 

[pmcdonald]

Having not grown up anywhere near a farm nor being mechanically inclined in the slightest (yet keen to do as much of my own servicing as possible) I bought a set after striping yet another bolt. It'll pay for itself in unstriped thru axle bolts in no time!

 

[Dallant]

I’ve got an old and very long one but it rarely gets used. I like the idea of a bike-specific set.

 

[6zfshdb]

Like others here, I've been working on machinery for many, many years. After a while, you get a "feel" for applying torque which in my case is fairly accurate. I have torque wrenches for automotive use and a small model for working on bikes which I use occasionally. The problem is getting the relatively bulky wrench into the tight places you often encounter. Adapters like socket extensions, flexible shafts, U joints etc. often can't be used since they can affect the torque reading.

Most of my bike work is done using long shank hex wrenches or short shanks with a 90 degree bend. It's tough to find these attachments for torque wrenches that will fit into confined spaces.

 

[Iridebikez]

I also have a set of shorter allen wrenches for applying less force and another set of longer/larger automotive ones for when something really needs to be cranked down. I haven't ever stripped an allen bolt and things have only ever come loose was when I pre-tightened something to check fit and forgot to finish the job. A bike-specific torque wrench set does sound nice, though.

 

[john peck]

My torque wrench is the same one I used for tire pressure, but at 71, I´ve cranked enough bolts & squeezed enough tires to have a feel for it.
( granted, I´ve stripped a few bolts & popped a tire or 2 acquiring that feel )

 

[J.R.]

I started wrenching on bikes in the 60's under my dad's watchful eye. Graduated to mini bikes, motorcycles and cars. I worked in the used car service department of a car dealership while in high school. Serious mechanics used torque wrenches. That planted a seed. Sometime in the early eighties I took to motorcycle commuting and touring seriously. High speed on 2 wheels cross country, I adhered to shop manuals and I started using torque wrenches.

I've acquired a lot of tools over the years including bike related tools. A decent torque wrench isn't that expensive and once you have it it's just like picking up any other wrench. It doesn't take any more effort or time. The one I use for the bike stays in the bike tool box with all the necessary sockets.

I don't use a torque wrench for every fastener on a bike. On many I do. You can use vice grips to loosen most nuts, but would you?

 

[carsonjones]

Yes, always use a torque wrench here. Especially on carbon bikes.

 

[DouglasB]

Only on my carbon bike because they are brittle and prone to damage from over tightening. Everything short of critical engine assembly and the like I just work by feel and experience. Sort of like BBQ a good pitmaster know when the meat is done, don't need to thermometer.