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A field mechanic told me my torque wrench technique was all wrong
I was torquing cylinder head bolts on a 6.7 Powerstroke last month when this old field mechanic walks over. He watched me for a second and said "you're fighting the bolt, not following it." He showed me how to use a slow steady pull instead of jerky motions. Has anyone else had to unlearn a bad habit like this after years of doing it a certain way?
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saraho484mo ago
Nah, sorry but this whole "follow the bolt" thing sounds like mechanic mysticism to me. Torque wrenches work the same whether you pull fast or slow, it's just a spring and a click mechanism. Putting some elbow into it gets the job done faster and I've never had a head gasket failure or pulled threads doing it my way. Old timers love to act like there's some secret knowledge nobody else has.
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henrys744mo ago
Oh man, you just described my entire tool collection. The torque wrench I have is probably older than me and clicks whenever it feels like it. Last time I used it on spark plugs it clicked before I even touched the thing. I've definitely done the "yank it and hope" method on more bolts than I'd admit. But honestly, if following the bolt pattern means I don't have to redo the job three times like I did with my intake manifold, maybe there's something to it. Or maybe I just need to slow down and stop treating every job like a pit stop.
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