Did I torque it right or was I just guessing for years?

I used to just tighten head bolts by feel and hope for the best. Then last month I got a call about a blown head gasket on a '97 F-150 I worked on 2 years ago in Austin. Tore it down and found 3 bolts barely at 50 ft-lbs on a spec of 85. That's when I finally bought a proper beam torque wrench and realized I'd been under-torquing stuff for a decade. Anyone else ever discover they had a bad habit from school or early days that cost someone big?

3 comments

3 Comments

bell.felix27d ago

Learned that one the hard way too. Thought I was being thorough torquing lug nuts on my buddy's old Ranger until one wheel nearly came off on the highway. He called me from the shoulder screaming about a wobble, and I felt like a total hack. Turns out I never cleaned the rust off the studs, so my torque readings were all garbage. Now I torque everything twice and still double check with a clicker.

blair_martin27d ago

Buddy of mine had a wheel pass him on the highway after he did his own lugs.

the_lee27d ago

Man I gotta say I've been turning wrenches for 25 years and never used a torque wrench on anything but heads and main caps. Lugs? I just crank em till the grunt sounds right and never had a wheel leave me. Maybe y'all just need to develop better feel instead of relying on tools.