

| Subject: | Torque wrenches - - was Question and parts request. |
| From: | Gary Bawden |
| Date: | Mon, 26 Sep 2011 09:24:41 -0800 |
Guys, When I bought my first torque wrench (a Proto) sometime in the 1970's, the literature supplied with the wrench clearly stated that all values were plus or minus 20%. So please don't get too nutty about 123 lb/ft vs. 125 lb/ft, or even 133 lb/ft - - Jeez, at 20% tolerance, anywhere in the middle ought to be just fine. And remember the old beam-style wrench, did anyone ever be careful to position their head exactly over the scale so as to eliminate a parallax error? Especially at 123 lb/ft? So really, I think of torque values as a guide, not some exacting specification. I look them up in the book, and follow them to the best of my ability, but I am aware that they are not exact. Also, notice that in the case of specs given in metric, they are usually given to the nearest 5 or 10 Nm, then when it is converted for you, it gets down to three significant figures - - go figure! Gary > and isn't this funny .. > on my Bentley it says 123 ft lbs for wheel nut torque on pg 46.6 > and 133 ft lbs on page 42.4 > so ...........see, even Bentley doesn't know what they are saying > sometimes. > > > > My Bentley says about wheel torque values: > > > > 1980 up to Nov 1984 - 170 Nm/125 ft-lbs > > From Nov 1984 - 180 Nm/1333 ft-lbs > > > > If one doesn't use book values - what would one use. I know for many > > "bolts" there are "standard" torques, but I wouldn't think that would > > apply to lug bolts/nuts. Those values are what they are as determined by > > the engineers. I only hope they got it right. By Guess and By Golly is a > > bit scarey! > > > > value listed there. For example my owner's manual states 123 ft lbs for = > my '86. Use the data published by VW for your van. > > alistair > > The owners manual says 123 ft-lbs. My Bentley that tells me how to do > the maintenance says use 133 Ft-Lb'. > > So which is it? That is the diliema! > > John > > > > >
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