Took me 4 years to realize I was using torque sticks wrong on lug nuts

Was at a shop in Nashville last month helping a buddy with a fleet of box trucks. He watched me hit the impacts with the torque stick and just shook his head. Said I needed to hold the stick in the middle, not let it spin free. I had always just let it whip around, figured the stick was doing its thing. Sure enough, my nuts were all over the place spec-wise, 50 to 120 ft-lbs on the same wheel. Anyone else learn a basic tool trick way later than they should have?

2 comments

2 Comments

val_wilson17d ago

My neighbor taught me the same thing about 2 years ago. I was convinced the stick just needed to spin free to work right, thought that was how it absorbed torque. He grabbed my hand and moved it to the middle of the stick, told me to hold it firm. First wheel I did after that, every single lug nut came out within 5 ft-lbs of each other. Felt pretty stupid for all those years of guessing.

maxpalmer16d ago

You ever notice how that kind of thing happens with a lot of tools? Like you figure you know how something works just by looking at it, but it takes somebody actually showing you the right way to see you've been doing it half-assed the whole time. Reminds me of using a tape measure wrong for years until a guy pointed out the hook has that little wiggle room for a reason.