Mechanics develop what some jokingly call "torque arm" after some months of using a torque wrench. You get a feel for what 25 lb/ft feels like versus 8, versus 18 versus 80. If you get to the point in using a torque wrench that you can set it to 2 lbs over, close your eyes, and tighten the nut to the exact torque without it clicking, I'd say chunk your torque wrench in the bottom of your tool box. Until then, I wouldn't do ANYTHING on a VW without a torque wrench. The staggering mix of alloys, thread depths, thread pitches, and heat/cold environments just makes torquing by intuition far too risky. Unless you just like doing the Helicoil thing... Bringing your ideas to life, G. Matthew Bulley Bulley-Hewlett Business: www.bulley-hewlett.com AIM = IExplain4u Phone: +1.919.658.1278
-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of Marla Stelk Sent: Saturday, October 05, 2002 11:30 AM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Torque Wrench So just how important is it really to use a torque wrench? A mechanic I spoke to once said he never uses one for tune-ups. But the Bentley tells you to use one for almost everything. I've got to take the top off my thermostat - do I really need to go buy a torque wrench to put it back on? The buggers are pretty expensive..... Thanks, Marla '87 Westy Van "Morrison"Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com |
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