Rant: Torque wrenches are for amateurs on certain bolts

Been doing this 18 years now. Used to torque every single bolt like the manual said. But on old landing gear bolts on Cessnas, I swear by feel now after a 2019 incident in Wichita. A torque wrench gave me a false click on a corroded thread, almost cost us an inspection. I trust my hand ten times more than that tool on aged hardware. Anyone else skip torque on certain old birds?

3 comments

3 Comments

caseym4816d ago

Respectfully disagree. A corroded thread throws off any method, not just a torque wrench.

amy15416d ago

Hold up, wait. Are you saying a corroded thread actually throws off the torque reading THAT much? I mean, I always thought it just made the bolt harder to turn, not mess with the actual measurement. That's kind of wild if it's true, like the wrench is lying to you about how tight things really are.

bens8116d agoTop Commenter

Yeah @amy154, rust adds friction so your clicks say 80 but you're really at 60.