I've been over-tightening my impact sockets for years without knowing

I was putting together a new workbench last week and my 1/2-inch drive socket cracked on a simple bolt. A buddy who builds race cars was over and saw it happen. He asked how much torque I was putting on it, and I just said 'until it's tight.' He showed me his torque wrench and said for most garage stuff, you only need about 80 foot-pounds, not the full muscle I was giving it. I checked my old sockets and three of them have hairline cracks I never noticed. How do you guys know when to stop on a bolt?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_casey4d ago

Everything feels like it needs that extra quarter-turn...

phoenix_thompson416d ago

Man, my friend did the same thing with his truck's lug nuts. He cranked them so hard he snapped a stud clean off, and the shop said it was from way over-torquing. Now he actually uses the little torque stick with his impact gun. It's a lesson you only learn once.

adam73116d ago

Ever notice how many problems come from just trying too hard? It's like we're all afraid of things being loose, so we crank them until they break.