I'm thinking of buying a torque wrench. I have looked through all manual of caravan and there's no way that states what I need to set the calibration to on the wrench .
Where do you get it from ?
Then when you know the setting what's the knack to do it ?
How often should you tighten them ?
Some people use a torque wrench and some don't !
Am I over fussing ? husband thinks so but it's me who does the towing
The best one to get (easiest to use) is the 'click-type' with 1/2 inch drive. You just screw the handle in/out until it lines up with the reading you want. Attach a socket to the 1/2 drive, tighten until the wrench clicks. That's it. I've heard of people putting oil/grease on the wheel studs. Don't do it.
A second-hand torque wrench, unless it comes with a certificate of calibration, is worse than useless. You have no idea if it has been abused/ misused, so you can not rely on it's accuracy. Most professional mechanics have their torque wrenches calibrated every year.
Unless I was working on aircraft or other highly torque-dependent applications (such as medical devices), I wouldn't spend around £50 a year each having my torque wrenches calibrated. And having been on the tools (with vehicles and construction plant) for more than 40 years, I've never met a mechanic who does.
It's obviously sensible to know whether the wrench is close to accurate but that can be done quite easily by hanging weights from the secured wrench and using the formula Torque = Load x Force. If anyone wants further details how to do this there are plenty of youtube and other googled sites that show it. Or you could cheat by asking (say) a KwikFit shop to tighten your wheel nuts to the specified torque for you then check your wrench against that. Or contact me and I'll explain method further.
Bearing in mind that calibration companies will only calibrate a torque wrench to around +/- 5%, a diy method will be fine for most applications. For example, Haynes Manuals and similar specify torques +/- 10% of nominal value.
If you don't fancy buying high-spec used from ebay, try this for new one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000LFTSG6/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=479289247&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B004TRSG74&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0T0KD66T76R7452F64N2
Being independent if I torque somones wheels and one happened to fall off and said customer wanted to claim from my insurance, the insurance company will almost certainly ask for the calibration certificate for my wrench. If I couldnt provide it then they could refuse to pay up, leaving me up the creek. Hence having them done.
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Can anyone tell me WHY, we are advised to torque our wheels every trip, yet our car wheels only need torquing after they have been removed or at a service.
Car and caravan wheels are essentially the same, but we need to check caravan wheels every few miles and our car wheels every few thousand miles
Quote: Originally posted by Andy Higham on 15/5/2014
Can anyone tell me WHY, we are advised to torque our wheels every trip, yet our car wheels only need torquing after they have been removed or at a service.
Car and caravan wheels are essentially the same, but we need to check caravan wheels every few miles and our car wheels every few thousand miles
I check my wheels at least five times last year and still lost a wheel on the seventh trip.I have now fitted wheel nut retainers so you can lose a wheel any time
[IUnless I was working on aircraft or other highly torque-dependent applications (such as medical devices), I wouldn't spend around £50 a year each having my torque wrenches calibrated. And having been on the tools (with vehicles and construction plant) for more than 40 years, I've never met a mechanic who does.
That's a sweeping statement to work, our mechanic in work gets our torque wrenches calibrated every 6 months. And it's company policy throughout all of our contracts to get them all calibrated.
I owned a garage for over 25 years, all the torque wrenches used by my fitters were calibrated every 6 months, may seem excessive, but better than having parts falling off all over the place, with all the legal ramifications. I must admit, that after years of experience, I know when a wheel bolt is tight with out the use of a torque wrench and I do not always use one on my own vehicles
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Topic: Torque calibration setting ?
