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That old timer in Atlanta changed how I torque things up

I was swapping a starter on a 737 at Hartsfield last month and this old mechanic walked by and saw me using a click torque wrench. He told me I was doing it wrong, said you gotta slowly pull the wrench, not jerk it, to get the real reading. I checked on a test stand after and sure enough my torque was off by like 8 foot-pounds on most fasteners. Anyone else ever had their torque technique busted by a veteran?

2 comments

2 Comments

umathompson11d agoMost Upvoted

That old timer at Atlanta definitely saved you some headaches down the line. We had a guy at our maintenance shop in Miami who swore by the same slow pull method, and it cut our rework rate by almost half. It's wild how a tiny change in hand movement can throw off something as simple as torquing a bolt.

evaallen11d ago

See, I got to push back a little here. That slow pull method works great for some folks, but I've seen just as many guys who take forever to torque a bolt and still end up with it way too tight or loose. The real secret isn't the speed, it's having a good feel for when the bolt is actually seated and not just fighting threads. I've seen guys rush through it and get it perfect while someone else takes all day and still messes it up. It's more about paying attention to what you're feeling than any magic hand movement.

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