Hot take: the panel screws on a Cessna 172 don't need to be torqued down like a lug nut

I watched a new guy spend 15 minutes today cranking each one down with a torque wrench to 30 inch-pounds, and I had to pull him aside and show him the service manual says 8-10 is plenty. Has anyone else seen this over-torque thing turn a simple panel removal into a stripped screw disaster?

3 comments

3 Comments

perry.evan1mo ago

That new guy was about 15 minutes from a stripped screw and a call to the parts shop. The manual is pretty clear on those torque specs for a reason. Seen way too many guys treat aircraft hardware like they're building a truck. A good rule is if it feels like you're forcing it, you're probably doing it wrong.

rileyp491mo ago

Man, you're spot on about that. I've seen guys reef on a 6-32 screw like it's a lug nut and wonder why it snaps. That "feel" thing is real, if your wrist is telling you no, maybe listen to it before you're doing a helicoil in the middle of a shift. How many times have you seen someone skip the torque wrench just to save thirty seconds?

finley72921d ago

Had a guy on my crew once argue that he had a "calibrated elbow" and didn't need no stinkin torque wrench. Next thing you know he's standing there with a broken tap in a critical hole and the supervisor is not happy. Took us three hours to get that mess sorted out with a carbide bit and a lot of bad language. Funny thing is, he still thinks his elbow is more reliable than the factory tooling. Some people never learn the difference between feeling confident and feeling a screw start to bind up in a bad way.