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?

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3 Comments

the_casey6mo ago

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

1

phoenix_thompson46mo 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.

0

adam7316mo 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.

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