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Tried using a harbor freight torque wrench on a lycoming cylinder install. It clicked way too early and I had to redo all 12 studs.
I was putting cylinders back on a Lycoming O-320 last Tuesday and figured I'd save time with a cheap torque wrench I had in the box. Set it to 100 inch-pounds for the hold-down nuts, it clicked before I even felt resistance. Checked it against a Snap-on digital adapter and it was clicking at 70. Lucky I caught it on the first one. Had to chase threads and double-check everything. Anyone ever had a off-brand tool cause a do-over like this?
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linda5001mo ago
Had a similar headache with a beam-style torque wrench from a big box store. It was way off on the low end, like 20% out of spec. Ended up borrowing a friend's CDI micrometer-style one for the final torque on my O-360 baffle screws. Those cheap wrenches just don't hold calibration, especially at lower inch-pound settings. Always double-check them now with a lab-tested adapter before anything critical.
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