npolite

Hi All,

I installed my replacement Hawk ceramic pads over the weekend. They are producing a swishing sound until I press on the brakes. It's intermittent but I'll give them a week before I give up and go back to OEM. Anyway my question is more on the torque wrench. I have one from Harbor Freight it may be around 3-4 years old now. I torqued the bolts like I always do to 80 ft/lbs in a star pattern and twice. It's been 2 days now and I noticed the lugs were a bit loose. I tightened them down again and now everything is fine again. I'm wondering is the torque wrench going out on me? I usually only have to do this one time. One of the studs ended up stripping on me and broke so I'm only on 4 out of the 5 bolts. The other side was also a little loose. Should I torque the bolts to 83 ft/lbs to avoid this in the future? Also when reset the torque wrench while I am not using it, I reset it the lowest setting which is 10 ft/lbs.

I also rotated the tires on our Camry which is 76 ft/lbs and they were also lose.

If anyone knows about either issue I would appreciate any feedback.

kipsy

try this one from amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C5ZL0RU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

its better quality

or buy same from harbor freight and do a comparison.

thoiboi

Get your torque wrench tested!

npolite

Wouldn't it cost over the price of a new one?

npolite

Thanks I'll give the one from Amazon a try. I found another one that I had which I only used for tightening the axle spindle nut and it was still off. I guess the HF one is shot.

thoiboi

Ahhh didn't read that it was from HF


yeah those are pieces of crap.. Just get a new one

TexasHonda

I "calibrated" my HF torque wrench by locking 1/2" drive end in a vise and pushed down while standing on bathroom scale. Note force (weight loss) when torque wrench clicks. Force x moment arm ( roughly length of wrench -2 inches) yields Torque. I found mine to be w/I 5%.

I just replaced two studs on my 2010 TSX due to discount tire over-torqueing.

good luck

Jakes_tl

Where would you get them tested?

thoiboi

Some shops have a torque wrench tool where they test their wrenches to see how well they're still in calibration. Or you can buy something like this: mount it to a vise, and test yourself.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

Or get a beam style torque wrench. They're a little more work but I feel the accuracy may be better. Ever since my click style died, and I ended up over-torqueing a rocker arm bolt when doing a valve adjustment, I now only use beam style torque wrenches. It told me something when I found out that our metrology department uses a beam torque wrench to calibrate the click and digital torque wrenches used with our manufacturing group.

The exception would be when you have to torque something very precisely, or with a very high torque. With that, you may want to go digital or click style. But for lower torque, I go with beam.

Jakes_tl

I have a Pittsburgh one from Harbor Freight, it worked fine the 1st time I used it but the 2nd and 3rd time I noticed that it was over tightening the bolts so I figured I need to get a better quality one before I get in trouble.

npolite

Thanks everyone for your advice. I went ahead and ordered the one that Thoiboi mentioned on Amazon as their best seller. I haven't checked the bolts since I tightened them up about a week ago. I had deviated septum surgery so I won't be able to check it for a week or two. If they are still loose I am guessing I need to replace the nuts.

Jakes_tl

I need to replace my pittsburgh one and debating if I should get a split beam like this:
I need a good one for the low range torque specs like transmission pan bolts, rear bolts etc.

npolite

Ok so the lug nuts are once again loose. At this point do I just order an entire new set of lugs for each tire? It seems the front are the only ones which are having the issue but I didn't really check the rear ones that well (don't want to over do it with a week post surgery). If the issue still persists after I buy the new ones does that indicate that the studs need to be replaced as well?

I'm wondering if I should just torque these to 85 and see if they hold.

npolite

I know that they are 12x1.5 does anyone have the Honda equivelent part number that I can use? I see the Acura one is 90381-S4L-003 and each one is close to $5 each.

Should I go for a generic set of these off Ebay?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/20-Chrome-F...xXjo1o&vxp=mtr

01acls

I would buy OEM wheel studs. Thats not something you would take any kind of a chance on.

Look at your wheel studs. Are they strip or are the threads deform in any way? The threads should be even from first to last thread. Take a lug nut from the rear wheel and spin it onto the front wheel studs. If it binds then the threads are deform... With the wheel off.

Using 4 out of 5 lug nuts is definitely an issue for the one wheel but that doesn't explain why the other wheel is coming loose.

Try any of the following...

Exchange your hf torque wrench for a new one... Warranty.

Torque another car's wheels with your current hf torque wrench and see if the lugs come loose.

Swap lug nuts from front to rear. However, don't do this if you suspect the front studs maybe stripped.

I am currently running 75lbs on my cl to prevent warpage. Spec is 80lbs and I have a hf torque wrench. So far so good.

BTW tongue wrenches should be stored without any pressure on the reading. In other words zero lbs or no spring tension on the dial.

npolite

Thanks for the advice. The one thing you may be incorrect with the torque wrenches is that they should not be zeroed out, rather they need to be resting at the lowest setting possible. It even mentioned this specifically in the torque wrench that I purchased from Amazon.I did rotate the tires and this started just after that happened so maybe the nuts in the rear are shot.

Here is one reference for your review.

https://www.norbar.com/en-us/News-Ev...-torque-wrench

"When a torque wrench is in regular use it does not need to be wound back. However, when storing a torque wrench for an extended period of time, users should always wind it down to the minimum scale setting and never to zero."

01acls

Thanks, stand corrected.

Here is another titbit about hf torque wrench. Before using the t wrench, the spring mechanism needs to be exercise by turning the torque value to the max setting and then backing it off to the minimum setting. Do that three times and then it's good to go. Probably to loosen up and to lubricate the moving parts inside.

I suspect this would be a good practice for all click type torque wrenches.

npolite

Yep that is something that may work with all of them. I haven't done that in the past but will do that going forward. I'm trying to see if I can get similar lug nuts from Honda to save some money.

npolite

I think I'm going with these from Amazon.


Worst case if they don't work I can send them back but they should be ok.