Overheard my apprentice say something about torque that made me double check my whole life

Kid was on his phone watching a video about tightening lugs on tractors. Said 'most people overtorque stuff because they think tighter is safer.' I laughed at first but then I looked up the spec on a job I did last week. I was way over. He was right. Ever since I started using a torque wrench for everything that calls for it, I stopped snapping bolts. Has anyone else been humbled by a younger worker?

2 comments

2 Comments

carr.blake8d ago

Stumbled into the same kind of wake up call about six months ago. Had a kid fresh out of trade school watch me torque down a manifold and just go "that's way past spec." I pulled out the manual and he was dead on. Turns out I had been guessing by feel for years and was easily 20 foot pounds over on half the stuff I did. Now I check the spec every single time and I swear I've snapped maybe one bolt since then, compared to a handful a month before.

sethr117d ago

Man, that's the exact same thing that happened to me. Had a kid straight out of school call me out on a caliper bracket bolt (I always thought "good and tight" was the right approach). He handed me a torque wrench and I was cranking them down to like 90 ft-lbs when the spec was 45. Felt like a complete idiot. Now I keep the manual right on the bench and double check everything, and I've stopped snapping bolts left and right too. It's wild how long you can do something wrong and just never realize it until someone younger and smarter calls you out.