Bought a $220 torque wrench off auction and it was calibrated wrong

Used it on my Subaru's head bolts. Snapped two of them clean off. The wrench read 65 ft-lbs but actually put out around 80. Cost me another $140 for a helicoil kit and a boatload of cussing. Anyone else trust secondhand tools without checking them first?

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the_oscar3d ago

Learned that lesson the hard way myself a few years back. Now every used torque wrench I get goes on a cheap beam style gauge before it touches anything important. Cost me like 30 bucks for a decent one and it's saved my engine more than once. That calibration shop near me wanted 60 to check it, so the gauge paid for itself the first time. Bet you'll never skip that step again, snapped bolts are a brutal teacher.