Calibrating torque wrench?

[Kristi2k]

I'm looking to buy a torque wrench for wheel work and read that I should calibrate it once a year... is that really necessary? I'm not planning on using this more than a couple of times a year.

 

[Sgt. York]

No

 

[velillen]

Generally no. Long as you care for it and aren't tossing it around, kicking it, dropping it, ect.

There are plenty of ways to test at home though so if you think something's up easy enough to do that

 

[NutBucket]

For wheel work no. Temperature extremes will also mess with material properties.

 

[pcgeek11]

Well to be honest you don't have the facilities to "calibrate" a torque wrench at home. Calibration requires specialized equipment that would be cost prohibitive to purchase. It would also be cost prohibitive to send it out to be calibrated. It would be cheaper to just buy a new wrench.

As stated above you could rig up a test bench and "compare" it with a known source such as a test spring gauge.

 

[WackyDan]

I have two... so sometimes I test one against the other... Owned one for 8 years and the other larger wrench for about three years.

Rules of thumb for torque wrenches...

- Don't buy dirt cheap - I bought kobalts and they've been fine.
- Always set the wrench back to "Zero" after use. Do not store wrench set to the last torque spec you used.
- NEVER use a torque wrench to break a bolt/nut free. NEVER
- Never loan your torque wrench to anyone because of #2 and #3 above.

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

- Always set the wrench back to "Zero" after use. Do not store wrench set to the last torque spec you used.

That's not necessarily accurate depending on your torque wrench. The wrenches I've bought come set to 20% of the maximum torque and are specified to be stored that way.

 

[RLGL]

That's not necessarily accurate depending on your torque wrench. The wrenches I've bought come set to 20% of the maximum torque and are specified to be stored that way.

Interesting..........I just take the batteries out of mine.

 

[NutBucket]

Electronic wrenches are different beasts. Technically they still need to be calibrated too but barring physical damage should be more robust.

 

[snoopy7548]

Why not just get a beam-type if you're only using it for lug nuts? Never have to worry about calibrating it and dirt cheap.