[jeeves]

I have agree with the above statements. I also like the idea of bringing along my own torque wrench the next time work is done that requires the wheels coming off.

A couple weeks ago I brought my 1995 Tacoma in for a "scheduled" balance/rotation. I would normally at least rotate the tires myself. But since it was "free" I'd let the shop do it. I was also planing on selling truck and this shop ALWAYS finds stuff wrong when I bring a vehicle in. The only snag they noted was the marker lights were burnt. Must be a Toyota... 237,000 miles.

So just out of curiosity I decided to pull the wheels off and look at the brakes. At that time I only had a "plus wrench multisize". I had to jump on the wrench just to brake the torque the Mech/Ape had put on it.

Everything was fine, so I decided that I should probably use a torque wrench to put them on. So I went and spent some money. When I returned home I checked my own work. I was slightly over the range specified in repair manual, but constant all the way around. Plus I had no problem loosening the wheel nut to properly torque them. Since I now own a torque wrench I will use it. Specially after garaged service.

Second story....While doing my pre selling inspection I checked the spark plugs. The first one I checked required no effort to remove. Probably less than the proper torque. The rest were tight. Now, I may have not tightened it at all last time, or I may not have put enough torque and the plug loosened off. I am normally very thorough while doing maintenance, so it was probably a case of under torque. Anyways I now torque everything I can.

Thats just my thoughts on torque. Torque feels different with every different length of wrench.