[danielparry]

How many people use torque wrenches for tightening up bolts/spark plugs ect ect on their jimnys, ive never used one and never had any dramas but i would also like to be sure im tightening everything up fine when i do work on my jimny and other cars, im no mechanic but do like to do most of the work on my cars myself, if you do use one can you recommend a good brand

[ZUZUKI]

The answer is likely to be none, as in even mechanics rarely use torque wrenches on older vehicles, despite values given in workshop manuals.
There are some areas where it is semi critical or very critical to use torque values - cyl head, crank & rods etc.
These areas are increasing on newer vehicles, as manufacturers are making things lighter, smaller, out of not usual materials etc.
If you have been doing 'service' type work with no problems for years, then nothing on a Jimny along these lines is going to be a problem.
A decent torque wrench is a decent investment $$ wise - depending on what you are doing, you might need a couple to cover low & high torque values.
I would suggest 1/4 drive for things like auto valve bodies (& even filters on some recent cars), 3/8 drive for most general work & 1/2 drive if doing an engine rebuild.
Top end stuff like Snap-on is hard to justify for home use.
Repco is ok, Kinchrome have come along way - talk to a store like Bursons (sell mostly to the trade) or Total Tools & see what they have.
Rgs, Michael

[bumstein]

Yep I use them and as Zuzuki points out two wrenches fits the bill to cover everything. I have a 1/2” drive for most of my work and a 1/4” for some of the lower torque stuff.

Warren and Brown torque wrenches have been good to me.

I half agree that for the best part you can use your judgement, however for some applications I prefer to be very specific. For example wheel bearings, wheels and brake components. I’m sure you can do just fine without torquing them up so precisely, but I prefer to.

[fordem]

I have 3/8 & 1/2 click style and use them for most things - one notable exception is spark plugs - which I tighten using the additional 1/3 turn recommendation of the plug manufacturer.

[303zuke]

ZUZUKI wrote:

The answer is likely to be none, as in even mechanics rarely use torque wrenches on older vehicles, .........

No-one wants to ever use a torque wrench, until after the first time you shear a steel bolt off in alloy, or you strip a thread in an alloy casting. Then you think you should get smarter about this.

As for older vehicles, particularly 4wds that have been used in water and mud, the potential for threads and bolts being tighter than you think they should be because of rust/corrosion. Add to the fact that older vehicles will be made of components that are becoming harder to find means that you really don't want to risk stripping threads or shearing bolts/studs.

A torque wrench won't eliminate that risk, but it goes a looong way to reducing the chances of it happening.

And as for "professional" mechanics who don't give a crap about over torquing threads?

[danielparry]

303zuke wrote:

ZUZUKI wrote:

The answer is likely to be none, as in even mechanics rarely use torque wrenches on older vehicles, .........

No-one wants to ever use a torque wrench, until after the first time you shear a steel bolt off in alloy, or you strip a thread in an alloy casting. Then you think you should get smarter about this.

As for older vehicles, particularly 4wds that have been used in water and mud, the potential for threads and bolts being tighter than you think they should be because of rust/corrosion. Add to the fact that older vehicles will be made of components that are becoming harder to find means that you really don't want to risk stripping threads or shearing bolts/studs.

A torque wrench won't eliminate that risk, but it goes a looong way to reducing the chances of it happening.

And as for "professional" mechanics who don't give a crap about over torquing threads?

I definitely may look into getting one i think as i said before im definitely not a mechanic and dont work on cars all the time but ide hate to strip threads ect one day or something like that and it cause me more money to repair it, ive never had any issues yet but i think its just a piece of mind thing for me to no its been torqued right. Might get a decent 3/8 inch one and give it ago

[jdk81]

A 1/2" and A 1/4" cover everything on a sierra.
There's a lot of things that require a torque wrench.

[ZUZUKI]

Like most things, ask 5 people the same question & be prepared for 5 different answers (in the case of a forum like this x lots!).

I'm a qualified automotive mechanic, don't do it as a main job these days, but do work on Suzuki 4Wdrives as part of my job.
I own a couple of torque wrenches, but use them like I said earlier, pretty much only on bearing caps or head bolts.
In previous jobs, with other mechanics, it was much the same case, but we weren't doing fancy car stuff (plastic intake manifolds, plastic thermostat housings etc - yuck) - maybe we were the over torquing professional mechanics 303zuke has issues with?
But, if a nut looks a bit crusty, it gets a shot of WD40 or similar, before attempting to unto (torque wrench doesn't help here).
If it is a bolt, it will get a polish on the wire wheel before going back together.
If it is a crusty stud, it might get a visit from a die.
Crud on threads will make torque values inaccurate.
Otherwise, I rely on a mixture of previous knowledge, feel & dare I say it, skill.
Which sounds like the OP has been doing for a while too.
But, in theory, yes, a torque wrench correctly set & applied to a fixing that the manufacture has provided a value for is better than getting it all wrong.
Most peoples pet hates are wheel nuts, which will be invariably over-tightened by a 'rattle gun'. I run the nut up with a gun, then when the car is on the ground, back a nut off & re-tighten with a breaker bar by hand, go to the next nut in the criss-cross pattern & repeat - but don't use a torque wrench. I could, but.......
Rgs, Michael

[Gwagensteve]

Suzuki have a torque spec for every bolt in the car. Whilst experience can give you a "feel" for what the correct torque is, those of us with less experience should apply their torque settings.

There's also a guide in the front of the FSM from memory for what torque to use for which bolt rating and size.

Suzuki also use starting torque to measure preload on rotating assemblies like pinions, kingpins and wheel bearings.

From experience, I used to do my Sierra wheel bearings by feel, like most japanese 4WD's with taper roller bearings. However, it turns out it's pretty much impossible to get the correct preload by feel and it's important to follow the torque procedure in the FSM - the procedure is unusual and needs to be followed to get the right result.

[alien]

^^ This

Having had wheel bearings fail on me after being done by a mechanic by feel, then getting them re-done by suzistore the way the manual says, my current front bearings are at least 3 years old. I also run 15x7 -38 rims, so they're copping a fair bit of leverage.