I used to be in the dang tight club for a long time, but afer snapping a few bolts off I went to home depot and got me a torque wrench for some $60.

A torque wrench can save you a lot of trouble and it's easy to use. To me, it's a well spent money.

 

I have a beam and several click type torque wrenches.
The beam is always in calibration if the pointer starts out pointing at zero.
I quit bring my beam torque wrench to the callibration lab at work because it always passed.
I use the beam type to check my clicker torque wrenches by putting them together and watching where on the beam the other one clicks. It's not a "certified" test, but it lets me know the clicker is in the ballpark.

 

Dang tight will probbaly work 95% of the time. . . the first time around. The problem is that most people over torque bolts when not using a torqu wrench. This causes the bolt to permanently stretch. Not only does this lessen the preload, allowing the bolted joint to slip or seperate, but will greatly weaken the bolt. Therefore the next time that bolt is removed and re-installed it is much more likely to snap. A torque wrench ensures that you achieve the proper preload without over torqueing the bolt (permanenty deforming) the bolt. Get a good torque wrench if you plan on working on your vehicle. You can find torque tables online that will give you the proper torque value based on the bolt diameter.

 

i have purchased torque wrench and plan on using it i don't want any bolts to fail or snapping anything next time i take them off

 

Sounds like a plan. Remember too, like SHORTBUS said the diameter of the bolt is important......BUT the GRADE of the bolt is as well. A 1/2" diameter grade eight bolt will NOT be the same torque spec as a 1/2" grade five. Again, like SHORTBUS recommended, use a torque table to get it right.

 

Good call, I forgot to mention bolt material. The tables will be useless if you use the wrong material.

 

Just bought this bad boy at auto zone for about 40 bucks!

 

One point to add, that although a torque wrench is better than none, they still do not last forever and should be recalibarated every so often if you do a lot of work that require very specific torque settings....like engine building.

As for suspension, like the posts above state, not everone can get consistent torque settings by getting it just tight enough, so it's better to use one.

 

Mine is brand new but how and where should I get it calibrated. I have wanted one for years and decided to get one cause I was tired of guessing. I saw an inch/lb wrench next to the one I just bought and I plan on going to buy that one too. They arent that expensive, suprisingly. However they are beefier then any breaker bar I have owned.

 

Congrats on the new torque wrench. Don't use your torque wrench to break bolts loose!