My old instructor's torque wrench advice finally clicked today

Back in 2012 at the Pima school, Mr. Hargrove kept yelling about how you should always set torque twice and walk away before you call it done. I thought he was just being picky until last week I torqued a main gear nut, walked to grab a coffee, came back and checked it again. It was 8 foot pounds low because my grip shifted on the handle. I still carry his little sticker inside my toolbox lid. Anyone else ever retorque after stepping away and catch something dumb like that?

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simonreed23d ago

Honestly that grip shift thing is so real. I had the same thing happen with a harmonic balancer bolt on a Chevy 350, torqued it, went to grab a rag and when I came back it was like 5 pounds off. Now I always do the double check and actually take my hand off the wrench completely between pulls. It sounds dumb but your muscles remember the last position and they trick you into thinking you’re done. Ngl, Mr. Hargrove was onto something with the walk away part, it resets your feel for the click. Tbh I still catch myself rushing on small bolts but anything big gets the two pass treatment now.