Torque limiting extension bar ?

Ken(Ark)

Well-known Member
I have never heard of these before I looked at the Harbor Freight site . I was eye balling the locking extensions when I ran across these "Torque Limiting Extensions"

I don't think I want any , but you never know . They are opening a new store and I will have to drive past it a few dozen times a day . The few times a year I change or rotate tires I just use a torque wrench .

I did a search first but did not find anything on here . I figured a few of y'all have used them . I do keep up with the latest innovations by reading this forum .

https://www.harborfreight.com/10-piece-12-in-torque-limiting-extension-bar-set-69870.html
 
There was a period during the late 90s and into the 2000 when they were in use at tire dealers. In my opinion they have been removed from
service because of inaccurate torquing between different aor wrenches and time on trigger, and air pressure changes. The tire dealers I buy from
se click type wrenches. Jim
 
> There was a period during the late 90s and into the 2000 when they were in use at tire dealers. In my opinion they have been removed from service because of inaccurate torquing between different aor wrenches and time on trigger, and air pressure changes. ****The tire dealers I buy from se click type wrenches. **** Jim

You are lucky. Most of the tire shops around here just tighten the lugs until the impact wrench stalls out.
 

Torque sticks... I use mine never let anyone else touch them then go behind them... Never use them in reverse...

I make sure the wheel is seated on the hub run them up in a pattern and never hammer on them it saves me a little time when I use a torque wrench to go behind them...
 
(quoted from post at 20:04:05 05/22/19) I have never heard of these before I looked at the Harbor Freight site . I was eye balling the locking extensions when I ran across these "Torque Limiting Extensions"

I don't think I want any , but you never know . They are opening a new store and I will have to drive past it a few dozen times a day . The few times a year I change or rotate tires I just use a torque wrench .

I did a search first but did not find anything on here . I figured a few of y'all have used them . I do keep up with the latest innovations by reading this forum .

https://www.harborfreight.com/10-piece-12-in-torque-limiting-extension-bar-set-69870.html


I've shied away from them because of the old saying about inaccurate torque readings... I use the clicker wrench on mine but if you go behind them and check with a clicker... you can get them spot on. It will also tell you how bad out of calibration they really are..

john
 
I have a set of them and use everytime putting wheels back on any disc brake hub.

Local tire dealer does use a torque wrench and the tech used to use these with a socket already part of the extension. Never
really asked him why he quit using but I have seen a broken one in his set. Guessing it wasn't fun when it let go.

As to air pressure changing things that is what these are for, to compensate for the new hi torque wrench instead of the old
worn out one.

Never checked mine against a torque wrench but I think getting close is ok as long as your torques are consistent across the
hub to prevent warping the rotor.

jm2cw

jt
 
They are still being used by tire shops and even new car dealerships and they are still inaccurate.

Dean
 
better name is torque stick us them just about every day THEY ARE NOT EXTENSIONS . you use them with air impact wrench so you do not over tighten things . my set goes from 150 to 500 ft lbs 10 in the set. you handle them with care you do NOT drop them or use a barker bar on them
 
If you are doing your own work, why not just tighten the lugnuts to the manufacturer's recommended torque with a torquewrench?

If in a commercial/high production situation, surely you need tools just slightly above the HF level?
 
Torque sticks are not allowed at my shop
and never will be. After seeing two wheels
loose because of their use, I will never
use one. Wheels are hand torqued here.
The theory of them is fine, but the method
does not work. The torque wrench they are
used on is supposed to be tuned to make the
torque correct. Like that happens, yeah,
right. My Milwaukee M18 impact would eat
torque sticks for lunch, anyway.
 
I have seen them used but never really understood how they work, do they slip when the rated torque is reached? Lat winter we
had an oil change and tire rotation done at a Subaru dealer in AZ and I checked the lug nuts afterwards. Every wheel had one
nut that was not very tight! We won't be going back to that dealer!
 
One of my pet peeves is clowns in a tire shop who get their jollies by hammering lug nuts to pieces with an impact wrench.

Years ago, a local tire shop installed a wheel on a full sized Chevy Blazer I had at the time. A few days later, I had reason to remove the wheel, brake work or something. I had to use a 3' cheater handle on a breaker bar to crack the lug nuts loose.

Let's just say I had an "interesting" conversation with the shop owner.
 
Perhaps simple insurance I suppose.
Perhaps well received.
Perhaps trusted.
or not

I find the days of rotor warp from wheel tightening sorta passed.

I've seen enough unskilled gorillas running down the lugnuts on my compact car at 175PSI withe most powerful impact gun. Wondering how the
stud and nut even survived. Not a warp to be had.

Me I use my air or electric gun and factor personal knowlege, lube, rust and my own uhgha dugha torque specs.

I suppose you can get varied opinions.
Lets go watch youtube experts test and evaluate them for accuracy.
 
That's a very good video, it answers my question, thanks! As far as the problem with the different electric impact, I suspect it's the higher frequency.
 
Garage here used to use themm all the time, don't knoe if they still do or not. But every time they were used the lugs were way over tightened enough to start stripping the thrreads in the lugs so you could not get them on the next time. Had new tires put on car once lugs so tight that when one blew with less than mile Wife was setting beside the road and a wgecker happened to come by. He tried changing the tire for her and lugs were so tight he could not get the wheel off, ended up hauling car back to tire store, they had trouble getting it off to put a different new one on. On different car had tire blow, tire store came out to change because no way could I get the lugs loos, they ended up twisting 2 lugs off before they could put on the spare. After that time I made them hand tighten them instead of using those way over tightening sticks.
 

Leroy it just goes to show ya how monkeys can fudge up a good thing...

Using the correct stick I doubt it would over tightened the lug studs as your described... Mine are a quality set not HF junk they are one piece not a add yer socket deal...

I think the worst thing that could happen is a wheel that runs loose are comes off... Using a stick are not there is a art to it.... As with any wheel instillation back it up....
 
Full service garage and tire store and this was years before Harbor Freight was known in this part of the country. And I just noticed it should have been 10 mile from tire store. And several double letters where should have been one. Does a keyboard for a tower computor wear out? Have been noticing problems lately.
 
I take my rim with tire off and haul them to the tire shop. Have
seen too many over tightened or loose lug nuts.
 
Yoy have better working conditions than I ever had then to do that when my health was so I could do it 10 years ago. Most I believe do not have either health or conditions to do that.
 

Have you ever tried to tighten your lug nuts with a skinny 3/8" extension its not possible to achieve the proper torque the same principle apply to the torque sticks...

I have different brands of 3/8 and 1/2" extensions all max out at a different torque setting... You can use a 3/8" extension with a long 1/2" ratchet its going to flex way before a 1/2" extension...

I have several long extensions in 3/8 and 1/2" drive...

Lets take my 34" I have one that 3/8 drive takes a 3/8 drive socket..

Another that's 1/2" drive that takes a 3/8" drive socket...

They are mostly used on exhaust manifold lead off pipe nuts are transmission bell housing bolts if the 3/8 wont get it I switch to the 1/2" drive and use a 3/8" socket...

The reason I have to use the 1/2" thicker extension is the 3/8 will start to flex and give up I need more mass to apply more torque...
 

Yep, they work as a torsion bar would. They are designed to a certain diameter that the steel shaft will start to twist at the rated torque. The only way they will work though is with an impact gun with a hammer style clutch. When used correctly the hammers in the gun give the stick time to twist back to the neutral torque. The original Torq Sticks had little markings on them that worked like a strobe, when the marks quit spinning, it meant they were at the proper torque. If you try to use them with a breaker bar or an impact with ratcheting type clutch, they will over tighten and if you use them to remove lug nuts, they will break. The grain structure is not meant for removal. Also, if you stay on them or keep burping the gun, they will over tighten.

The only time I have seen a problem with them is when improperly used, the wheel must be seated before trying to torque, otherwise the wheel will cock a bit and you end up with untorqued wheel nuts
 
At some point, they simply "bounce" the torque from an impact wrench and don't continue to tighten the lug nut much more.

YA, I get all that, and I suppose they be calibrated pretty closely with a given shop air pressure and a certain impact wrench.

But what is the "repeatability" when shops may have different air pressure and a wide variety of choices for the impact gun that may be in use?

From the point of view of a "bean counter" shop owner wanting to maximize profit and cut down on wasted labor time, I can see the point.

But if you are more conscientious about getting things exact, or are working on your own vehicles WHY would you do this route vs. simply torquing to the manufacturers specifications?
 

Maybe because it was the manufacturer that originally sent us the torq sticks to use? I doubt you will find any shop or impact gun that can't deliver 100, 120 or 140ftlbs (the most common torque spec I work with on wheels) so the deciding factor is if you can limit the amount of torque delivered and that is what these are designed to do

It doesn't really matter if the spec is 100 and the stick torques them to 98 or 102, as long as they are tight enough to hold the wheel on and even enough to not cause uneven stress. If it was that critical, as liability focused as the manufacturers are, the lug wrench that comes with the car wouldn't be a hunk of round stock, it would be a torque wrench.

As evidence by posts in this thread, the studs can easily be over-torqued if done wrong and I contend that under-torqued happens for the same reason besides, how many people actually have their torque wrenches calibrated? I have certificates for all of mine....
 

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