How to Calibrate Your Torque Wrench - EASY DIY Tutorial 

so simple and straight to the point unlike all the goddamn other videos that made this overly complicated and so much unnecessary filler.

your scales are way off because mine read 205 Lbs. but

>socks and sandals at the same time >engineer confirmed >+5 credibility

Ya know, for a home version of how to do this, that is an excellent idea. I always thought it would take some kind of fancy machine to calibrate one but no. Thanks for posting this

Thanks for teaching me something that I had no idea how to do.

its a very good method, thanks!

The simplest way i saw , thanks

short/sweet/beautiful thank you!

Wow this is cool and I am going to calibrate my torque wrench soon.

If you are striving for accuracy you would also want to add the torque that the wrench itself is adding to the total torque. Find the center of mass distance from the axis of rotation by balancing the wrench on a knife edge and measuring that distance from the center of the drive square. Weigh the torque wrench and multiply that weight in pounds by the distance in feet. For example: if the wrench weighs 6 lbs and the measured distance is 8 inches then the additional torque contributed by the wrench is (⅔ foot)*6 lbs = 4 ft*lbs. Add this amount to the load torque to get the total torque, what the scale should be indicating on the handle. A better technique would be to orient the wrench vertically on one of the lug nuts and use a digital hand luggage meter to measure the force you are applying horizontally to the wrench handle. Be sure to apply the force to the groove that is machined into the handle, since the wrench is calibrated for forces applied at that point.

Sadly... I don't have a 911 to enable me to do this.. however it's as good an excuse as any to buy one.

excellent video

Very nice method

good idea, wow! thank you! so much

Never knew this is how you can adjust it, but makes complete sense. Thanks.

Just this video Fantastic! Without a vise.

Brilliant! I'm going to use a partially filled water jug to calibrate my inch pound clicker.

cool idea

Very clever.

For lighter loads I used an 18 lb cat. But she wriggled like a son of a gun.

Nice bro

Ideally you need to have a torque wrench in a vice vertically so you don`t allow for the weight of the wrench , and use fish scale to pull on your given marked area on the torque wrench , Also test torque at three setting 20% 60% 100 % of its settings and then allow the percentage of -2+ -4+or -5+ either way given specs from manufacture,to that particular torque wrench, The trouble setting a torque wrench is you need to do an overall value do not adjust to one setting as this will be quite off at the lower and higher settings,take the thing apart if an old one and replace the grease,old grease gets dryer or stops the mechanism from moving well, My advice is get a digital torque tester from china about £60 pounds, and if your torque is off by about 15 ft lbs then either do your adjustments or set your torque wrench allowing the 15 ft pounds difference, Hope this helps,

What does the click mean. Is it compressing around the bolt?

I may be wrong but, you set your sticky tape at 16'' from the drive, but then when you set the torque the twisting motion meant that the tape was no longer still at 16 inches. Or am I mistaken?

Very staight forward informatve. Clear and concise without excessive extraneous commentary. Might suggest using specific weight dumbells for the check-weight instead of a jack. Otherwise, great explanation/tutorial.

Great idea. I would only change one thing. The wrench was adjusted after placing the 1 ft mark on the adjustment handle. I would think it would be better to adjust the handle before placing the mark on it.

Nice Video. Very helpful. i was wondering if you could answer if you could help me out with something.... I have a 2010 toyota camry le, it has 20 inch rims on it... my owners manual says my wheels should be torque at 76ft lbs but i have them at 80ft lbs. should i have them at 100ft lbs?

for sure thats what that little screw is for?

You didn't take the weight of the wrench itself into account. I have that exact wrench (1/2" drive). Mine weighs 1.328 kg (2.928 lb). At 16" it exerts approximately, depending on the handle position, about 671g (1.5 lb force). So you're calibrating your wrench off by around 1.5 lb * 1.333 ft = 2 ft lbs, which isn't that big of a deal considering this wrench is only good for +/- 4% anyway.

Best video out there, but next time turn your wheels so you won't risk scratching car :)

The click type torque wrench will click louder to quieter, with the weight as shown in the video for several turns of the Allen screw, resulting in grossly inaccurate calibration. If you plan to use the weight, you MUST use the needle type torque wrench to LATER fine tune the click type torque wrench. Use the same lug nuts. It will take around 3 hours. Or you can use the digital luggage scale ($5) and be done with it in about an hour. Cheers.

So I need to buy a Porsche to do this? Maybe I can find some adapters to fit Porsche wheels on my 2000 Explorer. But then how accurate would the calibration be? This is quite the conundrum.

I don't see how this method would work if the wrench were off in the other direction (i.e. too loose/weak). I suppose you could put your hands under the object and gradually let off the force to see if it clicks before you've let go.

Legit just found you....How do you have my dream car? Subbed. All late

unfortunately i have no adjustment screw on my Mastercraft Maximum torque wrench, so since I just use it for wheel lug nuts I'm going to find out when it clicks for the ft-lb (using the weight like in the video) I use and just use that that number on the wrench even if it is 20 ft-lbs off.

Wouldn't all of this be contingent on the scale initially being used being in calibration? How would you make sure that it is? (I know electric scales are better but even they can be off)

I have a torque wrench and its specs are 28 Nm-210 Nm, can i change the calibration of it to make it 8Nm- 190Nm ? Im not sure if it will damage torque wrench or if i should even do it can you please help me out?

Love the $40 torque wrench on the Porsche.... Otherwise solid methodology. You can also use a bench vise and bucket of water for more flexibility in your testing, different weights, etc.

How did you take into consideration the weight of the actual torque wrench?

You need to set your torque wrench to the ft lbs you're testing before you messure the length as the wrench gets shorter as you set it.

You don't know for a fact that your digital scale is calibrated. Just because it is zeroed before use does not means that it is calculating any applied weight correctly. It's kind of like "who's watching the watchers?"

I used a workout weight worked fine...

155 lbs?! I want to weigh 155 lbs again!! Thanks for the info.

I don't have that screw on my torque wrench, just a metal curved seal.

With this method you'd technically have to factor in the weight of the wrench itself as it pulls downwards as well (at the center of gravity). Overall you need to take the "accuracy" of your method with a grain of salt, especially since that scale probably isn't calibrated to read 100% correct either.

How is 16 inches 1.33? i have a smaller wrench

the power of mathematics

Weight of jack + weight of tool that's at the handle only. You have done this wrong if you don't add the weight of wrench pushing down at the rope. Maybe 2lbs off

Maybe just use a dumbell?

That is not the calibration point. That is just the adjustment for how fine the click/break is. The calibration nut is at the back end of the wrench. I might suggest addendum this vid so people aren't messing up their tools. The rest of your technique seems fine...

If your weight weighs 30 lbs why did you test it at 40 lbs? Thanks, great instructions

Hey guys, I thought it was chrisfix here :)

Fun fact the 40ftlbs you calculated is moment. Moment=(Arm)(Weight) Arm is just the distance the center of gravity of the added weight is from the datum point. In this case the datum is the center of the drive.

I know the video’s purpose is to teach you how to calibrate your torque wrench, but it’s worth mentioning, you should probably verify your scale’s accuracy with dumbbells, before jumping to the conclusion your torque wrench is off.

Lots of people are getting the position along the tools handel where to calibrate it at for a set pull mixed up with how the same torque is always applied at the nut with any given setting regardless as to the position the force is aplied on the tool. Not that this miss information will ever harm anyone but as with.. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Fwfnf06dl84.htmlsi=PS9coWzBQ5TzG685. It is hard to believe people do not understand such basic principles.

I mean, the luggage scale method is a lot easier.

I can smell this video…😢😮

Actually, if the torque wrench wasn't put absolutely parallel to the ground, the "weight" would be less than 30 pounds. Also, you forgot to take the weight of the torque wrench into account. But... whatever, you have a 911 !!!

I still don't understand why you weighed yourself XD Why not just weigh the jack alone?

Shouldn’t you be using equal weight? Have a 40 pound weight and the torque to be set at 40 ft lb

I am afraid I can't do this at home, I don't have a Porsche lying around

Wow, cool, too bad it's simply wrong. The adjustment screw you're using is there to adjust the clicking pronounciation. The right way to do it is quite different. You need to get a known weigth as you did alright, but then you need to adjust the screw in the handle to have the right reading on the scale :D. I'd take the video down, because if someone puts greater weigth on and does it your way, they might destroy their equipment.

Your scale weight was 30 pounds. ???? I do not understand

So now you've calibrated your torque wrench to your bathroom scale. When was your bathroom scale last calibrated, and is it traceable to NIST?

You just set a 3 lb torque wrench to apply 42 ft-lbs of torque when set to 40 lmao.

Torque is measured from the center of the handle to the center of the square drive, so this test will be inaccurate.

How to calibrate a $50 torque wrench using the lug nuts on a $200k car

why your socks like that sir??

Wrong wrong wrong! This method is sound but for one significant error. The bathroom scales are not calibrated so the torque wrench is being adjusted to an unsubstantiated weight. Another observation is there's no need to determine the weight of the heavy object by deducting your body weight from the total measurement shown on the scales. If the scales are calibrated then simply weigh the object alone.

This procedure is completely wrong and useless. The screw on the handle adjusts the strength of the click, not the calibration. The calibration is adjusted at the handle end, you have to partially disassemble the wrench to calibrate.

This method is inaccurate. First, it doesn't account for the weight of the wrench handle itself. A torque wrench can easily weigh a couple of pounds, but you can't easily compensate for that since the center of gravity won't be at your weight hang point. Second, you need to set the torque value first, since changing the setting changes the distance of the handle from the head.

bad method. weight of the jack is obscured by it's lean against the side of your car. you need a free-standing surface away from all objects.

not accurate way to calibrate. you never calculated the weight of the torque wrench.

I don’t think I’m smart enough to follow your instructions. 30 pounds is the weight of the hydraulic jack, but the hydraulic jack can lift a car? I might do the follow up video of me taking the torque wrench I got to a calibration store. But then I would pay them money. Maybe it’s worth it though to pay the money to experts in making sure your precision mechanical instruments are not providing incorrect reading?

Those are some ugly ass socks!!! Hope they are at least comfortable~~

FUNNY! Your calibration method is so flawed that it’s more a joke than anything else. But to be fair you are not the only one. The vast majority of people showing others how to calibrate or test their wrenches lack the understanding of how a torque wrench works and how to test it correctly, and specially of the math and physics behind their design. This is a clear example of an instant where common sense is nothing but nonsense. Here is a video of someone who is on the right track. “Most commonly than not people’s common sense is more nonsense than rational or logical sense. That’s because most people’s rational thinking is often based on irrational thinking, and their logical thinking is often based on illogical thinking. That leaves us with reasonable sense. Again, we run into the problem that most people’s reasonable thinking is often very unreasonable.” ~ Yahsnia Galiani ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0f746pF1xc0.html

Useless explanation!

so why didnt he just stand on the handle while the wrench was set to 150lbs