Torque setting for small or odd items
 

What do people use to set the correct torque on numerically small and/or physically small, or odd items such as these:

• Brake caliper bleed screw (5Nm)
• Brake pipe union to brake hose (16Nm)
• Brake hose bracket on trailing arm (?Nm)
• ABS sensor cable to trailing arm nut (9Nm)
• (Values shown are from Rave)

I've got an ordinary, full-length torque wrench and a smaller torque adapter but both of those will only go over the end of a nut/bolt. Some items need a torque spanner but most of the ones available don't go small enough (e.g. this one). Here's an adjustable link but I'm not sure I'd trust it on a brake union or bleed nipple due to the risk of rounding off the flats.

Here's the same adjustable on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Neilsen-Tor...FH3AQVHS5NSJ60

Probably a good one but smallest head is 17mm - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rothenberge...TF6EVYJMQ4N7J0

opps mis understood OP so I have deleted my reply

Your reply was still relevant though for low torque nuts/bolts (but not for things like the brake pipe union, which needs a torque spanner).

I like the look of the Draper 5-22Nm - I'd buy one to go with its bigger brother* but £98 is a bit too pricey for me.

* I've got the Draper 30-210Nm but it's far too big for a lot of uses (which is why I bought the torque adapter). The scale is tricky to read as well.

Good tools will last for your lifetime Simon, as well as saving you huge labour costs every time you use them. ;)

Remember that saying: you'll remember the quality long after you've forgotten the price.

Simon

Another question you must ask yourself, if your that worried about accuracy, is "how will i get it calibrated every 6 months or yearly?"

If you're not that worried, don't bother and tighten them by "feel"

I agree with Colvert. For smaller fasteners "Snug" is good.
When I worked in the trade back in the ol' days of the 70's and 80's
we generally only used torque wrenches for parts that required even fastening with multiple fasteners like cylinder heads and rod and main bearings or accuracy in tightening for precise parts as in gearbox bits.
I do find that I now own more torque wrenches than I did when I made my living with them. :shrug: Mind you, a KV6 is quite a bit more complex than a B or A-series engine!

Brake bleed nipples are the ones I worry about most when tightening by feel - too loose and brake fluid goes everywhere, too tight and they can snap off or mess up the seating surface in the calipers. I have no idea at all what 5Nm (post 1) feels like. :shrug:

5Nm is just over 3.5 lbs ft. That means 3.5 pounds of pull on a foot long spanner. 3.5 pounds is less than 2 kilos (think of holding 2 x kilo bags of sugar).;) When you've stripped or snapped a few, you get the feel for it!!!