I bought for $9.99 a click type Torque Wrench from Harbor Freight Tools. On left side are foot numbers starting at 10 with 10 increments to 80 and the pound side starts on the right at 5 lbs with 10 lb increments to 75 lbs. There are two zeros on the knurlded handle.

Now for the real question: How do I set for 11.2 lbs of torgue to properly tighten positive and negative leads to the battery? To tight, I'm told can cause column lock. What is the correct way to set so I use the right amount of torque? When I mentioned to the mechanic, he said it was not necessary, he'll make it snug when he was installing the new battery.

I'm putting on the deltran charger rings/wires permanently to avoid the alligator clips when I want to charge the battery. What's the correct number and which side? L or R? What is the consensus? Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

With respect to the torque wrench question, the specs we worked to in aerospace forbid using the upper and lower limits of a torque wrench. IIRC we were to avoid 20% in either direction. A 200 INCH-POUND wrench would be the typical one used for 11.2 FT-LBS (134.4 INCH-POUNDS).

I don't know if modern digital wrenches (my experience was with mechanical torque wrenches) are accurate at their extremes so the limited range rule may not be required for them.

 

This is not a digital wrench, Just your old fashion turn and lock. And I have foot to pound, not inch to pound. Hmmm.

 

Your wrench is not accurate enough to bother with such an off the wall spec. Check the wrench box, you wrench has a plus minus accuracy of three percent. So just set it to 11 pounds, drop the .2 , and you will still be within your accuracy range.

The advice offered above by "a striper" is correct about torque wrenches and the useful range of measurement, being much like a weight scale in the accuracy range. Harbor freight has a smaller torque wrench , I have one for my bicycle, where inch torque measurements are common, but I have never used it. It's just a bike, not rocket science, but I am prepared if needed. Or out ten bucks, depends on your outlook.

your battery connection is just that, a connection that it is flowing current or not. The connection at the terminals has nothing to do with the column lock, beyond suppling power, which again, is only a yes or no deal.

Whoever told you this connection has influence over the column lock, beyond providing power, should not be consulted for advice about your car, ever. They are just making stuff up, as this has no possible relation to any reality in this world. That advice is so wrong, it verges into the fictional, fairy tale territory.

As long as the terminal connections are good and snug, that is the goal. All that is needed is a secure reliable connection that won't shake loose over miles of driving. Most people just use normal judgment , and you retighten to roughly the same feel as when the connectors were loosened. It is a non critical connection, most often just done by a common sense feel. If I were doing aviation work, which I can not, I would probably use a torque wrench , as a safety check. For any battery I have ever hooked up, a simple tight enough , is fine.

A heck of a lot of people just drive to the parts store and let the poorly paid counter help instal a new battery, after the free battery check. I don't think a torque wrench has ever been within ten miles of that situation. you are over complicating the deal. It is about like tying your shoes, you can tell by feel, and that is enough to do the job. Just don't go crazy, 11 pounds is not a he man test.

I once had a car that required a 15,000 lb torque on a nut in the front end. you could always just look for the giant long wrench hanging across one wall to check if the guy worked on that brand often. I never asked about torque measurements.

 

youve got to be kidding

you torque battery cables

you must not work on cars much or ever

 

Sorry - I am calling BS on that ^^^.

 

Hey 57 - you just tighten those by hand. You will be safer that using the low end of a lb/ft wrench set to the lowest end of it's scale. Especially a $9.99 special.

 

@57gman I'm going to try to answer your question, since NOBODY has really done that yet

Your torque wrench doesn't really have 2 separate columns, one with "foot numbers" and the other with "pound numbers". A picture is worth a thousand words, so take a look below while I describe it.

What it has is a scale that says "FT. - LB." that goes from 5 all the way up to 80 with increments of 5. The scale is vertically arranged with its lowest value (5) at the bottom and its highest value (80) at the top. If you look at the bottom of the scale you will see the first marking (5) to the right of the vertical line, then the next marking (10) is to the left, then 15 to the right, 20 to the left and so on until you reach the last marking (80) to the left of the vertical line.

The rotating dial is probably marked as the one in the picture: from 0 to 5 (which is returning to 0 again) with .5 increments.

If the rotating dial is marked with increments of ".5" you can't set your torque wrench to "11.2". You would need to decide between "11" or "11.5".

Let's say you want to set your wrench to 11 FT.-LB. of torque. You have to turn the rotating dial until its edge is flush with the marking corresponding to "10". This should happen when the rotating dial has its "0" marking aligned with the vertical line of the scale. Then you turn it 2 extra clicks past the horizontal "10", until the "1" on the rotating dial is aligned with the vertical line of the scale.

This way you have 10 + 1 = 11 FT.-LB.

Hope this helps

NOTE 1: Don't forget to return the torque wrench to its lowest setting (5 FT.-LB. in your case) after you finish using it.

NOTE 2: The industry standard for mechanical torque wrenches regarding accurate range is 20% of Full Scale to Full Scale. They shouldn't be used below or above that. In your case, 20% of Full Scale (80 FT.-LB.) is "16 FT.-LB.", so your accurate range should be from 16 to 80. Therefore, using it to torque something to 11 FT.-LB. is not going to produce an accurate result, but since you want to use it for something that is not really critical, it is not going to be the end of the world either
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Only tangentially related but it is absolutely preposterous that overtightening your battery terminals can cause column lock. Column lock happens either on it's own because its a horrifically unreliable system or is caused by low battery voltage (or perhaps much more uncommonly, LOOSE battery terminals). Tighten your terminals by hand until they're good and snug and you'll be fine.

 

I’ve used torque wrenches and torque multipliers in the airline industry for over 40 years...to say I’ve used them on my battery terminals...AHHH NO !!

 

Great feedback everyone! Surprisingly the bad information I quoted was from a reliable expert who packs them at Carlisle every time! Again, thank you everyone.

 

I missed the confusion about the "split" scale - sorry would have addressed that as well.

 

That would be one huge nut and thread.

However...if you have ever had to undo the nut holding the wheel bearings, etc., on on an older VW, that's about how it feels. Socket, breaker bar, long steel tube slid over the breaker bar and jump on the end of the tube. It might move...

p.s. this what you need. https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-t...nch-56614.html

 

Geez, just tighten the cables and go for a ride...

 

"...packs them...?" Packs what?

 

There's nothing on any car that takes more than a few hundred lb-ft.

Heavy-duty pickup trucks might have a few suspension things that need very low thousands of lb-ft. Diesel pickup engines might also have some torques in that region.

 

Loosening a fastener, even one that hasn't corroded together for years, always takes a lot more torque than the spec to which it was supposed to be tightened during assembly.