Shoutout to the old timer who told me to use a torque wrench on spark plugs instead of just hand tight

I was changing plugs on a Cessna 172 last Friday and had a choice: keep doing what I always did, which was snug them up by feel, or borrow the torque wrench from the hangar. I figured why risk a stripped thread in the cylinder head, so I grabbed it. Set it to 30 foot pounds and every single one came out perfect with no issues. Turns out the shop had three engines come in last year from overtorqued plugs. Has anyone else had a close call with hand tightening stuff that should just be torqued?

2 comments

2 Comments

finley93928d agoMost Upvoted

Bro, torque wrenches save lives and money seriously.

alex_coleman28d ago

Tell me about it, I stripped a lug nut once because I thought "tighten til it grunts" was a real technique lol. Had to drill the damn thing out on a Sunday in the rain, definitely learned my lesson. Now I treat my clicky wrench like it's made of gold, never guessing anymore.