Tried skipping the torque wrench on bleed screws - worked fine for me

Honestly, everyone says you absolutely need a torque wrench for brake bleed screws on light aircraft, but I tried doing it by hand on a Cessna 172 last month. I just used a 1/4 inch drive ratchet and went slow, snug then just a tiny bit more. No leaks, no stripped threads, and the brakes felt perfect on the test run. I get the whole torque spec thing, but for these small screws, it seems overkill if you've got a good feel for it. Any other mechanics out there skip the torque wrench on low-torque stuff like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

ivan2112mo agoTop Commenter

Right there with you, did the same on a Piper Archer and it was totally fine.

olivia_chen352mo ago

Wait, didn't you have to flare up with carb heat first, @ivan211?

julia84317d ago

Oh I actually see it a little different @olivia_chen35. In something like a Cessna 172 with a fixed pitch prop, yeah you want the carb heat on before you pull power back for the pattern. But in a Piper Archer with a constant speed prop, the way Ivan did it is pretty standard. The key is knowing your specific airplane's POH. I've done it both ways in different planes and never had an issue as long as you're not yanking power off suddenly at full throttle. Carb heat is anticing protection mostly, not a magic switch that saves you from everything. If you're doing a gentle descent with power up it's really not the same as that abrupt power off landing flare thing.