Beam Torque Wrench?
#1
10-06-16, 03:54 PM
Beam Torque Wrench?
Not sure which forum to post this question to, but I hope this is the correct one.
I've got a what I'm fairly positive is a blown head gasket on my Craftman DLT3000 lawn tractor with a Briggs & Stratton 18.5hp OHV Intek engine. I spent the past 2 hours watching videos on how to replace the gasket. One thing that I've seen that is very important is using a torque wrench when replacing the cylinder head bolts. It seems they should be tightened to 220 in-lb of torque. I just pulled my beam torque wrench out of my tool box (where it's been for 20 years, unused). I read a bit about how to use it online, and it's been mentioned that it has a "floating handle". The handle does wiggle back and forth. Anyone know anything about the floating handle?
Thanks!
I've got a what I'm fairly positive is a blown head gasket on my Craftman DLT3000 lawn tractor with a Briggs & Stratton 18.5hp OHV Intek engine. I spent the past 2 hours watching videos on how to replace the gasket. One thing that I've seen that is very important is using a torque wrench when replacing the cylinder head bolts. It seems they should be tightened to 220 in-lb of torque. I just pulled my beam torque wrench out of my tool box (where it's been for 20 years, unused). I read a bit about how to use it online, and it's been mentioned that it has a "floating handle". The handle does wiggle back and forth. Anyone know anything about the floating handle?
Thanks!
#2
10-06-16, 04:25 PM
Banned. Rule And/Or Policy Violation
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: USA.
Posts: 1,511
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
Basically it helps maintain that the pressure you put on the handle remains a set distance from the end. Helps in accuracy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque_wrench
Also when torquing the head, the sequence is of even more importance than the actual torque.
Beam type torque wrenches are impossible to use in situations where the scale cannot be directly read—and these situations are common in automotive applications. The scale on a beam type wrench is prone to parallax error, as a result of the large distance between indicator arm and scale (on some older designs). There is also the issue of increased user error with the beam type—the torque has to be read at every use and the operator must use caution to apply loads only at the floating handle's pivot point.
Also when torquing the head, the sequence is of even more importance than the actual torque.
