Was dead set against torque sticks until I saw the proof

I've been wrenching for about 8 years now and always thought torque sticks were a gimmick. Figured if you couldn't feel it by hand, you shouldn't be using an impact on lugs at all. Last month I had a buddy at a shop in Denver show me his setup with a old Snap-On digital torque wrench to check. We tested 10 different lugs and the sticks were consistently within 3 ft-lbs every time. I grabbed a set of Sunex sticks the next day and honestly my wrist has been thanking me ever since. Anyone else change their mind on a tool after seeing real numbers?

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andrew64637m ago

My 2015 Mustang GT came from the factory with lug nuts torqued to 150 ft-lbs instead of the spec'd 100. Had to stand on a breaker bar to get them off the first time and that pretty much killed my trust in torque sticks. I get the numbers you're seeing, but those tests are usually on clean dry threads with fresh hardware. Try using one on a rusty F-250 lug that's been through a few winters and see if that 3 ft-lb consistency holds up. Isn't there a lot of variation based on how fast your impact gun is running too?