The original poster on this thread must be really confused by now. It was a simple question he posed and he got both "yes" and "no" answers. About equal on both. This all goes to prove that if you rely strictly upon the knowledge of the people who respond to a forum question, you will never have a clearly defined answer. Who was it, Patrick Swazy who said in Road House that "opinions vary"?
Somehow I thought he would be bigger too.

 

Navy/Marine Corps torque wrenches are calibrated every 2 years for most tasks. I sure there are more precision jobs (like instrument mechanic) that may require more frequent calibration and a smaller torque scales but all the bolt/nut tightening I have done was on a 2 year interval for calibration/adjustment.
2AM Guy has his ducks in a row. You should always run the bolt/nut down by hand before torquing. You'll strip a lot less hardware if you follow that suggestion. If the hardware doesn't start smoothly try starting it again and again until it does. It's a lower frustration level to restart it a few times than to strip it and have to replace maybe the oil pan...
You don't have to worry about dissimilar metals on oil drain plugs as there is always enough oil present to prevent corrosion and the ions don't flow well in the presence of oil, which is a poor electrolyte.

 

ditto on that. I read a review in HOT ROD magazine (I think) once that rated HF torque wrenches as very good, or atleast a whole lot better than most would think. it was actually one of the top reviewed wrenches.

 

But, but ,but, It's HF, It has to be a piece of ****!

 

If it has a spec. - I torque it, on all vehicles. I always have and always will. Takes the worry out of things and only takes a second. Get a good inch pound and foot pound wrench. It's just a cost of doing business (or your own work).

 

I have five torque wrenches, if there's a torque spec, I use it. Yep, even on the battery. 60 in-lbs.

 

I'm not much of a mechanic, but I'm trying to do more of my own work and learn as I go.

Tried re-installing the derby cover on my Sportster a few years ago with a 3/8 drive foot-pound torque wrench (old style beam deflection type). Lucky me got to learn how to install a helicoil after that. Not sure if I would have stripped it if I tightened by hand or not. Lesson learned: sorta right tool is still the wrong tool.

Now I have a 1/4" in-lb wrench. I've used it for everything I've done since that has a torque spec. I haven't installed any more helicoils.

 

What made you do that?

 

OP, yes i use a torque wrench all the time.

If the manual has a torque spec I use it, if for some reason no spec is posted most if not all manuals have a common fastener torque spec chart that i will use if need be.

 

I use a torque wrench on the oil plugs and everything else that has a torque spec shown in the service manual.