At this point, no dedicated brace was used even though there was a little sag (spoiler: that’s a key reason behind the torque loss). Now that things were to be stretched further, to minimize the substantial amount of sag, a chair was used as a brace to get as accurate results as possible. Halfords Advanced modular trays are designed to help you build your own ideal tool kit. Choose the tools that you need for the job and then choose the storage that you need. Our Halfords Advanced modular tray storage case will hold up to three trays for a portable tool kit, or build the complete tool storage solution using Halfords tool chests and cabinets. Features & Benefits:

When you just measure the length of the wrench and the extension, the equation becomes much easier to comprehend. Instead of talking in terms of theory, I’d like to summarize the results of an extensive test on this matter, which will answer the question in a more solid manner. But things got interesting when the wobble came into play. The results were fairly inconsistent when trying out different angles, as summed up below:While doing the same test with a 64-inch extension, the torque loss was 9.77% (without the brace) and 6.23% with the brace. At this point, the sag was so substantial that even after using a brace, a significant torque loss was seen.

Even though many people don’t do this and are aware of the science behind it, many don’t. Some people are just comfortable holding a wrench at the very bottom of it, and they do the same for a torque wrench as well. You have a wrench with a length of 24 inches and you have to put an extension of 4 inches on it to reach where you intend to. The recommended torque setting for the fastener is 180 lbs. What torque setting do you set the wrench on for a smooth sail? Next up, two extensions were put together making a combined length of 19-inch, and that averaged out at 33.5 ft-lb, representing a torque loss of 3.83% compared to the baseline.Finally, testing out with an 88-inch extension, the results came out as 9.29% torque loss without the brace and 5.72% loss with the brace. The numbers were not exactly the ones that were expected because the torque loss was rather a little less than the 64-inch extension, but the pattern was somewhat upheld, we could say. Remember we said that it was the sag, or the angle created due to the sag, to be more specific, which was a key reason behind the torque loss? To further confirm that, a wobble extension was used under the same setting. But here’s the upfront conclusion if you’re a skimmer—the extension does not cause torque loss as long as it’s perfectly perpendicular to the body of the wrench. But achieving the perfect angle is often tougher than it’s thought to be.

Desired Torque? Well, you know that—it’s the torque you want to be ultimately applied to the fastener. The first extension was a 10-inch ½-inch drive impact extension and it averaged out at 33.7 ft-lb, which is a 3.16% torque loss compared to the baseline. According to physics, if you keep the extension perfectly perpendicular to the body of the wrench, there should be no torque loss—and that’s actually the case, as seen on many tests. When similar tests were carried out, ensuring the conditions were met, there was no real torque loss.Just a little heads up, make sure you measure the length of the wrench and extension correctly. A couple of centimeters here and there won’t matter much, but don’t miss your mark by inches. In the first attempt, the extension was kept straight and it averaged out at 33.7 ft-lb as an average of 3 results as always, which is the same as the ½-inch drive impact extension that was first used. All these attempts were made from completely different angles, intentionally. The inconsistency of the outcome validates the hypothesis. What Causes Torque Loss?

Just to give you another heads up before wrapping it up, you need to ensure that you put your hand in the right place on the wrench—at the center of the handle. Neither at the upper end nor the bottom end.

Well, it’s the case for straight extensions. Basically, any offset or extension that changes the distance between the centerline of the wrench drive and the centerline of the fastener needs to be adjusted.