first and foremost, i take non chlorinated brake cleaner to my bolts and some break cleaner on a q-tip to the inside threads so they are bone dry... absolutely no oil / lube on the threads / bolts... your inch lbs can get out of whack if you have any oil / lube on the bolts / inside threads!! <span style="color: #CC0000">should be BONE DRY!!</span>
my LMT POS torque wrench just stopped working and is in the trash due to two busted bolts (never had a problem with the LMT wrench after a ton of barrel changes until last week)....
just hooked up with a new craftsman inch pound torque wrench for $62 bucks after tax on sale at sears.... it is really really nice and night and day diff between the craptastic wrench that comes with the LMT and this nice craftsman I got from sears <span style="color: #FF0000">(buy online and pick up at sears for cheapest price possible)..... </span>really nice positive clicks, 140 inch lbs is in the middle of the torque scale adjustments, nice lock nut, and very smooth action / torque click.... no more busted bolts for this kid after my LMT crap wrench went bad. Actually comes with a nice case too...
highly advise trashing your POS LMT torque wrench and getting this OR better especially for $62 bucks on sale!!!
very easy to set at 140 inch pounds... just make sure you set the torque setting back down to zero / lowest setting while in storage.
<span style="color: #009900">is this a snap on wrench? NO, but it wasn't over $200 bucks either!!! BIG time upgrade from the craptastic LMT wrench especially for $60 bucks!! anything is better than the LMT wrench... if you don't upgrade to this, then get something better like snap on if you can afford it... so far, it is working really nice for $60 bucks.</span>
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-micro-cli...mp;blockType=G1
don't let this happen to you and your LMT... learn from my mistakes:
It broke on very first attempt with the brand new replacement bolts I just got this week = reason for new torque wrench, no problems so far. Thank god they sent me two.
What you just said above is what I thought too until it broke one of the new bolts.. Right after that I purchased this new torque wrench... no problems.
FYI, my old LMT torque wrench was untouched from the 140 inch pound factory pre-set... had no problems with the LMT wrench until just last week.
The LMT torque wrench is beyond craptastic... hell, it has a plastic nut that you turn to reverse the wrench direction clockwise / counter clockwise. Keep on using the LMT wrench if you want to, I'm just telling you all what I just went through and hopefully you can learn from my mistakes.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: FailureToStart</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'm going to attempt to apply automotive logic to a weapon system I've never seen in person: When working on engines, all of the critical fasteners - like head studs - should be changed fairly often if you assemble/disassemble frequently. The torque values are higher and they are probably under a bit more stress, but the concept applies to literally every screw/bolt/threaded whatever I've ever dealt with. All will eventually break or strip when torqued down enough times.
If the bolts are original, I would not be surprised if they broke on their own after "a ton of barrel changes" regardless of whether or not the torque wrench sucked.
Not saying that is what happened, just putting out some information related to my personal experience with fasteners. </div></div>
BTW everyone, <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-weight: bold">before I trashed my LMT wrench</span></span> I took off the factory pre-set tape and I'm not kidding when i say this.... the adjustment settings on the LMT wrench are not only horrid, BUT the 140 inch pound pre-set was damn near at the start of the wrench adjustments values... also, there was no "click" when you turn the adjustment knob... each notch on the friggen handle = 12 inch pound adjustments which is just friggen crazy IMO... trust me, trash this china made POS or you will eventually run into the same problem I did this week. besides the fact you should store torque wrenches at the lowest setting which you can not do with the LMT wrench that has the factory pre-set tape on the handle unless you obviously take it off voiding the wrench from LMT.
trust me when i say this, it wasnt even close to what I "thought" was correct... you need to know, they supply "sheer" style bolts (drilled at the end of the bolt that break at a certain torque value) as an overkill measure above and beyond giving you a torque wrench with the rifle.
trust me, I might not be trident1982 with LMT's, but I'm no spring chicken either.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: FailureToStart</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: elfster1234</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It broke on very first attempt with the brand new replacement bolts I just got this week</div></div>
Oh Lawd!
First rule of torque wrenches: If you find yourself thinking "MFer, I don't remember it being this hard to torque this down," try to stop before you break something.
Some people like me... we don't learn so fast. </div></div>
anything is better than the LMT wrench.... I would advise getting the HF, craftsman, or anything other than the LMT wrench.... all in what you think is justified for price..... don't think I could bring myself to dump over $100 bucks for a wrench for my rifle UNLESS I was trident1982 LMT hardcore like him.... hell, even trident has said he goes by "feel", but I did call the guys in the LMT shop YESTERDAY and verified that you should still use a torque wrench at 140 inch pounds...
my LMT POS torque wrench just stopped working and is in the trash due to two busted bolts (never had a problem with the LMT wrench after a ton of barrel changes until last week)....
just hooked up with a new craftsman inch pound torque wrench for $62 bucks after tax on sale at sears.... it is really really nice and night and day diff between the craptastic wrench that comes with the LMT and this nice craftsman I got from sears <span style="color: #FF0000">(buy online and pick up at sears for cheapest price possible)..... </span>really nice positive clicks, 140 inch lbs is in the middle of the torque scale adjustments, nice lock nut, and very smooth action / torque click.... no more busted bolts for this kid after my LMT crap wrench went bad. Actually comes with a nice case too...
highly advise trashing your POS LMT torque wrench and getting this OR better especially for $62 bucks on sale!!!
very easy to set at 140 inch pounds... just make sure you set the torque setting back down to zero / lowest setting while in storage.
<span style="color: #009900">is this a snap on wrench? NO, but it wasn't over $200 bucks either!!! BIG time upgrade from the craptastic LMT wrench especially for $60 bucks!! anything is better than the LMT wrench... if you don't upgrade to this, then get something better like snap on if you can afford it... so far, it is working really nice for $60 bucks.</span>
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-micro-cli...mp;blockType=G1

don't let this happen to you and your LMT... learn from my mistakes:

It broke on very first attempt with the brand new replacement bolts I just got this week = reason for new torque wrench, no problems so far. Thank god they sent me two.
What you just said above is what I thought too until it broke one of the new bolts.. Right after that I purchased this new torque wrench... no problems.
FYI, my old LMT torque wrench was untouched from the 140 inch pound factory pre-set... had no problems with the LMT wrench until just last week.
The LMT torque wrench is beyond craptastic... hell, it has a plastic nut that you turn to reverse the wrench direction clockwise / counter clockwise. Keep on using the LMT wrench if you want to, I'm just telling you all what I just went through and hopefully you can learn from my mistakes.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: FailureToStart</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'm going to attempt to apply automotive logic to a weapon system I've never seen in person: When working on engines, all of the critical fasteners - like head studs - should be changed fairly often if you assemble/disassemble frequently. The torque values are higher and they are probably under a bit more stress, but the concept applies to literally every screw/bolt/threaded whatever I've ever dealt with. All will eventually break or strip when torqued down enough times.
If the bolts are original, I would not be surprised if they broke on their own after "a ton of barrel changes" regardless of whether or not the torque wrench sucked.
Not saying that is what happened, just putting out some information related to my personal experience with fasteners. </div></div>
BTW everyone, <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-weight: bold">before I trashed my LMT wrench</span></span> I took off the factory pre-set tape and I'm not kidding when i say this.... the adjustment settings on the LMT wrench are not only horrid, BUT the 140 inch pound pre-set was damn near at the start of the wrench adjustments values... also, there was no "click" when you turn the adjustment knob... each notch on the friggen handle = 12 inch pound adjustments which is just friggen crazy IMO... trust me, trash this china made POS or you will eventually run into the same problem I did this week. besides the fact you should store torque wrenches at the lowest setting which you can not do with the LMT wrench that has the factory pre-set tape on the handle unless you obviously take it off voiding the wrench from LMT.
trust me when i say this, it wasnt even close to what I "thought" was correct... you need to know, they supply "sheer" style bolts (drilled at the end of the bolt that break at a certain torque value) as an overkill measure above and beyond giving you a torque wrench with the rifle.
trust me, I might not be trident1982 with LMT's, but I'm no spring chicken either.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: FailureToStart</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: elfster1234</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It broke on very first attempt with the brand new replacement bolts I just got this week</div></div>
Oh Lawd!
First rule of torque wrenches: If you find yourself thinking "MFer, I don't remember it being this hard to torque this down," try to stop before you break something.

Some people like me... we don't learn so fast. </div></div>
anything is better than the LMT wrench.... I would advise getting the HF, craftsman, or anything other than the LMT wrench.... all in what you think is justified for price..... don't think I could bring myself to dump over $100 bucks for a wrench for my rifle UNLESS I was trident1982 LMT hardcore like him.... hell, even trident has said he goes by "feel", but I did call the guys in the LMT shop YESTERDAY and verified that you should still use a torque wrench at 140 inch pounds...