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. 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. 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. 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 just need to know the actual length of the wrench and the extension. That’s it. That’s the apparently obscure part, I suppose.

But things got interesting when the wobble came into play. The results were fairly inconsistent when trying out different angles, as summed up below: So, what caused the torque loss? According to physics, it’s impossible. So were Newton, Einstein, Galileo, and all the other great physicists, wrong? 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.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.

When you just measure the length of the wrench and the extension, the equation becomes much easier to comprehend. 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:

At this point, a pattern had been found that as the extension length kept increasing, the torque loss was higher (without the brace). To see if the pattern was valid or not, things were stretched out even further. 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.

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? Desired Torque? Well, you know that—it’s the torque you want to be ultimately applied to the fastener.It was time for a 38-inch extension and it averaged out at 35.1 ft-lb, which actually is a 0.86% increase in torque from the baseline. 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.