Remembering the old way we used to torque those big engine mount bolts

Had a brand new digital torque wrench fail on me halfway through a job on a 737's right engine last Tuesday, so I had to dig out the old clicker from the bottom of my toolbox to finish up, which got me thinking about how much we rely on tech now compared to just feeling it out years ago.

4 comments

4 Comments

lilyt238d ago

Those old clicker wrenches just keep working, don't they? Tech is great until the battery dies or a sensor fails. Do you think mechanics are losing the feel for the work because of all the digital tools?

thomas.river8d ago

Honestly the new tools just add another layer to the feel. A good mechanic still needs to know when a sound or a vibration is off, even with a screen full of data. Maybe it's just me but the tech helps solve weird problems faster, so we can focus on the hands-on stuff more. The old tools are great, but the new ones don't replace skill, they just change the job a little.

garcia.cameron8d ago

Yeah but is it really that big of a deal? People have been saying this about every new tool forever.

green.laura8d ago

Oh totally, I read something like what @lilyt23 said about keeping the basics!