Rotate tires -- torque and lugnut question

I don't see why not, it'll just be easier to go too far after it clicks. 76 ft-lbs is what I found for the correct torque. Torque wrenches are usually long enough that you shouldn't need any more length to do 76 ft-lbs.

 

Yes, I use a short extension (about 5") with my torque wrench when I'm torquing up my lug nuts. I usually use 70 to 75 ft-lbs.

Then it sounds like a good thing that you've now got yourself a torque wrench. That past "stompy" method is a terrible way to torque up those nuts. For one thing it's likely to over-torque them, but in addition it unnecessarily places a lot of shear and bending moment on the studs. I've seen people snap studs off using that method.

Generally I both remove and replace my wheel nuts with an x-brace, and then just use the torque wrench to do the final tensioning.

 

Sounds like they're fairly low quality then. Hopefully the new one is better.

I'm also of the mind that if you only use a tool occasionally you can often get away with the cheap stuff. My 1/2 torque wrench is some cheap made in Taiwan thing too, but I've had for about 25 years and it still works. I only use it a couple of times a year, mostly just to the rotate tires these days, but in the past I have used it to replace/re-tension heads. I even set it up in bench vice earlier this year and checked the calibration with a spring gauge. Even after 25 year it was still fairly accurate.

BTW. With these "micrometer" style clicker wrenches it's important to remember to wind them back to zero after usage to avoid having them go out of calibration.