Torque Converters

One foot-pound equals 12 inch-pounds and about 1.35582 newton-meters — three units that cover most of what you'll see on torque specs, from a lug-nut torque chart to a bolt table in a service manual. The SI unit is the newton-meter (N·m), while foot-pounds and inch-pounds dominate in US automotive and engineering contexts.

Torque is a twisting force: the product of a force and its perpendicular distance from the pivot. That makes its units length × force — the same dimensions as energy — but torque and energy are distinct quantities. A joule of work is done along the direction of motion; a newton-meter of torque acts rotationally around an axis. The 1 converters here handle the most common cross-unit situations, including the popular foot-pound to inch-pound jump.

The scale differences between these units matter in practice. A typical car wheel torque spec sits around 100–120 ft·lb, which is 1,200–1,440 in·lb or roughly 135–163 N·m. Getting the unit wrong by a factor of 12 or 1.356 will overtighten or undertighten a fastener, so always confirm which unit a spec sheet is using before you reach for the wrench.