Torque Converter

The pound-foot (lb-ft) emerged from US mechanical engineering practice in the 1800s — the force (one pound) applied at a moment arm (one foot). The Newton-meter (Nm) became the SI standard in 1960 when the General Conference on Weights and Measures formalized the modern metric system. Kilogram-force-meter (kgf·m) was the pre-SI European engineering unit, still used in Japan's JIS standards and in older Italian/German factory manuals.

1 lb-ft = 1.35582 Nm, a conversion factor burned into every mechanical engineer's memory. Torque specs in car repair manuals vary by region: a US F-150 service manual quotes wheel lug nuts at 150 lb-ft; a European Ford Ranger manual quotes the same nut at 203 Nm; a Japanese Ranger says 20.7 kgf·m — same spec, three unit systems.

The dyne-centimeter (dyn·cm = g·cm²/s²) appears in older physics literature and in some precision torque-standard calibrations. It's an absurdly small unit (10⁻⁷ Nm) but necessary for expressing tiny torques in molecular-scale or MEMS gyroscope measurements.

Enter a value in any field; all other units update instantly. Covers the five common torque units: pound-feet (lb-ft), pound-inches (lb-in), Newton-meters (Nm), kilogram-force-meters (kgf·m), and dyne-centimeters. Use for reading foreign service manuals, calibrating torque wrenches, or converting engine dyno output between marketing units.

Common reference torques: M6 bolt ~10 Nm, spark plug 25-30 Nm, wheel lug 110 Nm (80 lb-ft), crankshaft main cap bolt 80-120 Nm. Modern production car engines produce 200-500 Nm of torque; a diesel Class 8 truck engine makes 2500-3500 Nm. Everything runs client-side; no values leave your browser.