A guy at the shop in Tacoma said I was torquing stems wrong, and he was right
He told me to stop going by feel and use a torque wrench, and I rolled my eyes for about 2 weeks until I cracked a carbon steerer on a customer's bike. Now I keep the wrench at the bench and check every single one, no matter how many years I've been doing this. Any of you still trust your wrist over the wrench?
Torque wrenches are great and you should be using one, but a click type needs to be checked now and then. They drift out of spec over time, especially if you leave it set at a value in your box or drop it once. A wrench that reads low will have you thinking you hit 5 Nm when you really put 7 on it, and that is plenty to crush a steerer. Beam style never goes out of whack but most folks hate reading them. Point is, the tool only saves you if it is actually right. Get it checked once a year or so and you will be fine.