No you don't need a torque wrench, yes there is a technique to aligning the handguard and upper - ODIN Works O2 Lite Free Float M-LOK Forend

You don't need a torque wrench to secure this handguard, using a regular adjustable wrench and tightening it down on a bev block is all thats necessary, Any person of average strength should be able to exceed 30ft/lbs and thats all you need to secure it provided you use a couple drops of loctite. Go look up accuracy and torque value tests for ar15 platforms and see that 30-40ft/lbs on a free float is not only more than enough, its ideal.

As far as aligning the handguard and upper, I see people complaining about the play in the metal dowel you insert into the gas tube, you can easily get around this with a mallet or anything that can tap, if you're an armorer you should have a nylon headed hammer anyway.

-First, hand-tighten the second barrel nut and give it a small nudge with the wrench for snugness, remove your wrench and check for alignment with the upper by dry fitting the handguard.

-Second, with the handguard still dry fit to the receiver, use your mallet or tool to nudge the handguard into alignment with the upper

-Third, remove the handguard and tighten the barrel nut a bit more, dry fit the handguard again and check for alignment, tapping into place if necessary; If you get to a point where the alignment is wrong but the upper wont tap into place, you just need to back the nut off a nudge and try again.

It should only take 2 or 3 dry fits of the handguard and tapping it back into alignment before you get to a point where tightening the barrel nut doesnt move the free float nut any further and you can then crank the nut down to spec. You can reliably align and fit the handguard in one try with this technique.