Shopping for a Torque Wrench ???
Thread Starter
TECH Regular
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 430
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From: Bahrain
ive been researching bout torque wrenches for the last 2 weeks and i guess i finally made up my mind. im gonna get a 3/8" beam type TW from craftsman theyr quite cheap and ive heard nothing but positive comments bout em 
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 374
Likes: 1
Beam types are nice for things like setting bearing preloads on a pinion gear or anyplace where you're measuring a turning torque but can be finicky and slow for a lot of more normal applications. Technique is very important with them, it's the reason why they have pivoting handles, so there is an exact point where the force is applied to the wrench and to make it difficult to apply force in any unintended direction.
I don't see much of a point in getting the 3/8" one, it will not have enough capacity for lug nuts, some head bolts or just about any larger bolt, and you'll want something more sensitive to set a lot of bearing preloads, like a 1/4" one.
Honestly, for what most people use a torque wrench for just get a cheap 1/2" clicker and learn how to use it correctly. Even a fairly inaccurate one will still be more accurate than most people's technique, and then if you find that you need a special wrench for a specific application (like if you get into rebuilding rear axles), then get a beam one specific for that.
Finally, never leave a torque wrench set, always loosen the adjustment till you take the tension off the internal assembly, it will stay accurate for longer.
I don't see much of a point in getting the 3/8" one, it will not have enough capacity for lug nuts, some head bolts or just about any larger bolt, and you'll want something more sensitive to set a lot of bearing preloads, like a 1/4" one.
Honestly, for what most people use a torque wrench for just get a cheap 1/2" clicker and learn how to use it correctly. Even a fairly inaccurate one will still be more accurate than most people's technique, and then if you find that you need a special wrench for a specific application (like if you get into rebuilding rear axles), then get a beam one specific for that.
Finally, never leave a torque wrench set, always loosen the adjustment till you take the tension off the internal assembly, it will stay accurate for longer.
The fact is that none of them are that accurate unless they're regularly calibrated, and the beam type are more accurate than the click type (most people overtorque with a click type anyway but going fast with them, getting a positive click while still exerting force).
The real issue is repeatability, since in most cases, you're using a torque wrench to get things tightened evenly and being even 10 or 20% off in actual value doesn't really matter, which is a good thing because I only know of a few people that regularly get theirs calibrated.
That said, a buddy of mine got access to a calibration setup and we collected a bunch of torque wrenches (he had a old click snapon and a newer didgital one, and a matco, we also came up with a dozen more ranging from a few super cheap HF ones to assorted vintages of craftsman ones, I had a few IBM issue ones that were originally used to service their tape robots).
We found all the digital ones were not repeatable, and the 2 snap on ones we couldn't even get calibrated accurately. The only commonly available ones that were repeatable and accurate were the cheap HF ones (and obviously, a craftsman beam type). Otherwise, the IBM ones were really good (I keep forgetting the brand name, but they're custom made for IBM, they have an IBM logo on the box) and a maybe 30y/o snapon and maybe a 25y/o craftsman were at the top of the list.
That being the case, I swear by my
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-hal...rench-239.html
they're usually on sale for $9, and we didn't find one out of 4 that were more than 3% off or showed more than 2% variability WRT to repeatability. None of the more common big names were even 2x that
I'm pretty sure that a lot of the cheap ones are the same wrench being sold under a different name, I haven't confirmed it but they all look identical, come in identical cases...
The real issue is repeatability, since in most cases, you're using a torque wrench to get things tightened evenly and being even 10 or 20% off in actual value doesn't really matter, which is a good thing because I only know of a few people that regularly get theirs calibrated.
That said, a buddy of mine got access to a calibration setup and we collected a bunch of torque wrenches (he had a old click snapon and a newer didgital one, and a matco, we also came up with a dozen more ranging from a few super cheap HF ones to assorted vintages of craftsman ones, I had a few IBM issue ones that were originally used to service their tape robots).
We found all the digital ones were not repeatable, and the 2 snap on ones we couldn't even get calibrated accurately. The only commonly available ones that were repeatable and accurate were the cheap HF ones (and obviously, a craftsman beam type). Otherwise, the IBM ones were really good (I keep forgetting the brand name, but they're custom made for IBM, they have an IBM logo on the box) and a maybe 30y/o snapon and maybe a 25y/o craftsman were at the top of the list.
That being the case, I swear by my
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-hal...rench-239.html
they're usually on sale for $9, and we didn't find one out of 4 that were more than 3% off or showed more than 2% variability WRT to repeatability. None of the more common big names were even 2x that
I'm pretty sure that a lot of the cheap ones are the same wrench being sold under a different name, I haven't confirmed it but they all look identical, come in identical cases...
I've got a Matco 1/4" Clicker for small stuff and a Matco Digital 3/8 10-100lb/ft for the medium/bigger stuff. I like the digital because you can flip between lb-ft/N-M/Inch/Lbs... Plus it gives you an exact torque down to the tenth of what you achieved. So you'll know if you over torque it. I found that mine beeps at you and it usually ends up about 2 tenths below the torque. Like if I'm shooting for 50.0, it'll leave me at 49.8. Maybe it takes into consideration reaction time to stop I don't know, but it usually leaves me pretty much dead on.
Staging Lane
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 98
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From: Elizabthown Ky
if u wanna spend the money buy a snapon techmate there awesome but i paid almost 500 for mine but i use it almost everday....in my opinion why spend thosands on a motor and pennies on a tool to assemble it
TECH Regular
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 418
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From: Augusta Ks.
Never used a H/F torque wrench but do a web search of "Harbor freight tools that suck" and they have a lot of info on tools that people rate and gives you a good idea of whats ok and what to stay away from.
've been using one in my car for wheels for over 3 years and never had a problem. My only recommendation would be to check them against a known wrench to verify the torque settings are close because a friend had one that was WAY off but he returned it for a replacement and the replacement was fine.
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TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 374
Likes: 1
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 374
Likes: 1
I was going to say, the 20% off coupon doesn't do you any good with other coupons, and the one that I posted is already $20 off the regular price, or 69% off...
Lets face it, how many genuinely useful tools can you buy for $9 anyway?
You can get some real junk at HF, but if you shop around there are some real jems also. I think HD, lowes and Sears have figured it out also, and occasionally you can do better getting stuff from them. Secondly, before you start bitching about Chinese and Indian made stuff... HF is actually an American company and is notably the only place where you can get American or mostly American made products in some categories (like for example, their US General line of compressors is _the only_ major line of smaller than industrial compressors that is mostly American made, the tanks are made in VA, the motors are nice Baldor or AO Smith motors (go look at the junk that comes on a IR or CH compressor right now), with Square D and similar electrical parts, all assembled in I think it's South Carolina. The only thing on them that is not US made is the compressor head, they're from Italy)
Lets face it, how many genuinely useful tools can you buy for $9 anyway?
You can get some real junk at HF, but if you shop around there are some real jems also. I think HD, lowes and Sears have figured it out also, and occasionally you can do better getting stuff from them. Secondly, before you start bitching about Chinese and Indian made stuff... HF is actually an American company and is notably the only place where you can get American or mostly American made products in some categories (like for example, their US General line of compressors is _the only_ major line of smaller than industrial compressors that is mostly American made, the tanks are made in VA, the motors are nice Baldor or AO Smith motors (go look at the junk that comes on a IR or CH compressor right now), with Square D and similar electrical parts, all assembled in I think it's South Carolina. The only thing on them that is not US made is the compressor head, they're from Italy)
Thread Starter
TECH Regular
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 430
Likes: 0
From: Bahrain
Beam types are nice for things like setting bearing preloads on a pinion gear or anyplace where you're measuring a turning torque but can be finicky and slow for a lot of more normal applications. Technique is very important with them, it's the reason why they have pivoting handles, so there is an exact point where the force is applied to the wrench and to make it difficult to apply force in any unintended direction.
I don't see much of a point in getting the 3/8" one, it will not have enough capacity for lug nuts, some head bolts or just about any larger bolt, and you'll want something more sensitive to set a lot of bearing preloads, like a 1/4" one.
Honestly, for what most people use a torque wrench for just get a cheap 1/2" clicker and learn how to use it correctly. Even a fairly inaccurate one will still be more accurate than most people's technique, and then if you find that you need a special wrench for a specific application (like if you get into rebuilding rear axles), then get a beam one specific for that.
Finally, never leave a torque wrench set, always loosen the adjustment till you take the tension off the internal assembly, it will stay accurate for longer.
I don't see much of a point in getting the 3/8" one, it will not have enough capacity for lug nuts, some head bolts or just about any larger bolt, and you'll want something more sensitive to set a lot of bearing preloads, like a 1/4" one.
Honestly, for what most people use a torque wrench for just get a cheap 1/2" clicker and learn how to use it correctly. Even a fairly inaccurate one will still be more accurate than most people's technique, and then if you find that you need a special wrench for a specific application (like if you get into rebuilding rear axles), then get a beam one specific for that.
Finally, never leave a torque wrench set, always loosen the adjustment till you take the tension off the internal assembly, it will stay accurate for longer.
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,378
Likes: 14
From: Atlanta, GA Ft. Walton Beach, FL
over torque? when I did my cam swap I borrowed a $85. craftsman TW for the rockers.
however I did'nt use a TW on the timing cover, water pump, oil pan and intake bolts wrench was way to big, so I used the cross pattern snug down then add a little more technik is this OK?
are you guy's using a 1/4" TW on these bolts?
what happens if you over torque? will it stress the bolt then snap the bolt?
when I get around to a head swap I probably get a nice 3/8" TW and referr back to this an like threads for expert advice.
Thanks
however I did'nt use a TW on the timing cover, water pump, oil pan and intake bolts wrench was way to big, so I used the cross pattern snug down then add a little more technik is this OK?
are you guy's using a 1/4" TW on these bolts?
what happens if you over torque? will it stress the bolt then snap the bolt?
when I get around to a head swap I probably get a nice 3/8" TW and referr back to this an like threads for expert advice.
Thanks