Who makes a good torque wrench

Lanse

Well-known Member
Hey guys!!

So, the main rivet on my old USA made Craftsman torque wrench broke somewhat recently. I simply drove to Sears and exchanged it for a new, imported special! I immediately noticed the "wimpyness" of the wrench, but I figured it'd work just fine for what I do.

Well, I was wrong. The first time I used it was working on my KLR650 last weekend. I tripped over it, snapping off the plastic pointer and bending the **** out of the measuring plate thing.

Hindsite being 20/20, I should have just fixed my old one.

Oh well... Looks like I'm in the market for a decently well built torque wrench now.

Who makes a good one that isnt snap-on expensive? Im partial to the "beam" style wrenched because I have absolutely NO way to calibrate a clicker wrench. I mean, the nearest mall is an hour away, where am I gonna take a wrench for a specialty task?

I wonder how good they stay calibrated for.

Either way, whats out there? It must be half decent quality. I'd like to be around 80-100 ft lbs max, as thats the most I ever use. Thanks in advance, guys...
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(quoted from post at 19:28:47 07/20/13)
Who makes a good one that isnt snap-on expensive?

Proto. Clicker. Mac quality, Proto price. Don't worry about calibration. Just return it to zero when you are finished with it and it will maintain an acceptable deviation from desired torque. Buy one with a range of 0-250. If you're torquing from 80 -100 most of the time, you want those numbers to be right in the middle of the range of your torque wrench. This gives you the greatest possibility of obtaining the torque you want.

What now. A video of you destroying the chinese craftsman. :)
 
spend the extra few bucks and go with a snap-on. you could hammer nails with it and it ll read correctly.just sayin . next best would be westward, although i haven t purchased anything from them for at least 20 years
 
I doubt if you would find a place in any mall that calibrates torque wrenches. I have a 3/8s SnapOn and a K-D 1/2 inch. Used them quite a bit years ago and still use them once in awhile. Neither have been checked and I seldom set them back to zero. Still seem to be accurate. I have beam wrenches too but never use them anymore.
 
Nobody here will agree with me, but you had the best one made. Try to fine another one. I have or had Snap On and Matco over the years, and the click types are not even close to the settings after some use. The dial type from Snap On will hold better than the click type but the bar style never goes out of calibration (unless you break the pointer)I need to pick up a yard sale Craftsman now.
 
Just to make life really difficult I will throw in the fact that all torque wrenches are wrong. The real goal with threaded fasteners is tension, not torque. The standard for calibration is generally a Skidmore Wilhelm device that measures tension hydraulically. Theoretically the best calibration would be given with the exact fastener to be used inserted and tightened till the exact tension desired is reached, which is then the correct torque. But as no two threads are the same and once used a bolt is considered changed and unusable.....

So, unless you carefully clean and lubricate new fasteners for every application and calibrate to the desired tension within a certain time, temperature, and humidity range you are in all likelihood not going to get very close anyway.

All that being said, I have a couple of old beam types and a few clickers that I use. It is more important to me that the emphasis be placed upon the final effect, the assembly, rather than the reading on a wrench. I check the threads and lube them lightly, chase off any damaged threads, torque multiples to a pattern, and pay attention to the heat.
 
Just tack weld a nail to the rod. Unbend the scale and call it a day. I like the clicker type if there's many bolts. Lugs or something similar. When in doubt I torque the clicker wrench with a bendie beam type. Confirmation feels good and the clicker has always been right on. El cheapo HF.
 
I guess my question would be, did you learn a lesson? The floor is no place for a precision instrument.


If you like that style of torque wrench, buy another and treat it better.

We have about 20 K-D 3/8" and 1/2" drive "clicker style" torque wrenches at work, with calibration being done once a year. Everybody likes those, and we have few to no problems with them.


We also have a 3/4" drive Snap-on digital that most everyone despises. I would not recommend a digital type, as they are not for everybody.
 
Search "vintage craftsman torque wrench" on ebay. There is a great one on there now for 25 dollars. 5 hrs left. (10:00 am CDT)
 
I have a CLICK style Snap On that is good to 250 and i have had it since 1968 and ONLY once did it ever fail and that was last year . Sent it in and had it fixed and re cal. for 75 bucks . Also have a Wright tool 3/4 drive 100-600 Ft # click and a Mac 3/8th drive and a 1/4 Snap On for doing big cam Cumming injectors . My advice is to buy the best you can afford and get one that will do more then you plan on doing . I vary seldom use the 1/2 inch drive for anything over 200 Ft.pounds as that is what the 3/4 drive is for .
 
Tractor Vet made a **GREAT** point, and I'm sure most of you missed it. Get your torque wrench calibrated!!!

Also, be sure you use the wrench properly, or you're fooling yourself. If the bolt/nut is not turning, you're not measuring torque. Loosen the bolt and then use the torque wrench to snug the nut/bolt to the proper value. If you stop, you might have to loosen again a bit, befor torqing again.
 
I have a 40 year old 1/2" snap-on clicker that they refused to calibrate 10 years ago. It reads 44# on 48# of torque from a good beam wrench. (about 10% low) clickers are often able to be used in out of position bolts that you would never be able to see with either a beam or a dial torque wrench. In the mid to late 1960"s the US Army taught that the dial was the most accurate, beam next, and clicker last; but the clicker is the easiest to use. I guess that may still be right. I don"t have a new digital, but as fragile as some electronics are, I am not sure I am missing much! But I am sure that any torque wrench is superior to no torque wrench. I check clickers against any unabused beam.
 
Get one of those little stools for brake work made by Lilse.Perfect for working on bikes. They have a seat and a tool tray under it . Place tools on tray not on floor.
 
I just had my 45 year old Snap On fixed and re calibrated last year by my Snap On guy . The lock went bad on the handle and he said that they probably would not be able to fix it , But to both of us they surprised us by sending it back FIXED and it works as good as it did when i first bought it . That wrench has put a lot of engines together from Maw's grocery getter to some vary wild rides .
 
(quoted from post at 20:59:33 07/20/13) Yup, on the adjustable ones always turn them to
minimum when you're not using them.

But don't go below zero. I did on a cheep one and now it don't click.

Dusty
 
Torque wrenches are generally the most accurate when being used in the middle of their range.

I've got click style wrenches that range from 30 inch pounds to 300 foot pounds. Above that I have a dial type for up to 600 foot lbs. I also have beam style wrenches that range from 5 in. lbs. to 150 ft.lbs. I find them very handy to check the accuracy of the click style.

One thing I have found with the click style wrenches id to make them click several times at a low torque setting before setting them to the torque you want to use it at. I have had the most problem with false readings from the smaller wrenches if I don't make them click a few times first.
 
If any good comes out of this I went and looked at what I have and my 3/8""X 1/2" special low profile adapter I have been missing for awhile was on my 0 to 100 in. lb torque wrench :D

0 to 100" lb beam style Matco
0 to 100 ft. lb beam style Blackhawk

my 3/8" and 1/2" clickers are SK never a problem with them.

I Have 2 KD's that came apart on me :cry:

I was taught ( on old stuff pre 70's) not to use a torque wrench and it has served me well,,, I have no problem tightening fasteners with out one... I bet most here that are experienced and pay attention to what they are doing can do the same...

I started in a shop full of old timers that made their living on production... I brought the first torque wrench that was used in that shop around 1972... I also brought the first 3/8" air ratchet used in that shop,,, I also brought the first 3/8" butterfly air wrench that was used in that shop,,, I also was the first to own my own 1/2" air wrench... Till then their was one 1/2" air wrench and it was passed around :shock:

I am not telling you to go with out a torque wrench but to learn to feel different ranges so if it comes down to not having one you have the feel for it with standard hand tools...I do use them more than ever now on this plastic aluminum chit I have to work on now... Times have changed...

Standard ratchets torque values in the good old days...

1/4" 18 ft lbs
3/8" 35 ft lbs
1/2" 70 ft lbs

1/2 long pull bar 120 ft lbs.

After I submitted I remembered that was in the day when they had only one in-ground lift cars were lifted with screw type bumper jacks back then only new car dealers has lifts and a service station my have one in-ground lift... When they brought air lift bumper jacks i thought it could not get any better...
 
(quoted from post at 08:53:18 07/21/13) Tractor Vet made a **GREAT** point, and I'm sure most of you missed it. Get your torque wrench calibrated!!!
...

The OP brought it up right in the first post.

Don't knock it 'til you try it, but I have read good things about the HF digital torque adapter. Most guys keep it in the tool box just to keep their torque wrench honest.

http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-torue-adapter-68283.html

I have a Snap-On 1/2" from a garage sale and a HF 3/8" The Snap-On truck checked both a couple years back and they both passed. If the storage boxes didn't have the names molded into them you couldn't tell which was HF and which was Snap-On.

I RARELY have found enough room to use one of the beam type torque wrenches.
 

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