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Torque Wrench

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Old 02-03-2011, 08:09 AM
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Originally Posted by martinbastin
Just get it hand tight. It's not like we're not working on a Space Shuttle or a jet engine.

There are some things this is true (especially if you do a thorough pre-ride inspection)

Others need to be torqued or they might come loose. I tightened my clutch controls once by hand, felt like they were tight enough for those little screws (I've been down strip threads lane before). Then they came loose on me while riding one day and freaked me out.

I torque them now with my Harbor Freight Inch pounder. I also torque things like motor mount bolts, axle nuts, and foremost the belt pulley bolts if or when I replace the pulley. And for stuff like the pulley, I install new bolts. Do not want these things working loose or failing while riding.

I now own 4 torque wrenches (3 clickers and 1 rail) for a total investment of $215 for all of them. Three of them are Harbor Freight (different drive size and torque range) and one is a Sears medium price ft lb. They are all the same accuracy since I test them to the rail. Awhile back I had one Harbor Freight wrench that was bad right out of the box and had to return it. The rest are still working good. I don't use them that often. A friend is a mechanic and he said they use all kinds but if you use them a lot the more expensive clickers tend to hold accuracy longer if you don't drop or abuse them, then they all will go bad.
The price and availability of getting one calibrated has become unpractical when you can buy new wrenches for $25 to $125 that will give accurate service thru a reasonable use life. Store them at a 20 percent of range setting (or what the instructions say). Every now and again, wind the clickers up and down thru the range of the settings. (many instructions will say this) And foremost handle them carefully, if you drop it, then check it thru several ranges before you use it again. A hard drop will many times trash a good clicker wrench.

If I was rich I would own a Snap On clicker and a Snap On dial to check it, just because they are top of the line. But the most important thing no matter what brand your wallet can afford is check the accuracy every so often on them (unless obviously they are rails or Dials which you would be using to check them).
My Craftsman (Sears has a varied price ranch of torque wrenches) was $120 but it is no more accurate than my Harbor Freight of the same lb range that cost $25 on sale. Will the Sears hold accuracy longer.... don't know, probably just guessing. I can say the Sears one operates a lot smoother. It must have a gear driven adjustment because it's like turning a cruise control to adjust, almost effortless. And it has a window with rotating numbers (not the micrometer scale like the H.F. ones). The Harbor Freight ones take more effort to twist the micrometer scale.
It's all how much you use them, how much it will cost you to calibrate it, how much money you've got to burn and how many operating bells and whistles you want.
But no matter what, if it's something important enough to torque then you need to test the clicker wrenches every so often depending on how much you have used them or how long it's has been stored. The clickers are so convenient for upside down and awkward viewing conditions. That is their real advantage.
That's my 3 cents worth. A torque wrench is prized part of any tool chest. Happy Torquing.
 

Last edited by R_W_B; 02-03-2011 at 08:11 AM.
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