torque wrench
Big Kahuna HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 38,428
Likes: 896
RE: torque wrench
Snap-on for1/2" drive and inch pound wrenches and Mac Tools 3/8" drive wrench. Good but for the average back yard mechanic, a bit pricey
Craftsman is good and a lot more reasonable. Harbor freight is cheap, and you may or may not get a good one.
With any torque wrench, the main thing you are looking for is repeatibility.....on other words, getting all the fasteners that you are tightening (in that particular sequence) pulled down to the same degree of tightness.
There are torque specs for every size and grade of fastener and in most cases, they have a fairly wide + /- range.
For example, a 3/8" grade 8 bolt gets torqued to 36 +/- 5ft/lbs. However, if you are installing a plate with 6 of them that hold it in place, you don't want to tighten one of them to 33ft/lbs and the next one to 41ft/lbs. You want to pull all of them the same.
As long as the wrench you buy has this repeatability, you should be ok.
Oh, and also, it's good to know the torque spec of what you are tightening in order to prevent damaging either the fastener or the part you are installing.
Craftsman is good and a lot more reasonable. Harbor freight is cheap, and you may or may not get a good one.
With any torque wrench, the main thing you are looking for is repeatibility.....on other words, getting all the fasteners that you are tightening (in that particular sequence) pulled down to the same degree of tightness.
There are torque specs for every size and grade of fastener and in most cases, they have a fairly wide + /- range.
For example, a 3/8" grade 8 bolt gets torqued to 36 +/- 5ft/lbs. However, if you are installing a plate with 6 of them that hold it in place, you don't want to tighten one of them to 33ft/lbs and the next one to 41ft/lbs. You want to pull all of them the same.
As long as the wrench you buy has this repeatability, you should be ok.
Oh, and also, it's good to know the torque spec of what you are tightening in order to prevent damaging either the fastener or the part you are installing.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 9,335
Likes: 13
From: MA
RE: torque wrench
I have both Craftsmanfoot pound andinchpoundandthey work great. But remember.....the Craftsman torque wrenches aren't lifetime warranty like the hand tools. It's something like 90 days I think.
Road Warrior
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,661
Likes: 2
From: Monroe, Louisiana
RE: torque wrench
ORIGINAL: Medicfrost
I stripped my old primary cover using a Harbor Freight Torque Wrench. Piece of junk lasted about6 minutes, and 2total clicks before breaking. I added a link to the model I used. They had a very good return policy however.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=2696
ORIGINAL: TheBagger
http://harborfreight.com
I replaced my old Craftsman 1/2" drive torque wrench with another Craftsman about 3 months ago. The new Craftsman one's are really cheap now, plastic crap all over them.
The ones at Harbor Freight seem to be just as accurate and better built then the Crapsman ones anymore, I have both and I'm not happy with Sears anymore.
http://harborfreight.com
I replaced my old Craftsman 1/2" drive torque wrench with another Craftsman about 3 months ago. The new Craftsman one's are really cheap now, plastic crap all over them.
The ones at Harbor Freight seem to be just as accurate and better built then the Crapsman ones anymore, I have both and I'm not happy with Sears anymore.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=2696
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