I have noticed that the torque specs range from a few inch lbs to several foot lbs. Is there one torque wrench you could recommend?

 

Never seen a torque wrench that does inch and foot lbs. You will need two different torque wrenches.

 

I have (2) of them from Sears. One is for foot lbs. and the other is for inch lbs. If you sign up for a Craftsman Club card you can get some decent deals. With Father's Day coming up you might want to wait and see if they will be on special. I don't know of any that will do both ? If you've never had a torque wrench before make sure that when you are done with either of them that you take the "load" off of them and put them back to zero. You don't want them sitting in your tool box set to whatever. It stresses out the mechanism inside. Anyway... you can't have too many tools and you'll really need these for your tool set... lol

 

You can convert in/lbs to ft/lbs in a pinch: in/lbs / 12 = ft/lbs.

You really need 2 torque wrenches for the different scales.

 

Thanks, two it will be.

 

The Sears kit is probably the best deal you'll find. Both wrenches in a small case. More than adequate for home use. Not likely that anyone makes a single device for both.

 

I have a ultra pro from napa auto that's in both ft. and in. lbs. it it only goes up to 25 lbs so you still need two wrenches

 

I've had these two Harbor-Freight wrenches for about 10 years and find them reliable and accurate. Tested them along with a $325 Snap-On and an old Torsen and the Harbor-Freight wrenches were the most accurate of the group by far. They also have a lifetime guarantee, and I know of no other torque wrench that has one. You can buy both for about $36.

HF 1/4"-drive in/lb wrench

HF 1/2"-drive ft/lb wrench

BTW, the in/lb wrench is on sale now at the lowest price I've ever seen it offered.

 

I recommend the Snap On electronic torque wrench in 3/8 drive, mine does nm, inch #s and Ft #s up to 100.

I use another larger one for lug nuts on my cars and stuff requiring the larger amounts of torque

 

I have 3 torque wrenches (bought 2 of them and "inherited" the other)... The combination of them seem to cover all of my bases.

• Craftsman DigiTorq, I think it is 25-250 ft/lbs. 1/2". $75 on sale.
  • Great for the "big" jobs, axle nuts, etc.
• Harbor Freight, 20-200 in/lbs, 1/4", $20 on sale.
  • Great for derby cover screws, primary cover, etc.
• Unknown brand, about 120-450 in/lbs, 3/8", inherited from someone.
  • Used for everything in the middle. Spark plugs, drain plugs, etc.

Although they are redundant, I actually use all three of them.