What would be a good brand/price and how accurate can they get? I’ve using the el-cheapo HF ones which is like 30 bucks, and something tells me they are far from accurate.
Any input would be grateful. Thanks. :bowdown
what kind of torque wrench and how much your going to have to spend to get it depends on what your doing. I have both cheaper craftsman ones and a almost 600 dollar snap on tech wrenches. Both have their uses. You doing anything torque to yield? If so a good quality wrench that does angles would be nice to have.
snap on or mac for engine work. craftsman for wheels and suspension
If youre just going at basic hardware and low value TTY fasteners your typical ratcheting click craftsman drive will suit you fine and be more than accurate for years of use. Rebuilding motors and precision work, then you start looking into more expensive split beams by snap on/ CID and the like. Scott has a digital snap on down at the machine shop and I personally do not like it.
Also depends on the average level of torque you expect to use. I’ve got a small 1/4" drive for going as low as 5 inch-lbs to a 1" drive that does up to 600 ftlbs for the lug nuts and fasteners on the heavy equipment like the peterbuilt.
Thanks for all your input.
It is for bikes and no major engine work, may be cam cover once in a blue moon, to do the valves and change the clutch; so I guess it will consider light duty. tq range would be 5~100 ft-lb max.
It is mostly for suspensions, wheels and chassis components.
CDI makes Snap-On’s wrenches, so when looking for a quality wrench, get a CDI for 1/2 the price of a Snap-On.
also keep in mind that torque wrenches are most accurate between 20-90% of their rated capacity… for example, a wrench calibrated to 100 ft-lbs should typically be used to torque fasteners to 20-90 ft-lbs… outside of that % range, accuracy goes down
I was looking into the same thing, for values on bikes you’d probably want two different wrenches, for low stuff like triples and spark plugs that range 5-25 ft/lbs and medium stuff like axle nuts that go up to 70 ft/lbs. Like poster above says, a single wrench would have have those at near the ends of its values and consequently not be very precise. I haven’t bought one yet, so I just use the “calibrated wrist” method of educated guessing.
All: are beam wrenches good for low value stuff like this, or is a ratcheting type preferable?
just crank that shit down until it almost snaps
fuck it
I have been using one from advance auto for all the bikes I have owned and for lug nuts on my car and my wifes car and never had an issue. And after using a promo code it came out to be pretty damn cheap!
I wouldn’t use it on a engine build but other then that you shouldn’t have any problems.
So what is the difference between a click type micrometer and a non-click type? Is Precision Instrument a good brand? Any specific bands that is made in USA?
I am looking at this one which the range should cover all I’ll ever need for my bikes.
How is this one from PI compare to the KD sold in advance? (See links below)
Ah…Thanks for reminding me about advance promo code…:lol
You want a ‘click’ type.
Between those two units, the PI is a better choice.
Keep in mind that a torque wrench should be periodically calibrated, and some (most) of the cheap units cannot be calibrated-just checked.
Always remember to reset the wrench to it’s lowest setting after use, and never, ever use one as a breaker bar, etc. It’s to torque a fastener, period.
click type prevents you from over tightening the micrometer and causing the frame to flex- which will change the measurement
depending on what you are doing and if you have an impact gun the torque sticks might be a good idea
as mentioned before, torque wrenches are supposed to be periodically calibrated. I don’t think these things can loose calibration
bought them to make sure my crank shaft nut was propperly tightened. someone told me they would make a diffrent noise when i got to torque. Didn’t notice that but it did seem to vibrate oddly and somehow refused to turn the nut anymore. Pretty sure that meant it was torqued lol.
i’ve tried and failed to figure out how these things really work.
http://www.harborfreight.com/10-piece-1-2-half-inch-torque-limiting-extension-bar-set-92890.html
They just twist when they reach the torque limit. don’t use them with a bar/ratchet as it completely defeats their purpose. Impact gun only.
Good for lugs nuts in a service shop, that’s about it.
And +1 for travis comment on CDI, I typed it wrong in my post :zip
Click types are more convenient for when you can’t always read the wrench but subject to spring fatigue. Buy a split beam variant if you’re going to spend the money on something other than your typical Craftsman. More durable, more accurate, and is not affected by a stationary setting if you forget to loosen the spring. Small fasteners, get an open stationary beam. these things are super accurate for small fasteners(less than 1%) when kept at room temperature, you just have to be able to read the dial.
good for anything you can use an impact gun on. not sure why you would think anyone would use them with a hand wrench.
I spent 80 bucks on a no name torque wrench. I did a lot of research and was real close to buying a snap on one, but the same people that were promoting the expensive wrenches were also saying you should have them calabrated like every year. simply wasn’t worth it to me. basically got the thing just so i would stop breaking bolts anyway.
craftsman on sale for 50$ at sears… originally 80$
Need to know, is CDI made in America?? (nvm, I just read that it is made in America)
Looking to get this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Snap-Industrial-Torque-1002MFRMH-100-Foot/dp/B002LA19P2
Thanks ahead!
That’ll do ya good yes
Still waiting for someone to chime in on the beam type wrenches.