Torque wrenches

[KChurch86]

I'm looking for input on torque wrenches. I don't own one, but I should; and therefore I am in the market for one.

I'll really only be using it for automotive purposes on my X and on my wife's Focus, or if my in-laws need help on their cars (Corolla and Camry), so I don't need massive torque. It's not like I'll be working on farm equipment or semi-trucks, I really just need a solid general purpose torque wrench. I think the highest torque I've seen/used is the nut on the pitman arm of the X, 235 lb/ft. IIRC.

That being said, I want something with up to 250 lb/ft. range, but also something that goes down pretty low, like 25 lb/ft.? I'm not sure if this range can be had in one tool, so this range has some give to the limits.

Here's my thought process:

Bar & scale type:

PROS:
- Most-affordable
- Decently accurate
- Seem to have the broadest scale range
- No adjustment needed from one torque setting to the next

CONS:
- Usually non-ratcheting
- If you can't see the scale, you can't accurately torque the fastener
- Somewhat bulky

Micrometer "click type":

PROS:
- Ratcheting head
- Moderately affordable
- Don't have to be able to see a scale or readout
- Easily adjusted
- Accurate

CONS:
- Possibly limited torque range (depends on wrench I guess)
- Possibly more delicate moving parts in adjuster ring

Digital:

PROS:
- Ratcheting head
- Most emit a vibration and/or beep when torque is reached (Don't have to see scale or readout)
- Easily adjusted
- Probably most-accurate

CONS:
- Possibly delicate parts (Electronics)
- Need to replace/recharge/buy batteries (ongoing cost)

All I really need:

- 1/2" drive. I only own 3/8" and 1/2" sockets, but 90% of the time I only use the 1/2" set over the 3/8" set.
- Large torque range up to ~250 lb/ft.
- Durability, I want this to be the last torque wrench I have to buy. I'm gentle with and take care of my tools. So if I buy the right one now and take care of it, I want to be good to go from here on out.


- What am I missing?
- What torque wrench(es) do you own/use/recommend and why?
- What should I avoid and why?

 

[NismoFire]

Tag cause I wanna know too.

 

[KChurch86]

I've got my eye on a Husky at Home Depot:

1/2" drive, 50-250 lb/ft. range, Micrometer-style adjuster, click type. $84.97, and I've got a Home Depot gift card from Christmas which would bring it down a little bit. 50ft/lb. is a little higher than the lowest I want though. I like and trust Husky tools, and it's got a lifetime warranty.

They've also got a GearWrench 1/2" drive, 20-250 lb/ft. range, Micrometer-style, click type. I'm not familiar with the GearWrench name. Limited lifetime warranty. $109.00

 

[Muadeeb]

I have a full seton ratcheting click-type from Harbor Freight, and they're "good enough" for me.

You don't really want to run a torque wrench at the end of its range, as it won't be as accurate there, hence all three. Once a setting is locked in, it seems to hold it pretty well, and it is ratcheting so you can work up to the torque you need.

The way I use them is to get snug with a normal ratchet, then switch to whatever torque wrench I need and do as few turns with that as I can. When I'm done, it goes right back in the case with no setting licked it. Am I going to rebuild an engine with them? Maybe not, but for $20 ea, it was hard to pass up.

I've used bar style before, and I had the same issues you worried about. Hard to get into some places, and you can only read it looking face on. I also felt a strong urge to 'bounce' it when torquing, as opposed to pulling through to where the torque needed to be.

I've never used an electronic, but my fear, especially in lower settings, would be winding up over torquing because there was no extra resistance when the setting was achieved. Also, I wonder how well I would hear the beeping.

Sent via wild ferrets on crack

 

[KChurch86]

I have a full seton ratcheting click-type from Harbor Freight, and they're "good enough" for me.

You don't really want to run a torque wrench at the end of its range, as it won't be as accurate there, hence all three. Once a setting is locked in, it seems to hold it pretty well, and it is ratcheting so you can work up to the torque you need.

The way I use them is to get snug with a normal ratchet, then switch to whatever torque wrench I need and do as few turns with that as I can. When I'm done, it goes right back in the case with no setting licked it. Am I going to rebuild an engine with them? Maybe not, but for $20 ea, it was hard to pass up.

I've used bar style before, and I had the same issues you worried about. Hard to get into some places, and you can only read it looking face on. I also felt a strong urge to 'bounce' it when torquing, as opposed to pulling through to where the torque needed to be.

I've never used an electronic, but my fear, especially in lower settings, would be winding up over torquing because there was no extra resistance when the setting was achieved. Also, I wonder how well I would hear the beeping.

Sent via wild ferrets on crack

Thanks for the input on running them at the high end of the range. Most of the ones I've looked at state their accuracy throughout the torque range, and they all taper off towards the high limit.

I guess I should have mentioned that I'm really only looking at Home Depot and Walmart because I have gift cards to those places. Walmart doesn't have any in-store, so it would be an online purchase, which is fine by me but they also don't seem to have a great selection. Also, the ones they do have seem a little pricey. Home Depot only seems to carry a few brands as well, but most of the ones they do carry I'm familiar with and trust them.

I've also got a Sears store credit card, not a gift card so I could just spread the purchase price out over a few payments. Sort of negates the fact that I'm looking at putting the gift cards to good use, but whatever, haha.

I've used the bar type before as it's all my dad has. They're nice when you can read the scale. I feel they're the least accurate, and I also found that I would bounce them. Something about slowly and accurately pulling/pushing while reading the scale just didn't work for me, haha.

I've used a few digital ones before, 2 Snap-Ons and some other brand I don't recall, they were solid wrenches and seemed to be very, very accurate. They were pretty high-end, the Snap-Ons had yellow, green, and red LEDs. As you were approaching torque, the yellow LED would light up. On torque it would turn green, beep, and vibrate, and if you went over it would vibrate harder, beep louder, and turn red. Very nice for noisy workplaces...but at $600+ IIRC, it's way out of my price range, and I don't need a professional top-of-the-line wrench here, either.

 

[Silver dude]

Get a low cost clicker like that husky you posted. I've used the beam type torque wrenches as thats all my dad used as well. Once I became a mechanic the clicker type was all I ever use. Well I take that back I do use the beam style to measure bearing drag or preload on rear ends. But, the clicker is extremely easy to use. You don't have to look at the wrench while torquing or worry about batteries. I personally own 3 clickers 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 and the shop has 3/4". At home I have a 1/2" and find it to be really all I need while working on the xterra. Torquing wheel nuts, or the crank bolt. Having a multitude of sizes is best as the lower torque fasteners are generally in more cramped areas where a 1/2" would be to heavy or long and bulky to get a accurate torque. A guy at work owns a husky 1/2" clicker and he likes it.

 

[KChurch86]

Get a low cost clicker like that husky you posted. I've used the beam type torque wrenches as thats all my dad used as well. Once I became a mechanic the clicker type was all I ever use. Well I take that back I do use the beam style to measure bearing drag or preload on rear ends. But, the clicker is extremely easy to use. You don't have to look at the wrench while torquing or worry about batteries. I personally own 3 clickers 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 and the shop has 3/4". At home I have a 1/2" and find it to be really all I need while working on the xterra. Torquing wheel nuts, or the crank bolt. Having a multitude of sizes is best as the lower torque fasteners are generally in more cramped areas where a 1/2" would be to heavy or long and bulky to get a accurate torque. A guy at work owns a husky 1/2" clicker and he likes it.

Thanks for this input.

I'm really leaning towards that Husky. In the future I'd like to pick up a 1/4" and 3/8", as you said, for smaller fasteners and tighter areas. I really only need the 1/2" for lug nuts and larger fasteners, as you said. I'm actually going to rotate my tires, since I've got so many new parts. I don't want to strip out my new lug nuts or wheel studs, or warp my new rotors, damage my wheels, etc. etc. so I feel an "immediate" need to pick up a 1/2".

 

[rokdaddy]

Sounds like you have a good handle on the pros and cons of each of the torque wrench types. The pros/cons list in your OP is sticky material for sure.


I worked in a torque calibration lab for a couple of months back when I was in school. After calibrating probably a couple hundred devices, it became clear that the digitals rule them all. Even the cheap digitals (new and old) were consistently found to be in tolerance and required no adjustment. The clicker types were the worst when they are new from the factory but most become pretty reliable after a short break-in period. I'd guess that about 50-60% of brand new clicker types were found to be out of tolerance when received by our lab. Surprisingly, Snap-On clickers were the worst and Proto's seemed to be the best (this may have changed over the years though).


The clicker types have a small "friction wedge" inside the breakaway mechanism that can shift around upon impact and screw up the calibration. This can usually be corrected by a calibration shop but it's kinda a pain to dink with. I suspect that most clicker wrenches leave the manufacturer in tolerance but after being bumped around during shipping, they slip slightly out of tolerance. In my short time working in the torque calibration lab, I don't remember receiving a beam or digital wrench that was out of tolerance or needed adjustment.


My recommendation is to spend the extra cash for a decent digital. A quick comparison of the specs and tolerances of digitals vs. clickers will make it clear why the digitals shine. It's also nice to be able to watch the live digital running torque value as you're creeping up on the target torque. Lastly, digitals usually have a much larger range than clickers if you want to go with just one wrench.


The Snap-On digitals are as nice as you can get but like you said, they are pricey. Good news though; the Snap-On digitals are made by a company called CDI. The company offers the exact same wrench as the Snap-On except the grip is blue, it doesn't have the Snap-On ratchet head and it bears the CDI name. They're still pretty expensive, but a little less than half the price of the Snap-On ones.

http://www.amazon.com/Torque-2503CF...252&sr=8-2&keywords=cdi+digital+torque+wrench .

I have a couple of the CDI digitals at home and five or six of the Snap-On digitals at work and they all function the same.


If the budget allows, you may want to consider using an inexpensive bench tester to monitor the health of your wrench. I use mine to do periodic "sanity checks" on my wrenches and it can be used with a ratchet handle to get torque values in tight spots:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QO9OM/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 .

This type of torque tool is also compact enough to toss in a vehicle tool kit in case you want to check a torque value out on the trail. Rally cool little device for the money.



-Rok

 

[rokdaddy]

I almost forgot...

If you want to go with the 1/2" drive size to get a wider torque range, you may want to keep an eye on the length and weight as well. My 1/2" drive has a great useful range but it's also about as long and heavy as a full-sized baseball bat. If I was forced to live with a single wrench I would stick with my 3/8" drive. It only goes up to 100 ft/lbs but its size makes it way more useful.

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-Rok

 

[KChurch86]

Thanks for your input Rok.

Overall length isn't really a concern of mine, though it is nice to know. That 1/2" piece you linked is a bit out of my price range....alright, I'll be honest, it's a lot out of my price range, haha. You do have me considering a digital unit more, but I think I'm still sold on the Husky if only for the fact that I'm pretty sure it will be used 95% of the time just to torque lug nuts.

 

[KChurch86]

Well, I picked up the Husky from Home Depot today. Funny thing...it's advertised as 50-250 lb/ft, and the packaging says 50-250 lb/ft, yet the dial goes from 25 to 250 lb/ft.

What sorcery is this?

 

[rokdaddy]

It may not be within tolerance below 50ft/lbs. That doesn't mean that it isn't "close enough" for use by a weekend mechanic, it just means that the manufacturer couldn't depend on the model to consistently conform to tight industry specs from wrench to wrench. There are some cool ways to build a cheap but effective physics-based torque tester, you may want to consider something like that to see for yourself how it performs at the lower settings. Google/YouTube have a gazillion examples of homegrown torque testers.



-Rok

 

[KChurch86]

It may not be within tolerance below 50ft/lbs. That doesn't mean that it isn't "close enough" for use by a weekend mechanic, it just means that the manufacturer couldn't depend on the model to consistently conform to tight industry specs from wrench to wrench. There are some cool ways to build a cheap but effective physics-based torque tester, you may want to consider something like that to see for yourself how it performs at the lower settings. Google/YouTube have a gazillion examples of homegrown torque testers.



-Rok

I see, I'll have to look into that. I asked the guy at Home Depot about a bench top tester and at first he had no idea what I was talking about. After explaining it a bit better he seemed to have some idea but said that they don't carry them in-store, but they may have them online.

I'll see what I can find on Google about building one, thanks for the suggestion and info about the low end of the scale.

 

[rokdaddy]

A torque tester is a good long term investment, especially if you don't plan to have your wrench checked/calibrated regularly. The inexpensive digital ones can also be used with a standard ratchet handle when you need to use it in tight spots.

I've never used the Harbor Freight version but I have the Powerbuilt ones in 3/8" and 1/2" drives and they are insanely accurate when compared with the calibration standards I use at work. They're pretty reasonably priced if you shop around:

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

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Powerbuilt-3-8-Drive-Digital-Torque-Adapter-940963-/291052804895


-Rok

 

[KChurch86]

A torque tester is a good long term investment, especially if you don't plan to have your wrench checked/calibrated regularly. The inexpensive digital ones can also be used with a standard ratchet handle when you need to use it in tight spots.

I've never used the Harbor Freight version but I have the Powerbuilt ones in 3/8" and 1/2" drives and they are insanely accurate when compared with the calibration standards I use at work. They're pretty reasonably priced if you shop around:

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

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Powerbuilt-3-8-Drive-Digital-Torque-Adapter-940963-/291052804895


-Rok

Hah, I'm actually looking at those exact units elsewhere right this second.

Since you're here...when using one of those units to calibrate a torque wrench, does it need to be able to go up to the maximum torque value on the wrench? Like, should the wrench be checked at the bottom, middle, and top of the scale?

 

[rokdaddy]

It's been a while since I've done a real lab calibration myself and I don't remember the values that we tested to but I vaguely recall testing at 20%, 50% and 80% of full scale.

When I check my wrenches at home I usually just set the wrench to the value that I'm about to tighten to and I see what that setting reads on the digital tester. Most torque wrench types are very sensitive to technique (ie slow vs. quick, jerky motion) and I like to see how the wrench responds under different conditions.

If I ever see a big difference between the wrench and the tester, I won't know for sure which one is creating the problem but at least I will know that somethings wrong.


-Rok

 

[KChurch86]

Gotcha.

Thanks a bunch man, you've been a huge help!

 

[rokdaddy]

No problem, bud.

I've seen that you have experience as a precision machinist... and I know that from those experiences, you probably also have an appreciation for precision assembly. Torque wrenches are crude instruments but they are far better than nothing. There are a bunch of folks out there who think that they can can properly torque fasteners by feel alone. I've studied this at work and found that that the typical "experienced" mechanic can miss their target value by 20-70%.

Every time you use that new tool... you increase your ability to do things right.

Congrats on upping your game, sir.

-Rok