Torque Wrenches

[Drew_K]

I'm looking for a torque wrench and was hoping to get some recommendations. Sears has beam type wrenches for $20 and the regular ones for $70 to $100. They're claimed to be accurate to 4%. Are the Craftsman worthy? I've seen the ones sold by Griots and would prefer not to spend that much.

Also, how "strong" of a torque wrench would you recommend? I don't think I'll ever need to go above 60 ft-lb's, but has anyone needed to go above that to work on their car?

Thanks for any help.

[Jim T]

You're gonna need something that can go above 60 lb/ft for automotive use. There are lots of nuts and bolts that go higher than that. The wheel lugs on most cars is higher than that.

I think the Sears stuff works well. But, its hard to tell with a torque wrench, unless you go and have it calibrated or tested you don't really know how accurate it is. Still, I trust Sears' torque wrenches to be close enough.

[targa88]

I would suggest that you check out ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/eBaySAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=592650716&r=0&t=0&showtutorial=0&ed=994007829&indexURL=0&rd=1

[Planter91C2]

i just got one at harborfreight for 9.99 its the one from 10-150. sometimes the prices in the printed catalog are cheaper than online and vice-versa. you need more than 60 because wheel lugs are 90.

i know the wrench is cheap, but it works good, its the kind where you dail in the torque on the handle.

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Daryl 964 Targa

[Superman]

I had all three of my Harbor Freight wrenches checked by a shop that certifies aviation wrenches. They said my wrenches were mostly within aricraft spec (4%). Yes, you need one that goes to 150 or so. Having two or more is nice because the ones that go to 150 are pretty big for use on a fastener that should be torqued to 15 lb-ft.


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'83 SC

[rfix'n]

Just got of the phone with Harbor Freight and ordered the 1/2" drive 10-150 ft lb wrench. The internet lists it for 19.99 but if you push them you can get it for 1/2 price. Its currently listed this way in one of their print catalogs. I didn't have the catalog therefore the need to push.

Heres a link to an interesting article, after reading it I gave up the idea of a Snap-On and bought a Husky inch # for my valve covers.
http://www.rdfrantz.com/rdf/TorqueWrenches.htm

http://www.team.net/www/morgan/tech/whotools.html

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Rob Fix
'78 SC Targa

[This message has been edited by robfix (edited 06-27-2001).]

[RoninLB]

You need two wrenches. One for clutch work,etc., and a small one for tune-up intake manifold retorqueing, and head stud retorqueing. The small one, 60#max, I got from Snap-On..........Ron

[Early_S_Man]

Depending on how much work you are going to be doing yourself, you will need either two or three ...

For lug nuts and engine/transaxle mounts you need a 1/2" drive with 150 lb-ft range, and ever since the valve cover specs got lowered to 6 lb-ft with the green silicone bead exhaust ... you also need a 1/4" drive model. Whether you want to get a 3/8" drive for CV-joint bolts and regular M8 fasteners is up to you, but I would recommend it!

One thing is certain ... you can't use the same torque wrench for lug nuts and exhaust valve cover nuts, and if you want to avoid oil leaks, you SHOULD USE A TORQUE WRENCH ON YOUR EXHAUST VALVE COVER NUTS!!!

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

[Yargk]

I want a torque wrench! What's harbor freight's number?

Keith
79 930

[David--Edwards]

What is a good interval between calibrations? Snap on recomends every 6 months or 5000 useage cycles. I know that torque wrenches lose accuracy due to expansion and contraction of the springs due to use and environment. I plan to store my torque wrenches indoors, where the temp is constant. And my wrenches will see relatively little use Different "experts" have recomended I go anywhere between 2 to 5 years between calibrations, given my planned useage and care. What do you think? I plan to seek out a test block (as recomended above) to atleast get an occasional idea of where the wrench is accuracy wise.

Thanks,
David
'95 993