I need a torque wrench

[Renthorin]

thinking 1/2 in drive. The micrometer type that clicks when you are at the desired setting.

Craftsman? Stanley? Husky (Home despot)

What do you all use and like?

 

[SPOT MY 6]

I wouldnt recommend it for putting your shortblock together, but I have one from Harbor Freight that I use for not-so-important bolts (wheels, chasis parts, etc.). Costed $19. Accurate within 4%. Friend of mine tested with a high dollar Snap-On and was like 2% off.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=239

 

[jimmymopower]

The type of work you're doing is going to dictate what size and what quality you should look for. Half inch is great for some heads, bearing caps ect, but is more or less useless on an intake manifold. The other thing to think about is if you are willing to risk being 2% off at 170 ft-lbs. If you are just putting together one motor, I would try and borrow a good one (good luck, these things are not cheap.), or have someone else do the assembly. If I had to own one torque wrench, it would probably a 3\8 drive. They tend to have a wider range, and can be useful on more than one project. What ever you do, don't rely on the cheapy pointer on the bendy ratchet style, they are as crappy as they look. As far as what brand, Snap-On makes some of the best stuff, but you might have to sell your car to afford it.

 

[Renthorin]

I am going to use it for a differential girdle, turbo, swaybar, lower control arms, and wheel lugs.

the only thing that I am worried about is the diff girdle says to torque the bearing supports to "no more than 5 foot pounds" and I don't see a wrench that goes that low AND will go high enough.

Most of what I will use it for is wrenching all over the car.

 

[SPOT MY 6]

If you are only going to use it one time to torque the cover on then I would go to a tool rental place and rent it (usually free). Get the Harbor Freight wrench in 1/2" which covers 10-150ft/lbs.

 

[Renthorin]

Nope.... I want one of my own

 

[Doug Jacobson]

Snap On, Mac, Matco or Cornwell is what I'd use. YOu can send them all in for calibrations (I do mine yearly)

I'd look for some on ebay, they have a bunch of name brand tools on there. Then after you get it, go to your local shop and ask what day and time the corresponding tool man comes. Then show up with it and have him send it in for calibration, it usually runs about $40 to calibrate them.

 

[donZ]

where in mi. are you.
i have a nice snap on, i will sell.

 

[gnsrule]

I would recomend nothing less than a Snap On for a torque wrench. The quality is right there w/ a differance you can feel. For what your doing with it, you could prolly get by w/ a 3/8's flex head. It goes 5-75. For engine work, get the 1/2 drive flex head. It goes 40-250.
Good Luck

 

[Red Regal T]

I got one from Harbor Freight for $10. I think they're about $12 now. My last motor only went for 60K miles when one of the main caps broke. I didn't know the cause, but now I know it was caused by the inexpensive torque wrench.

 

[S2V6RACER]

Got a Crapsman 1/2", it was about 100 bucks. We checked it against a snap on digital and it was dead on. I would have bought the snap on if I knew how nice it was to work with. You don't have to dial it back when done, and can use it to loosen up the bolts, then re-pull them back up to torque(heads).

 

[AZ Vic]

I have a snapon dial torque wrench and LOVE it!

I highly recommend the dial type (NEVER the bar with the long pointer), you can tighten a bolt and then hold it at your setting and watch it fall back - I usually get an extra 30* of turn on readings around 100#

Biggest thing is to retorque when you are not using threadlocker.

You can get a snap on off of eBay for 40 bucks if you wait for one.

here's a pretty good looking one going for $41 (still has a day left though):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=31483&item=3863483203&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Good luck,

Vic

Oh, for the no more than 5# reading - you should get an in/lbs wrench instead of ft/lbs (multiply by 12-so don't go over 60 in/lbs for a 5# reading)

 

[tom h]

Originally posted by AZ Vic
I have a snapon dial torque wrench and LOVE it!
...

Does the dial type require that you be able to always see the dial "face on"? Does it "click" or anything, in addition to the dial reading?

Sometimes it's tough to get a good view while wrenching some bolts (eg, rear control arm bolts), and it's nice to have the click.

But arguably those bolts are not as critical as, say, head bolts, where you *should* be able to always have a clear view of the dial.

 

[AZ Vic]

Originally posted by tom h
Does the dial type require that you be able to always see the dial "face on"? Does it "click" or anything, in addition to the dial reading?

Sometimes it's tough to get a good view while wrenching some bolts (eg, rear control arm bolts), and it's nice to have the click.

But arguably those bolts are not as critical as, say, head bolts, where you *should* be able to always have a clear view of the dial.

Yes, you do have to have a good view of the face - there is no clicking or anything.

For non-critical bolts, the clickers work fine - Hell for most, I would imagine the clickers would work for everything - I just like the dials. I personally believe they are more accurate.

I like getting 300k out of my motors


Vic