Torque wrench

[grandpalee]

Looking for a torque wrench for my TV and tt (wheels) also for the sway bar, in case I have to change., Is 3/4 an over kill or will a 1/2 drive be ok? Thanks

[SeaDog]

Pick up a torque wrench form HF that goes to around 250 lbs that will cover anything you have to do either in 1/2 or 3/4 drive.

[babock]

Skip the HF junk. I had one that was close to 50% off and damaged some fasteners. Do a search on Amazon for CDI. That's all I use now. I had 4 HF torque wrenches that I threw in the trash/

[SeaDog]

for torquing lug nuts and such the inexpensive HF torque wrench is fine. I find it hard to believe your claim of 4 torque wrenches being 50% off either plus or minus when working with the torques for most lugs 90 to 120 lbs ft of torque.

[babock]

Originally Posted by SeaDog

for torquing lug nuts and such the inexpensive HF torque wrench is fine. I find it hard to believe your claim of 4 torque wrenches being 50% off either plus or minus when working with the torques for most lugs 90 to 120 lbs ft of torque.

Only one was which was enough for me to throw them all away.

It's up to each person. You can go get the HF wrenches calibrated but for the amount of work I do with all my cars, boats, motorcycle, bicycles and trailers, I am no longer penny wise pound foolish when it comes to torque wrenches.

The OP said he was going to use it for his vehicle.

[SailorSam20500]

One note. If you get a "click" type wrench. ALWAYS reset the torque setting to zero before putting it away. The click works off a spring. If you leave the wrench at anything above zero, the spring will stretch and the wrench will become inaccurate.

Personally, I carry a wrench I got from Lowes that is rated for 250 lbs.

[babock]

Originally Posted by SailorSam20500

One note. If you get a "click" type wrench. ALWAYS reset the torque setting to zero before putting it away. The click works off a spring. If you leave the wrench at anything above zero, the spring will stretch and the wrench will become inaccurate.

Yep..have always done that. There are people that claim that isn't needed but at all the factories that I worked with, that was always the procedure.

[A32Deuce]

I use a beam torque wrench.

[Cypressloser]

1/2", 250# is plenty to do this kind of work.

It doesn't need to be Snap-on but it should have a calibration certificate with the serial # on it and yes, resetting it after use reduces the risk of wearing out the spring.

[doc73]

Hf "junk" was rated the top torque wrench by family handyman for the dyi'r. Best for quoth for price and accuracy..

I use a hf wrench with the appropriate socket and extension.

[A32Deuce]

X2!

[mwdilday]

Originally Posted by babock

Skip the HF junk. I had one that was close to 50% off and damaged some fasteners. Do a search on Amazon for CDI. That's all I use now. I had 4 HF torque wrenches that I threw in the trash/

Yeah not a big fan of HF. Never go there for anything.

[babock]

Originally Posted by doc73

Hf "junk" was rated the top torque wrench by family handyman for the dyi'r. Best for quoth for price and accuracy..

I use a hf wrench with the appropriate socket and extension.

LOL..I would love to see this test and rating....have a link?

There are some things that are good at HF and other things that are not so good. This is one that is not so good.

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by mwdilday

Yeah not a big fan of HF. Never go there for anything.

And they probably don't miss you either.

[GreenImp]

I have a CDI 1/2" and HF 3/8 and 1/4. I recently did injectors on my LB7 and "needed" accurate wrenches for that job. Rather than buying or borrowing more, I found that I could test the accuracy of the ones I already had. I checked all 3 wrenches and found that they were spot on all through their ranges. It took probably 1-2 hours to test all 3 at multiple settings each. Most of this time was spent searching for things of various weights and doing some math.


I was surprised to find my Harbor Freight wrenches 100% accurate. Especially because when I brought one of them home I could easily tell by feel that it was way off... I exchanged it for the one I have now that tested 100% accurate. This was before I learned of the testing method.


This is the method I used for testing...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFDUsUEQrL0

[mwdilday]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

And they probably don't miss you either.

Probably not. It's not like I am boycotting them or anything like that - I just like quality tools and don't mind paying the price.

[doc73]

Originally Posted by babock

LOL..I would love to see this test and rating....have a link?

There are some things that are good at HF and other things that are not so good. This is one that is not so good.

It's a magazine.. You'd need to go find it. It was published last year (2017,possibly end of 2016) if you go out to find it.

[babock]

Originally Posted by doc73

It's a magazine.. You'd need to go find it. It was published last year (2017,possibly end of 2016) if you go out to find it.

I went online and saw one article but it was just a list of 5 HF items they liked. Not a comparison between torque wrenches at all and it was a pretty dumb article. Said nothing about accuracies. I doubt they even did any testing.

[mwdilday]

Originally Posted by babock

I went online and saw one article but it was just a list of 5 HF items they liked. Not a comparison between torque wrenches at all and it was a pretty dumb article. Said nothing about accuracies. I doubt they even did any testing.

Click bait

[SeaDog]

Originally Posted by mwdilday

Probably not. It's not like I am boycotting them or anything like that - I just like quality tools and don't mind paying the price.

I have three roll-a-way tool chests two at home and one at the ranch. Home Snap-on and Craftsman mostly Ranch mostly Pittsburg Forge (HF) life time warranty used mostly by hired hands that drop tools where they worked on something LOL. The only major difference I have found in years of use is in the cost. In the TT I keep a HF torque wrench and Pittsburg Forge wrenches (cost not performance), I use the Snap-on Lbs Ft and In Ft at home.