Digital vs "Click" torque wrench

Outdoorsman_JK

Outdoorsman_JK

Member
So I was checking out a few different torque wrenches and wanted to get some feedback from you guys.

I was looking at a Tekton torque wrench for carrying on the trail with me and possibly a digital one for home. I would love to have a Snap-on digital torque wrench, but can't justify the price. Do any of you guys own or have used the Craftsman 1/2" digi-click torque wrench?

Pros / Cons of digital vs "click"? Would you ever carry a digital torque wrench on the trail? Personally I don't think I would because a possible dead battery or dropping it into a puddle or getting wet. Just wanted to get your opinions/experiences on trail vs home torque wrenches.
 
I have a mechanical one. I just don't trust digital stuff for that application. Not saying it's right or wrong, I just have never liked digital stuff for accuracy. I do take it on the trail, just because I have a spot for it next to my breaker bar.
 
They are both going to do the same job. I have always used a "click" torque wrench. To me, if it works... don't fix it. I do bring it on the trail with me... because, well... why not?
 
I own both digital and clicking style. I have used my clicking style and then used my snap-on digital to see if it's accurate (digital is just as accurate). I do get more satisfaction out of that click though! Lol


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I have an older Craftsman full digital torque wrench, not the digi-click. It works great. Never had an issue. It is advisable to carry an extra set of batteries. I rarely use mine, but storage seems to drain the batteries.
 
I had the snap on digital 1/2". I loved it (when it worked) after 6 months of owning it I had to send it in to the factory 3x for repair. Snap on was going to replace it as a lemon the 4th time, but I opted to just trade it in on a good old clicker. Digital had a lot of bells and whistles, but when it came down to it all I really want is an accurate torque wrench.


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QuicksilverJK said:
I had the snap on digital 1/2". I loved it (when it worked) after 6 months of owning it I had to send it in to the factory 3x for repair. Snap on was going to replace it as a lemon the 4th time, but I opted to just trade it in on a good old clicker. Digital had a lot of bells and whistles, but when it came down to it all I really want is an accurate torque wrench.


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Click to expand...

That's my main fear about them.


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The only plus side to a digital torque wrench IMO, is I sometimes forget to decompress the spring in my "click" torque wrench thus weakening it's accuracy. With a digital I'm assuming you don't have to worry about that?
 
BananaJeep said:
The only plus side to a digital torque wrench IMO, is I sometimes forget to decompress the spring in my "click" torque wrench thus weakening it's accuracy. With a digital I'm assuming you don't have to worry about that?
Click to expand...

Yeah you don't have to worry about that. It works off pressure sensor. No spring.


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I own a click type torque wrench and a digital attachment one. The dial on the digital one is hard to see in the sun and it needs batteries to work. I prefer to just use the clicker. Plus I too find something satisfying about the click lol.


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Having used both in a professional setting, I would never buy a digital one. They always had worse tolerances after being calibrated. Also, the battery on ours would die randomly and every time it did, we would have to re calibrate it. Idk why, but that's what our OIs said to do.


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Like stated above if you are not taking the load off the wrench after using it that can create issues with over /under torque on hardware. That's what I was always taught.

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I've got a few click style ones in varying sizes. One set up for smaller stuff with an in-lb scale, one medium sizes one up to 100 ft-lb or so, and then a larger one that goes north of 160 ft-lb or so.

I've also got a beam style one that bends under the load and you read torque where the needle points. This one is a bit more difficult to use in funky spots, and I keep it mainly as a backup. It goes up to about 150 ft-lb.

In the end. The click style ones haven't let me down yet. I'm sure the digital ones would be nice to have, but I don't use them enough to warrant the cost...and I'd be annoyed if it ran out of batteries when I needed it.
 
Anyone looking for a great clicker (that is ugly lol) should look into the snap on TQFR250E it has a thumb set that makes setting and unloading after use so much nicer than the twist style. It will only torque one direction though. (Although I can't think of a part on a jeep that has left handed threads.)
IMG_0432.jpg


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I have the craftsman click style. I went through three in a year when I was working on a garage doing just wheels with them and had to rebuild the heads on them to get it to ratchet on all 3 of them after not much usage. My first one stopped clicking and the second wouldn't lock on a torque setting

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Prior to retiring, my shop had multiple torque wrenches at every tech station...they were all analog direct dial reading wrenches, except for the cylinder room, where we used click stop torque wrenches to install valves. Although digital torque wrenches are very accurate, I couldn't justify the added expense over analog...

Just make sure to have the correct span of scale for the intended use...analog wrenches are completely inaccurate the first 20% span of scale...in other words, a wrench with span of scale of 0-100 ft/lbs, 0-20 ft/lbs readings are not reliable


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