Torque wrench suggestions

Depends what you're using it for. Just for wheels, get a cheaper click-type one with a lifetime warranty- get it replaced for free every couple years or so by saying "its out of calibration." If you need it for things that need real accuracy, engine building etc, spend some money on a real one. Either way don't buy craftsman, they're overpriced trash these days.
 
I have a Craftsman 3/8” which goes up 75 ft/lbs , got it for around $40, they go on sale pretty often at Sears. Not completely satisfied with quality but it does the job foe couple years now. I always give it a touch more after a click. I wouldn’t buy it again.
I also have a the 1/2” that goes up to 250 ft/lbs, Tekton brand form Amazon for $40. Not bad quality.
My newest one is the Capri in/lbs torque wrench which at lest to me appears to be best made out of the 3 I own.
As mentioned, get appropriate range for whatever you will use it for. Make sure you store it at the lowest setting. It’s hard to name which ones are good without taking them in to check calibration to be 100% sure. Most likely brands like snap-on would be your best bet but, will cost a small fortune and you’ll have to dip into your kids college funds lol....



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VeruGE*144 said:
I have a Craftsman 3/8” which goes up 75 ft/lbs , got it for around $40, they go on sale pretty often at Sears. Not completely satisfied with quality but it does the job foe couple years now. I always give it a touch more after a click. I wouldn’t buy it again.
I also have a the 1/2” that goes up to 250 ft/lbs, Tekton brand form Amazon for $40. Not bad quality.
My newest one is the Capri in/lbs torque wrench which at lest to me appears to be best made out of the 3 I own.
As mentioned, get appropriate range for whatever you will use it for. Make sure you store it at the lowest setting. It’s hard to name which ones are good without taking them in to check calibration to be 100% sure. Most likely brands like snap-on would be your best bet but, will cost a small fortune and you’ll have to dip into your kids college funds lol....



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I was looking at the Capris, they seemed like quality wrenches but I didn't see mention of where they were made. Any idea?
 
Arrcherr said:
I was looking at the Capris, they seemed like quality wrenches but I didn't see mention of where they were made. Any idea?
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Out of curiosity I just went down to he garage to check. I does not say on the tool nor the case it’s in. I also just checked their website but also can’t find anything. It doubt its made in USA.


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I use craftsman bc if their limited lifetime warranty on everything. They've always been good about replacing broken things and they're quality tools (from my experience) at an affordable price.


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VeruGE*144 said:
Out of curiosity I just went down to he garage to check. I does not say on the tool nor the case it’s in. I also just checked their website but also can’t find anything. It doubt its made in USA.


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I'd guess you're right, if it was I'd think they'd at least have it stamped on the wrench itself.
 
I just got done buying the 1/4" Drive, 3/8" drive, and 1/2" Drive from Harbor Freight today. $11.99 a piece.(with coupon) Coincidentally one of the guys at work had a harbor freight (Pittsburgh brand) torque wrench tested at a calibration lab along with a few others from our work and it was dead on. Granted it was brand new but as everyone else's said, it's hard to be a $10 or $11 price tag. And it's guaranteed for life. I have heard there have been people that have experienced a bad batch of torque wrenches from Harbor Freight...but I'm sure the same goes for the expensive ones as well.

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Parks34 said:
I use craftsman bc if their limited lifetime warranty on everything. They've always been good about replacing broken things and they're quality tools (from my experience) at an affordable price.


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They will not warranty the torque wrenches. I broke one and they said it only had a 3 month warranty.

So I bought a new one, it broke right out of the box (plastic handle). I just got a refund and haven’t replaced it.
 
Don’t buy harbor freight, all imported crap. You’re essentially spending less on the torque wrench than the actual bolt your torquing. It may be calibrated when you first get it but it won’t be in six months. Buy USA


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PATRIOTKJM said:
Don’t buy harbor freight, all imported crap. You’re essentially spending less on the torque wrench than the actual bolt your torquing. It may be calibrated when you first get it but it won’t be in six months. Buy USA


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I don't normally buy Chinese crap, but after reading quite a few reviews where these were tested over the course of quite some time, they were still accurate. I don't remember where the post was, but even after 6 mos it was more accurate than the fap-on (thing it was on garage journal or somewhere like that).

I believe the investigation was for the 3/8" and the 1/2". I did snap off the driver on the 1/4" and would not use their small one. Just mc 2c, and your mileage may vary. For anything small and precision get a good one, but you are going to be out a couple hundred bucks, Wiha makes a really nice in/lb digital but it's spendy and does not take normal sockets.
 
FWIW I recently decided to installed my spidertrax wheel spacers on a whim. After getting everything out to do it I realized I never actually replaced my 1/2" torque wrench. I went to my local big box stores to get one I saw that got great reviews. When I found the boxes on the shelves it appeared that most of them had been opened or at least had damaged packaging. This made me think that I should visually inspect the wrench before purchasing, there were 6 of them on the shelf. I opened one box after another until I found one that didn't appear to be used. Every other wrench I opened was set to at least 100 ft/lbs. They're suppose to be stored at the lowest setting possible. I don't know if it's a really big deal and I have no idea how long they sat that way. I just thought it was worth mentioning to anyone who was going to be buying one from and actual store instead of online. If I had to do it again I'd plan ahead and buy online to avoid getting a potentially damaged or inaccurate product. The wrench I did buy ended up working great and did not appear to be a returned product at all.

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Arrcherr said:
FWIW I recently decided to installed my spidertrax wheel spacers on a whim. After getting everything out to do it I realized I never actually replaced my 1/2" torque wrench. I went to my local big box stores to get one I saw that got great reviews. When I found the boxes on the shelves it appeared that most of them had been opened or at least had damaged packaging. This made me think that I should visually inspect the wrench before purchasing, there were 6 of them on the shelf. I opened one box after another until I found one that didn't appear to be used. Every other wrench I opened was set to at least 100 ft/lbs. They're suppose to be stored at the lowest setting possible. I don't know if it's a really big deal and I have no idea how long they sat that way. I just thought it was worth mentioning to anyone who was going to be buying one from and actual store instead of online. If I had to do it again I'd plan ahead and buy online to avoid getting a potentially damaged or inaccurate product. The wrench I did buy ended up working great and did not appear to be a returned product at all.

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What store and what brand wrench? That’s some vital info for people to know
 
Checking calibration is easy. you are setting a moment when setting the torque wrench; in hopes of creating clamping force on the fastener you are torquing.

You can create that same moment with say, a fixed nut, a weight and some string... all these people arguing about which torque wrench is better, brand, blah blah blah.

Ive spent several Hundred dollars on a torque wrench years ago that sits in my tool box, and $10 on a HF wrench I use basically every weekend.

Ive personally set both wrenches and measured out distances, and hung weights from them... guess what... :crazyeyes:

Take care of your equipment, and it will take care of you.

OR, go out into your garage, and test it yourself :twocents:
 
jesse3638 said:
I've got the same one and it's been great. I've had it for almost 6 years and never had it calibrated so I'm not sure of its accuracy today.

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Agreed, I have zero concerns with the wrench, it performed well. It was also long enough that 95 ft/lbs was pretty effortless to achieve. My post was more about just being careful with stores that may be restocking shelves with returned/used products..
 
Arrcherr said:
Agreed, I have zero concerns with the wrench, it performed well. It was also long enough that 95 ft/lbs was pretty effortless to achieve. My post was more about just being careful with stores that may be restocking shelves with returned/used products..
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Yeah I agree. So many people open things now.

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The last 1/2” style I bought was a Precision Instruments PREC3FR250F Silver 1/2" Drive Split Beam Torque Wrench. I’ve never had any issues. It doesn’t have a spring you have to worry about.


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