Torque Wrench 1/2

[highland512]

Saturday before I started rebuilding my engine I realized that I had disposed of my previous 1/2 torque wrench and was needing a new one. Much to my dismay the only thing I was able to find close to the HQ was the offerings at Harbor Freight. I passed, the bottom offering at $9.99 with coupon felt as good as you might think and but I also couldn't bring myself to drop $110 on the Icon, luckily my neighbor pulled through and lent me his. What would you recommend for a good weekend worrier torque wrench?   

[fatfillup]

Well my question would be how good of one do you want?

I sell a fair amount of used torque wrenches.  I test them all against a digital one I have and results have been varied.  Any well used torque wrench may be off regardless of brand but Snappy's  tend to be closest.  Cman's with the black plastic handle often test well and I normally get 35 to 40 for them. 

I have had some KD's test well, often re branded.

Most of the truck brands that are fairly new test well.

I have also had the HF ones test good

So a lot depends on your budget and what you plan to do with it.  If you are putting race motors together, buy a darn good one.  If it is a less demanding application where even torque for all the bolts is most important and being close to the spec is good enough, then buy a lesser one or a used one.

Either way, if you are real picky about being as close as can be to a spec, then you need to have any torque wrench calibrated once a year anyway

[muddy]

Precision Instruments is who makes the Snap-on ones at a 1/4 of the price. It's what I have at work and is very consistently accurate.


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002XMSFIM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_UrwwFbXRDT6K7

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[highland512]

Most of the stuff I work on has a torque spec wide enough to drive a truck through.

[highland512]

I wound up getting an ICON from HF...... While its not a truck brand its a very nice tool. The markings are clearly stamped, very nice chrome, and a nice blow molded case. Made in Taiwan and $100 with a lifetime warranty, my only complaint is the "click" is not real audible but is felt clearly.
 I rate it acceptable and will not hide it in my bottom drawer     

[oldnslo]

I'll share a funny story (funny now) of BITD when the wife was the girlfriend and I was building the motor for her on the Honda 110 dirt bike she was to ride. I left the tools out with the instructions for her to button up the case halves and use the torque wrench that was pre-set. I said......

listen for the click.

She failed to hear the first click, and experienced the click of the (small) case half bolts fail. Over, and over again.

Ahhhh...the memories of digging out those snapped off bolts.

[goodfellow]

Still use the old Sears Digi-torque wrenches as my go to. That said, some years ago I tool all my torque wrenches to my friendly tool truck guy and he tested them for free on his test stand. Surprisingly the HF wrenches were very accurate -- IIRC +/- 3-ft.lb.