| Author | Message | ||
     Nsbuell |
I bought a 3/8" drive torque wrench tonight since I'm doing more and more of my own maintainence but I soon realized that it's only good for about half of the fasteners since it only goes to 21 ft-lbs. So now I'll have to shell out more money for a 1/2" drive model that goes up to 250 ft-lbs. Is there such a thing as a single torque wrench that can tighten low and high torque fasteners? Or does everyone here that does their own work have 2 torque wrenches? | ||
| Jerseyguy |
If you go to the Sears website you can see the various Craftsman offerings. I ended up getting one in the in-lb range and one in the ft-lb range. Both are 3/8 drive. | ||
| Buellxb9s |
Here is what I use.. Haven't needed it for anything over 75ftlbs yet.. http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=0 0944978000&tab=spe#tab | ||
| Buellistic |
DO NOT WORK AT HOME WITH OUT THEM !!! | ||
| Schmitty |
Try Harbor Freight Tools if you have one in your area. I found one made by Pittsburgh Tools that goes from 10-150ft/lbs for $20. It has a lifetime guarantee just like the Sears model at a quarter of the price. It might not be quite as precise as the Sears model, but it will get me close enough. | ||
| Jackbequick |
The 3/8" and 1/2" pair is pretty much unavoidable and works well. You want a little overlap between the top reading on one and the lower reading on the other. The mental match between in/lbs and ft/lbs is simple enough. I like being able to use drive adapters, extensions, U-joints and the like to get a clean shot at the bolts with tough approaches and having two sizes involved assists with that. If I buy another torque wrench it will be a 3/4" drive one to extend my range up for things like the drive pulley nut. That and a 3/4" to 1/2" drive adapter and I'm in business with my bigger sockets. There are some good buys on eBay on torque wrenches. The "clicker" types are my favorites but some of those only work one way. I still have my old Craftsman 1/2" 0-150 ft/lb beam style wrench and that works for both right and left hand threads. And if I cheat and extend the lever arm on it I can also use it at higher numbers. Keeping in mind that it can be bent or broke of course. Jack | ||
| Yohinan |
NSBuell, I am quite the collector of tools and can give a bit of insight. A torque wrench is a precision device and should be treated as one. Ideally I would get two. One for the stuff that does light jobs (3/8") and one that will do the heavier jobs (1/2" or 3/4"). I would advise against the no-name/el cheapy jobs when it comes to a torque wrench. Sure you can get away with that stuff for tools in general because if it breaks no biggie just get another. But, with a torque wrench do you really want to gamble with a cheap make that your not really guaranteed to know whether it is giving an accurate reading? I wouldn't gamble with a tool like this. Anyway if you don't have quite the dough to pay for a more expensive manufacturer such as SnapOn, Matco, Mac, Cromwell, etc.. then I would recommend Sears/Home depot/Lowes brands. They are fairly decent priced and you will get something that you wont have to question the integrity on. HTH (Message edited by yohinan on March 18, 2006) | ||
| Cmm213 |
I'm with Yohinan dont get a crappy wrench. Every time you use your torque wrench remember to set it back to zero! | ||
| Hogs |
NsBuell a 3/8 torque wrench so do a whole lot more than 21 ft/lbs... You sure u didn`t buy a 1/4 inch one LoL | ||
| Nsbuell |
hey Chris, It was a 3/8" in-lbs model from Canadian Tire...and yes it only went to 21 ft-lbs. It was $100 and it didn't do what I needed it to do. I returned it for a cheaper one that does 0-150 ft-lbs. | ||
| Henrik |
A couple of things I've read about torque wrenches: - for the clickers, make sure to loosen the set screw every time you store the wrench. - ideally you should have your torque wrenches tested and adjusted at regular intervals. - torque wrenches not accurate at the outer limits of their indicated range. Can anyone confirm? Still haven't found a good place to have my wrench checked. Still haven't found a good 1/4" inch/lbs wrench - short Snap-On that is. Henrik | ||
| Yohinan |
Hope I am not violating any rules but if so delete my post please. Henrik if your looking for a 1/4" in lb torque wrench I have one for sale at a much better price than you would buy off a snap on truck. It's brand new too. If your interested just shoot me a PM. And as I said if I am violating any rules here please delete my post. | ||
| Court |
Henrik: I can help right here in NYC. I have the torque wrenches that my crews use to tighten electrical connections calibrated at the start of each job. I will share with you that in my PERSONAL OPINION it's probably not terribly necessary to ensure a home wrench is deadly accurate. I have 3 torque wrenches (two beam type) and a spoke torque wrench for laced wheels (BMW and KLR) and they spend most their time just "hanging around". If the PRECISE torque were absolutely necessary it'd not be stated as 25-30 Lb/Ft. I figure if I shoot for 27.5 the fastener is going to be plenty good enough. Ok...ok...ok....I'll get your wrench calibrated.....I know you want 27.5000.  | ||
| Jackbequick |
There are exactly 1,409 torque wrenches for sale on eBay right now. Including some very good ones. I once checked the calibration on a bunch of torque wrenches using another torque wrench and a somewhat convoluted collection of drive adapters 1/2" drive "clicker" wrench to be tested 1/2" drive 1/2" Allen hex driver bit 3/8" drive 1/2" socket dropped over the Allen hex bit on the 1/2" drive wrench 3/8" male to 1/2" female drive adapter, in the 3/8" socket on the Allen hex bit. Second 1/2" drive torque wrench The handle of the 1/2" drive "clicker" torque wrench was slid into a close fitting hole drilled in a wood block. The depth of the hole was matched to the grip area on the wrench. The two wrenches were held end to end in a more or less straight line. I steadied the drive head/socket area with the heel of my hand and applied pressure to the wrench on the free end and watched to see where the clicker "fired" at. Then I played the setting on the two wrenches up and down and I was amazed how close and consistent the two wrenches were. I'd say it was within 2-6 pounds across the 10-150 ft/lb range. I also used my trusty old Craftsman beam style and eyeballed that as the clicker "fired". That also assured me that the clicker I was using as the standard was "close enough". I also played around to compare my my 3/8" drive clicker (10-150 in/lbs) against my 1/2" drive clicker in the lower values where they overlapped. Again, by playing with the values and settings I was able to see the difference as far as where they "fired" at. I came away from that assured that it is better to have a range of torque wrenches and use them in their mid range than it is to use a big wrench at the bottom of its range. I came away from all this with a good, solid "warm fuzzy feeling" about the 300 pounds of used torque wrenches that I had acquired at a military surplus sale at a closed down shipyard. I kept one of each size, made some gifts of some of them, and sold all the others at as a "used tool guy" at gun shows. Most of them had Cal Lab stickers on them from their previous lives in the shipyard but I sold them all "as is", no guarantees. Jack | ||
| Ratyson |
I bought an in-lbs and a Kgm-lbs from Harbor freight. I brought them to work to have the accuracy checked out. They were both within 3%. I plan on re-checking them after using them for a while to see how they hold that accuracy. I did not realize that the bigger wrench was not ft-lbs until I got it home, but no biggy.. I just multiply the ft-lbs by .138 to convert. So, in my experience so far, I have found the low priced option to be pretty well suited for what we need on the buell. | ||
| Henrik |
Ok...ok...ok....I'll get your wrench calibrated.....I know you want 27.5000 You know me too well calibration would be great. We'll talk. Busy in the garage this weekend. Clearing out squirrel urine soaked studs and insulation, squaring up garage wall, running BX cable, and .... drum roll please ... setting up my new Western Mfg. table lift. Sweeeeeet! Henrik | ||
| Hogs |
ns buell, I wd also take that one back and go to princes auto and pick up a 1/4 inch and a 3/8 just my .02 cents as one that does from 0 to 150 lbs. wd be way to heavy for the small bolts on the xb and the 3/8 will do the heaver ones ...the only place you wd. need a heavier one wd. be for the engine pulley sprocket... | ||
| Sik_s |
Torque wrenches are inaccurate in the lower 20%. |
