school me on torque wrenches

[gwb72tii]

my old cheap one finally fell apart and i need to buy a new one
i've heard good things about snap-on, but thought i'd ask the wrenchers here what you use and why you would or would not recommend it

[LJ851]

How big is your bolt?

[flyboyx]

i am not a fan of the type of torque wrench that has a coil spring on the inside, you dial the handle to set the torque, and it then clicks when the value has been reached. the problem with this type is that invariably you will eventually forget to unscrew the handle and leave the spring compressed for some length of time. when you go to use it again, it will no longer be accurate. especially the sort that comes from a place like harbor freight.

my preference would be the "beam" style torque wrench that has a separate rod running down the shaft from the head(yes, i said "rod", "head" and "shaft" in the same sentence) to a dial just above the handle. they sell this type at sears. (craftsman). they are pretty cheap and have a life time warranty.

by the way, i think there are several threads about this already. you can check for it because there is a lot of good info already there.

[lambo]

[flyboyx]

^yes, that one.

[BobombETA]

i am not a fan of the type of torque wrench that has a coil spring on the inside, you dial the handle to set the torque, and it then clicks when the value has been reached. the problem with this type is that invariably you will eventually forget to unscrew the handle and leave the spring compressed for some length of time. when you go to use it again, it will no longer be accurate. especially the sort that comes from a place like harbor freight.

my preference would be the "beam" style torque wrench that has a separate rod running down the shaft from the head(yes, i said "rod", "head" and "shaft" in the same sentence) to a dial just above the handle. they sell this type at sears. (craftsman). they are pretty cheap and have a life time warranty.

by the way, i think there are several threads about this already. you can check for it because there is a lot of good info already there.

Hrmmm.... never knew that one, unscrewing the handle after each use... Should i place my HF torque wrench directly in the trash and get a new one? How inaccurate is it now?

[GDA]

If you have the funds a Snap On techwrench is a great tool.

I've bought all mine used off ebay and they are one of my favorite tools to use. Never had a problem with any of them and have to put in new batteries about every other month.

If it had to be just one, get the 3/8 in the techangle as it also provides the torque to angle feature. Really nice if you work on stuff E46 and newer.

[AndrewBird]

http://www.amazon.com/Precision-Inst.../dp/B002XMSFIM

/thread

[Wh33lhop]

i am not a fan of the type of torque wrench that has a coil spring on the inside, you dial the handle to set the torque, and it then clicks when the value has been reached. the problem with this type is that invariably you will eventually forget to unscrew the handle and leave the spring compressed for some length of time. when you go to use it again, it will no longer be accurate. especially the sort that comes from a place like harbor freight.

Leaving the spring compressed does very slowly wear it out over time... but not just if you do it once (unless you leave it for years I guess). If you're reasonably diligent about it, you're fine.

[LateFan]

How big is your bolt?

…she asked…..

[LateFan]

That is tight^^^

But as others have said, the Snap-on clicker is a really nice torque wrench. I am diligent with it because it cost so much - it gets unscrewed after every use, put back in its sleeve, and then its case.

[jeffnhiscars]

My objection to the beam type wrench is that especially when going to higher torque values its a) difficult to watch the pointer when you are yarding on the handle and b) you are relying on your eye to insure that multiple bolts are being torqued to the same value +/-.

Seems to me that's a lower degree of accuracy and repeatability than a spring loaded wrench with some miles on it.

Just my 2c

[Exodus_2pt0]

Just buy a quality torque wrench and make it habit to reset to zero.

Then calibrate every few years.

http://www.stockcarracing.com/howto/scrp_0803_calibrating_a_torque_wrench/

[Northern]

Best way to ruin the calibration on your torque wrench is to not back it off to "zero" after you're finished with it. By "zero" I mean whatever the lowest value on the wrench is, not cranked all the way down to wherever it stops.

Second best way to ruin the cal is to drop it.

Third best way to ruin the cal is to use it as a breaker bar.

At work, calibration is checked weekly. I think a 4% variance is allowed, and once they're outside of that range they're sent to Pylon Electronics to be re-calibrated.
I think the cal expires after 1 year (not 100%) but at any given time 10-25% of ours are out for cal.

They don't always come back re-calibrated either. Sometimes they're just too worn out and they get destroyed and tossed in the scrap bin. Snap-On, Westward, and many other brands, it doesn't really matter. They aren't made to last forever.

That said, some of these are used daily, so they see much more use and abuse than someone's personal tool.

[Exodus_2pt0]

Ours go out once a year, but on engines the size of a cargo van, there is a bit of leeway in accuracy.