WTB: Torque Wrench

[yeerj]

I'm looking to do some maintenance on my car, especially change the spark plugs. Therefore, I am in need of a torque wrench.

Let me know what you have and how much you want for it.

Thanks

[Weapon_R]

Just a headsup, but Princess Auto sells some decent click-type ones for $30-40.

[AllGoNoShow]

Thanks weapon_r, got to pick one up with the new project!

[freakin]

I picked one up from Princess Auto a couple of months ago. It's not bad at all and a very resonable price. My only complaint is that it's not terribly accurate under 20ft/lbs. I needed to buy a smaller one for the little bolts while I'm building an engine.

[KKY]

The cheapest one i've seen was in Auto Value. I guess it's good enough for jobs that don't require 100% accuracy.

[vadeit]

I am of the opinion that this is a once in a life time purchase. You buy a decent one and it will last your forever. That is why I laid out around $150ish (don't remember exactly it was like 3 years ago). Has turned out to be one of the better tool purchases I have made.

[AllGoNoShow]

Last you forver if you barely use it. They don't hold calibration forever you know, they do need some maintence.

[vadeit]

Originally posted by AllGoNoShow
Last you forver if you barely use it. They don't hold calibration forever you know, they do need some maintence.

I know that. They should last a long time as long as you take care of it. But calibration is cheaper then rebuying a crappy one over and over. Not to mention the confidence that the fastner is really torqued to what the wrench is set to.

[danlowteg]

my mac ones are the best but i dont think you wanna pay what i paid :thumbsdow hell i even got a sait ast discount and still to much money. but a Princess Auto one will do a good job if not mastercraft makes some great ones

[AllGoNoShow]

Snap On Electronic is worth the money too ;) I loved using the one at my old job.

[legendboy]

princess auto torque wrenches are dog shit

check out pawn shops. i picked up a nice gray 1/2" tw for about 60 bucks. It cost me 30 dollars to send it up to edmonton and have it calibrated. now i have a mint tw.

[black_radiation]

yeah, i got the new snap-on electronic one, well worth the money, FYI... dont leave it on the setting you put it to when you torqued it, everytime u finish using the wrench, adjust the... adjuster... all the way off or to the lowest possible setting, keeps calibration in tune for a little longer than if you were to put it back in your box set fo 80 ft lbs everytime u used it.

[CalgaryB5]

No shit. I got a 3/8” Snap-On years ago cost me an arm, a leg and one of my ball. I am happy ever after because I know the job will be done right with my high precision tool. You only need to worry recalibrate often when you use the tool everyday, like a mechanic. For general use, I think you can do the recalibration after a few years of usage.

I have no problem for those who use cheap tools. It all comes down to how important of the mechanical of the car to you.

Good quality tool = job well done

[reeskm]

So what exactly is so bad about the cheap princess auto or Can tire ones?

The only downside I can see is that they:
- may break or malfunction after you buy them or after improper use
- may not be as accurate as some 4x as much snapon

On the upside:
- bad construction or a broken wrench can be returned, especially at Princess Auto with no questions asked
- Accuracy is important but a 1 or 2 in-lb or ft-lb difference I know isn't really that big of a deal. That's why torques are always listed in a range


For the people that complain of stripping fastners with a cheap TW, be honest: was it the tool or the rusted fastner on your suspension? Do you have your TW calibrated every couple years?

I'm only somewhat of a believer in the "you get what you pay for" filosophy. Many great things (and bad) have been bought with less cash and honestly It's hard to find a torque wrench for compact cars on a budget.

I had a really hard time finding a decent sized 3/8" drive in ft-lbs and in-lbs for working on my car. It seems all the 'rugged' ones are just 3x as big and would be useless for under-hood work.

Help me get the best :guns: for my $

[Alpine Autowerks]

what is the point of buying a inaccurate torque wrench.. they can do more harm than your buddies "calibrated" elbow.


-a torque wrench is most accurate in the middle of it's range
so a 0-50 ft-lb is best at 25 ft-lb

-a old fashioned bending beam will be more accurate than a princess auto click type.

-snap off and mac are ok but their tolerances DOUBLE when they are not level.

-calibrate often seen a 3/8 snap off so far out the guy cracked a VW cam bearing cap . 16 ft lb was 35 ft lb. f#$ked the head ...Snap Off offered a dicount on the calibration on th e 2 week old tool.

-LOVE a good torque wrench...refuse to use one on a spark plug ..... feel it don't peel it ...

[racin_jayson]

I own 3 snap on torque wrenches, they all get calibrated by my company annualy. they cost an arm and a leg but when you work on helicopters, you have to be accurate.

[Alpine Autowerks]

if you work with heli's shouldn't you use something better like NORBAR ? it's what i use.

^^^just wondering .. do you use torque angle fasteners or torque to yield or anything else interesting?



http://www.engineeringtalk.com/news/nor/nor110.html

[cp1]

Originally posted by vadeit
I am of the opinion that this is a once in a life time purchase. You buy a decent one and it will last your forever. That is why I laid out around $150ish (don't remember exactly it was like 3 years ago). Has turned out to be one of the better tool purchases I have made.

NO! a torque wrench is not a once in a lifetime purchase it must be regularly and professionally calibrated and must be absolutely taken care of dont drop them and always remember to set them back to zero after use... IT IS NOT A BREAKER BAR as some people use them for. and the older they get the more often they need service.

a good place to start is either canadian tire or sears (approx. $100) especially for the home usage kinda person.

depending on how often you use it the $100 is well worth it but ive owned mine for 6 years and have had to have them re-calibrated 8 times now... but then again if your like those people that dont care about accuracy why bother getting one in the first place?!? when a ratchet will work just fine!!!

[MrSector9]

I agree that it is a lifetime purchase..... BUT that doesnt mean ti doesn't have to be maintained.

I went for the snapon digital that also does angles. I must say I love it... alot of money but I use it pretty much everyday/ every couple days depending so it is worth it.

A mastercraft one can be had on sale for half price (around $60 for the 1/2" drive) and it works nicely.

[cp1]

Originally posted by MrSector9


I went for the snapon digital that also does angles. I must say I love it... alot of money but I use it pretty much everyday/ every couple days depending so it is worth it.


OMG i love you ive never even seen that yet how much was it out of curiousity? I may need to upgrade!!!

[Supa Dexta]

I think I've seen them at pawnshops and they were still 550!

[MrSector9]

I bought only the 3/8" one since the type of work I do it does 5-100 ft/lbs and that is all I really need.

Also the reason I went for this is i am a complete nerd and like electronic things, also opted for the little bit more money for the one that does angles since a snap-on angle gauge is roughly $100 by itself and then you have it stuck in the way.

the one without angles it was approx $525-550 and the one that ddi angles too it was approx $575-600 I forget to be honest but ti was in that range.

This torque wrench I must say is the bestestest hahah might not have the tolerances the "specialty" companies have.

Anyways it beeps and vibrates when you get to 3% under torque to limit overtorquing. It also has the digital read out of the torque applied in real time as you are turning the fastener. Peak torque is then displayed for 10 seconds after torque is released. Also it has a button to push to select ft/lbs, in/lbs, NM and the angles.

here is a link to the US sire wher eit is listed for $400 US.

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?P65=&tool=all&item_ID=76642&group_ID=19918&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog

[Lexxan]

I have a 1/2 inch drive mastercraft brand new pretty much. Used it twice $100

[vadeit]

Originally posted by cp1


NO! a torque wrench is not a once in a lifetime purchase it must be regularly and professionally calibrated and must be absolutely taken care of dont drop them and always remember to set them back to zero after use... IT IS NOT A BREAKER BAR as some people use them for. and the older they get the more often they need service.

a good place to start is either canadian tire or sears (approx. $100) especially for the home usage kinda person.

depending on how often you use it the $100 is well worth it but ive owned mine for 6 years and have had to have them re-calibrated 8 times now... but then again if your like those people that dont care about accuracy why bother getting one in the first place?!? when a ratchet will work just fine!!!

I agree with everything you said. However, you did somewhat misrepresent what I hada stated. When it came up later, I did acknowledge that they must be calibrated. The greater the use the more often the calibration. I am very anal about my tools. I don't want something to fail on my bike at 250+ due to improper fastening or the like. Something fails, I die.

[MrSector9]

indeed like an improperly torqued front wheel OR brake caliper... that would indeed not be very good.