I couldn't find anywhere on FTE that seemed specific for this topic so I thought I'd put it here. You gentlemen are very knowledgeable here in the bullnose section so hopefully you will give me some ideas/advice. If this is in the wrong place I do apologize. I find myself in need of a new 1/2 inch drive torque wrench. I am hoping to stay in the range of $100.00 to $150.00 if possible. I prefer a click type torque wrench. I've had a 3/8 drive craftsman in the past but I wasn't impressed with it and being a 3/8 drive the scale didn't go high enough for a lot of things. Most of the nuts and bolts I will be using it on will be automotive. Do you gentlemen have any recommendations on a brand of torque wrench I should consider? I am looking for a range of somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 to 250 ft/lbs. Thank you in advance for your input.

 

I haven't bought a big one in many years but I have two craftsman. One has the graduations on the handle and **** then the other one has the setting in a little window. They are okay. The first one stopped ratcheting over twenty years ago and I tried to tweak the little metal spring in the head and I never could get it to ratchet again.

A few months ago I bought a small inch lbs torque wrench because I was putting a crankshaft in a lawnmower engine and needed to measure nine ft lbs. I'm very pleased with it it is called a Capri tools and it was about a hundred bucks off of eBay. Made in Japan.

 

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-50...DTWA/205914009

Good Torque wrenches for the money.

 

If I were to buy another 1/2" drive torque wrench I would consider this one:


I have a smaller Tekton 3/8" drive click style torque wrench and it works great. I have an old Craftsman 1/2" drive defelection style torque wrench that I've had for years. Don't buy Craftsman tools, they don't honor their warranty anymore. I bought that torque wrench and most of my tools 20 years ago when Craftsman was high quality.

 

Thank you gentlemen I really appreciate your input. I looked at a Gear Wrench today at the parts store and I really liked the looks of it and it went to the 250 ft.lb. range I am looking for. But seeing the husky on here I am a lot more prone to go with the husky now. The husky in the link looks identical to the gear wrench I looked at today and is about $100.00 dollars cheaper. I have a snapon in.lb. torque wrench I pick up several years ago for working on mowers myself and it looks like the capri mentioned above. I agree craftsman tools aren't nearly as good as they use to be plus we no longer have a craftsman dealer here, they both went out of business here. I've got old craftsman tools but I won't buy new ones. I really like the looks of the husky torque wrench so I'll have to go put my hands on one and give it a going over. My son bought a smallish set of Kobalt tools at Lowes and I really like the ratchet, it's finer toothed than my snapon. I'll have to check and see if Kobalt makes a torque wrench also. Again thank you gentlemen for your input/suggestions, please keep them coming.

 

Wright tools 1/2" micrometer click type with a 50-250ft lb range. Its a little above your price range but made in the US and has a lifetime warranty. I've had this one for several years and I love it. I own a lot of Snap-on stuff too but I couldn't justify the extra cost.

 

That is a good looking torque wrench for sure. It is a little higher than what I'd LIKE to pay but not out of the question. I really like the fact it is made in the good old U.S.A. that means quiet a bit to me. Thank you for your input and the link.

 

For the last several years, my employer has been supplying Gearwrench for some of our company-issued tools. We haven't seen their torque wrenches yet, but my coworkers and I are impressed with the other Gearwrench stuff we've seen so far.

Regarding the ratchet tooth count, don't weigh that too heavily. When a torque wrench is required, it seems I've always had good access with plenty of room to swing the handle. If access is poor, you can still use your son's 6 million tooth Kobalt ratchet to run down the fastener and then finish up with the torque wrench.

FWIW, I've got two Snap-On click wrenches for the medium and heavy stuff, and a Proto dial type for fine settings. All were purchased used and are as accurate as when new. We have a calibration jig at work so I'm able to test them periodically for free. So if new stuff (any brand) looks too spendy, consider some good quality used wrenches from eBay, etc.

 

Thank you kr I appreciate your input. I hadn't thought about the used stuff on ebay because I am not sure how accurate they would be. I suppose there may be a place around town that could check the accuracy for me. I don't own very many Gearwrench tools but the few I do I really like.

 

​​​​​​It's easy enough to check for yourself. You only need a tape measure, some known weights, and some math. This video explains it fairly well:



For a known weight, don't trust a bathroom scale. A gallon of water weighs 8 lbs. right on the nose. Use a gallon milk jug, with an insignificant empty weight. In the video, the guy says two milk jugs full of water weighed 17.5 lbs total, about 1.5 lbs. high. I think his scale was probably off a little bit, plus the weight of the hook. If you use stout string instead of metal hooks like he did, you can get a very accurate weight without the need for any scale.

There are other methods, too. Just search for "How to test a torque wrench" or similar.

Depending how crazy accurate you want to get, you may need to compensate for the weight of the torque wrench if pulling it down like in the video. I've never needed to get to that level. One way around that is to turn it so you are pulling the handle in a horizontal arc, not vertical. Use a fisherman's scale to pull the handle. The accuracy of the scale is very important, so test it by lifting a known weight, such as the milk jug method.

 

I've got several CDI torque wrenches I'm happy with. I only trust the reading in the top 85% of the range. These are the Snap-On industrial brand.

 

Im going to start using a torque wrench on oil drain plugs starting on the next vehicle I do an oil change on. If I can't find an owner's manual spec I'll probably use like fifteen ft lbs.

 

Do you guys torque stuff dry or put oil on it?

 

I always lightly oil the threads and under the head of each bolt, otherwise friction can interfere with accurate torque readings. Don't put too much oil on the bolts though or it can crack the casting through hydraulic force.