Good value torque wrenches without breaking the bank?

[Skippydiesel]

I have one, expensive, hopefully accurate, torque wrench. Several chepos and two of the digital adapter style. When I have a torque job, I "calibrate" the wrench I am going to use, against the expensive one and go to work.

Note: The digital adapters do not "click/break" but do have a rising warning sound, that tells you when the preset torque value is getting close/on the mark.

 

[Gym123]

When you know that the broken bolt did not bottom out, you can go to a tool place and buy a left drill bit. With a bit of release oil and drilling left or reverse the broken bots should come out no problem as soon as you start drilling.
I am a retired jet engine assembler and learned a few tricks. I all ways take an aluminum drift and strike the nut or head of the bolt before trying to remove or break the torque.
Hope this is useful to anyone.

That would take too much time- I was on the clock and was either winterizing or summerizing, so I didn't have time for anything other than improvising.

Hitting the bolt is great, especially if it had rusted- PB Blaster, to the rescue!

 

[bullet bob]

I had been rebuilding a Trek road bike and don't have a torque wrench that can read inch-lb, so I used the 'good and snug' method but last week, I got an Ariens riding mower with a bad head gasket and the torque is more important for reinstalling the head. I had bought a Pittsburgh wrench from Harbor freight but since the bike went on the back burner, never used it until Friday and when I was tightening the first bolt, it never clicked. I have seen a lot of videos showing people using that wrench and they received good reviews, but I don't think customers should have to do Quality Control testing for any manufacturer unless they pay us in some way. I also don't like the need to turn the handle three times through its range from low to high and turning the sleeve felt like I was scraping the thread into a new piece of metal- the first replacement had grease coming out and it was very hard to turn. I tested the first one by putting a 1/4"-3/8" adapter and clamping it in my vise to check it at the lowest torque setting and it never clicked. It actually broke the adapter that I had used for decades- I had ground off some material so it could be used once and it never failed until I was testing the wrench.

I was pretty PO'd- neither of the HF stores is close enough for me to call them 'convenient', but I need to finish the work, so I drove out and exchanged it without any problem from them, even though I had never registered it (can't even see that it was needed until it's opened), but I wasn't going to leave without testing it and since I bought a set of adapters, I was able to use a vise again. The replacement never clicked, the 2nd and 3rd replacements didn't click. I was talking to the store manager after the first exchange and he tried a couple of them, even went to the back room to grab one in a fresh case- none of them worked.

To be honest, I have had very few problems with their tools and have a lot of SnapOn, some Craftsman and other brands but this was ridiculous.

Anyway, I still need a torque wrench that will work between 20-240 inch-pounds. What do you fine people use? I don't expect to need it often.

I would prefer Taiwanese if it's going to come from Asia.

Surely when you said "20-240 inch-pounds" you meant FOOT POUNDS?

 

[Gym123]

Surely when you said "20-240 inch-pounds" you meant FOOT POUNDS?

Nope- I saw several with that rating and one from Lowe's is rated for 50-245 in-lb. There's nothing on a bicycle that would need a wrench that is calibrated for high ft-lb torque. Bikes are mainly in the Metric world, so it's usually Newton-Meters, but these have that scale, too.

I had forgotten about bikes being mostly Metric and when I went to a local bike store for a headset bearing, I asked for 1", which resulted in a confused look from the guy. He came back and said "Sorry, I only have them in 25.4mm- I don't know what that is, in inches.". I calmly said "It's one inch.".

That guy couldn't have been older than early- 20s- do schools no longer try to teach the Metric System and how to convert to Imperial measurement?

 

[StarTech]

That guy couldn't have been older than early- 20s- do schools no longer try to teach the Metric System and how to convert to Imperial measurement?

Nope the teachers are being told how to teach by the parents now days. You can't teach something the parents don't understand or don't want their kids to know.

Here's one. Go a place like Lowes or Home Depot and ask for a metric adjustable wrench. They run all over the place looking and only finding one that spec inches and come back saying they would need to order one.

 

[bullet bob]

240 inch pounds equals 20 ft/lbs.?

 

[rdedrick]

I had been rebuilding a Trek road bike and don't have a torque wrench that can read inch-lb, so I used the 'good and snug' method but last week, I got an Ariens riding mower with a bad head gasket and the torque is more important for reinstalling the head. I had bought a Pittsburgh wrench from Harbor freight but since the bike went on the back burner, never used it until Friday and when I was tightening the first bolt, it never clicked. I have seen a lot of videos showing people using that wrench and they received good reviews, but I don't think customers should have to do Quality Control testing for any manufacturer unless they pay us in some way. I also don't like the need to turn the handle three times through its range from low to high and turning the sleeve felt like I was scraping the thread into a new piece of metal- the first replacement had grease coming out and it was very hard to turn. I tested the first one by putting a 1/4"-3/8" adapter and clamping it in my vise to check it at the lowest torque setting and it never clicked. It actually broke the adapter that I had used for decades- I had ground off some material so it could be used once and it never failed until I was testing the wrench.

I was pretty PO'd- neither of the HF stores is close enough for me to call them 'convenient', but I need to finish the work, so I drove out and exchanged it without any problem from them, even though I had never registered it (can't even see that it was needed until it's opened), but I wasn't going to leave without testing it and since I bought a set of adapters, I was able to use a vise again. The replacement never clicked, the 2nd and 3rd replacements didn't click. I was talking to the store manager after the first exchange and he tried a couple of them, even went to the back room to grab one in a fresh case- none of them worked.

To be honest, I have had very few problems with their tools and have a lot of SnapOn, some Craftsman and other brands but this was ridiculous.

Anyway, I still need a torque wrench that will work between 20-240 inch-pounds. What do you fine people use? I don't expect to need it often.

I would prefer Taiwanese if it's going to come from Asia.

After setting your torque turn the screw in at the end of the handle. It should click then.

 

[McBike]

I worked at a company that had a cal lab. All of our torque drivers and wrenches had to be certified every 4 months. I brought in my 35 year old Craftsman 1/2" click wrench and tested it through the range and it was still in spec. I also had a $25 3/8" wrench. It was 20% high in the low range spot on in the middle and 20% low in the upper range. My motorcycle mechanic every 6 months cycles his 3 Snap On wrenches back to Snap On for re-certification.

 

[Grasswhore]

Personally, I wouldn't trust a parts store loaned out torque wrench, ever.

I once got a loaner at a O"reillys and when I opened the box at home, the head was all in pieces. Immediately brought it back, luckily I knew the manager personally so he didn't accuse ME of doing that, but was truly embarrassed and frustrated. Don't always trust the name brand loaner tool either !!

 

[Gym123]

After setting your torque turn the screw in at the end of the handle. It should click then.

None of the wrenches we tested clicked, with or without the screw turned in. I know how these work and I actually read the instructions, which also show that the adjuster needs to be turned to the max setting and back to the lowest a total of three times. If anyone had been there to adjust them, their first conclusion would have been "Nothing precise about this". The adjuster on the replacement deposited grease on the barrel when it moved to the low end and it felt like it had been cross-threaded, disassembled and reassembled- it was grinding. The rest felt better, but still not like a good torque wrench should. The manager said he has the larger models, they work fine and that he had never seen this model not click.