Good Torque Wrench?
 

I have a sort of crappy (it was cheap!) torque wrench, but want to invest in a better one... for all you tool guys... which is preferable 3/8" drive or 1/2" drive? Any reputable brands I should consider?

I have one thats a 1/2 inch but I just put the adaptor on it.... I got it from Lowes:tup:

craftsman all the :tup:

<< craftsman all the :tup: >>



1/2" Drive Craftsman or Mastercraft..(both lifetime warranty) Snap and MAC tools are good too but the price does not justify the product..

Cheers
Mohawk

Why the different 1/2" and 3/8" wrenches by the way? Is one an outdated standard? Most of the sockets we have in the house are 3/8" I think...

a 1/2" wrench can handle more force without breaking or stripping.. if you need to use a 3/8 Socket, just buy an adapter.. but a 3/8" Socket and 110ft.lbs of torque don't mix well.. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

Cheers
Mohawk

hehe. I bought a cheapy Home Depot one... 3/8, only up to 66 lbs.-ft ... I was going to buy a 1/2 one with up to 100 lb.-ft but I coudlnt' find any adapter.

anyway, I dont think I'll be doing anything more than 66 lbs.-ft of torquing.

1/2" Craftsman !! It will last you a lifetime. My dad has a set of Craftsman torque wreches from the 60's that he still uses to this day. Now those wrenches have seen a $hit load of cars come and go. You want to torque your wheels to 80 ft lbs. So, you need to get the 1/2 " drive.

<< You want to torque your wheels to 80 ft lbs. So, you need to get the 1/2 " drive. >>



doh!

I was too lazy to wait.

my buddy has the sweetest snap-on tools torque wrench! it looks like you would serve dinner with it. thing weighs like a thousand pounds!

I have a Craftsman, but I guess any torque wrench with a lifetime warranty is all good.

All you guy with Craftsman torque wrenches i hope you didn't buy the expensive calibrated ones. Those are like $60-90 and thay are not lifetime at all, i work at Sears in the tools departmen so i know. Also those calibrated torque wrenches are delicate, if you drop one it uncalibrate and it costs 30 bucks to fix that so the warranty is only 60 or 90 days i dont remember exackly. The normal cheap ones are life time though.

Mine's the $60 something calibrated one. They are more accurate and precise than the ones where the bar moves to the amount of torque applied IMO. I treat it as if it was made of glass. Dad taught me to take care of all my tools and I also worked on airplanes, so I know how delicate they can be. Also, always back the setting down to the least amount of torque when storing it. Never store the wrench with the setting adjusted to alot of torque.