Torque wrench recommendations

Hi all,

I'm looking to buy a torque wrench over the next few days and was
wondering if you guys could give me a few tips on what to buy. I have
found one made by Norbar, which should handle anything between 8-60NM,
but wasn't sure if I should go 3/8 or 1/2"? It'll spend most of its
days tightening engine bolts. What do you guys use?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Ben.

 

Makes no diff. The adapter, like extensions, won't affect the torque
readings.

 

Having spent much time setting and calibrating manual and power torque
tools at the plant, I've got a few ideas. Calibrating the technicians
hand adjustable wrenches has led me to the conclusion to stay away from
the expensive brand name that begins with an "S". They are almost
universally out of range and require frequent recalibration. The "M"
Brand seem to be the best for accuracy and repeatability. "C" brand are
also very good. (Surprised me) The very expensive German power tools are
extremely good but hard to set and only needed if you are doing
production. (We were, I had over 600 of these to check monthly).

Make sure you use torque wrenches that have the desired value near the
center of their range. (This means several wrenches for most automotive
uses) Torque wrenches are very inaccurate at the bottom and top of their
adjustment ranges. (Over 20%)

Beam type are more accurate but harder to use.
Clickers take some training to use correctly. (e.g.. SLOWLY pull to
torque, as it breaks over the set range if you are pulling hard, you can
over torque by 10-15 pound feet.) Never click twice, it only over torques.

--
Gopher 33 28 19N 112 01 49W
'77 CB750K '78 CB750K
'00 ZG1000 '96 Ducati 900SS
**********pull 'mychain' to reply***********
("I've abandoned the idea of trying to appear a normal, pleasant person.
I had to accept myself as I was, even if no one else could accept me.
For the rest of my life I would continue to say precisely the wrong
thing, touch people in the raw and be generally unpopular. I had a
natural gift for it" W. F. Temple)

 

get two.

craftsman has a dial one that's from 8 to 80 ft/lbs that has 2 small
windows displaying both foot pounds and newman meters.

then get an inch-point (or the equivalent) for the lighter jobs. it's
better to use the i-p one in the middle of its range than a f-p one at
the very bottom edge of its range. convert when needed by simple math.

 

I've got one of these buried in the garage. It works pretty well and is
fast, especially with high torque values where I get a bit jerky with a
regular wrench (a snipe does wonders!). It beeps when approaching and then
tones out at whatever value you set. I use it with a 1/2" breaker bar most
of the time or if I need less values I'll snap on a 3/8" and an adapter.
Sears sells the same unit under their Craftsman logo for around $150. There
is a company who will interface it to a talking box so that blind or
visually impaired mechanics can use it.

http://www.fastechnology.com/english/products/series1000.htm

For the visually impaired:

http://www.hear-it.com/html/speakfast.html

Would not surprise me if their is a talking torque wrench out their
somewhere similar to a clicker which is also nice.

B~

 

I have good experience with Gedore and Stahlwille torque wrenches.
Facom and Belzer are probably good.
I do not know if they are for sale in th eUSA

good luck

 

"... inch-pound..."

 

It is my opinion on the quality of those tools. (Based on MY experience)
I will let others draw their own conclusions. If I spell out the name,
and you know who I mean, people will go blind on brand loyalty like a
Harley 'owner' confronted by Goldwing 'rider'. SEG.

BTW, the M brand was Matco not MAC. The soft break, initial accuracy and
number of cycles between needing adjustment were tops.

JOIBO

--
Gopher 33 28 19N 112 01 49W
'77 CB750K '78 CB750K
'00 ZG1000 '96 Ducati 900SS
**********pull 'mychain' to reply***********
("I've abandoned the idea of trying to appear a normal, pleasant person.
I had to accept myself as I was, even if no one else could accept me.
For the rest of my life I would continue to say precisely the wrong
thing, touch people in the raw and be generally unpopular. I had a
natural gift for it" W. F. Temple)

 

Thanks for all the advice guys, I ended up ordering a 1/2" Norbar,
hopefully it'll do the job.

Cheers,

Ben.

 

because not everyone is so obtuse.

Then maybe your not posting in the US.

Opinions are like assholes, everyones got one.

Learn to use your clicker. You can't just pull 'em till it breaks. It
takes the same feel as a beam or dial type to not over torque. And the
seemingly human need to click it twice will bump up the torque 10ft/lb
each time on a 1/2" drive set to around 50/60 ft/lb.



--
Gopher 33 28 19N 112 01 49W
'77 CB750K '78 CB750K
'00 ZG1000 '96 Ducati 900SS
**********pull 'mychain' to reply***********
("I've abandoned the idea of trying to appear a normal, pleasant person.
I had to accept myself as I was, even if no one else could accept me.
For the rest of my life I would continue to say precisely the wrong
thing, touch people in the raw and be generally unpopular. I had a
natural gift for it" W. F. Temple)

 

G C wrote:

I'm currently shopping for a lightweight and/or a wide range
wrench.

Currently I've got 50 and 150 ft/lb wrenches.

I'm thinking of either something in the 240 in/lb. range or
possibly something like a Craftsman electronic torque meter.

I kinda dislike clickers but they seem to be a lot more common
these days than beam wrenches.

I'm not real sure about the accuracy range on the Craftsman
torque meter. It's got a little electronic box that goes "ping",
so it certainly ought to be accurate but I'm not sure
if the bottom 20% would have the same problems as a mechanical
wrench. I also understand they can be affected by magnetic
fields.

Any input appreciated.

torques.

 

Or, novel thought, use the transducer and an adaptor to check
calibration on your wrench. The electronic unit I use to calibrate is
much more complicated, but it gets used for more applications. To just
check a clicker or beam, it should be fine. For run down or power
applications I doubt it would work. (Calibration of one of my adaptors
cost 275USD and is required annually. Multiplied by 6 and it gets pricey
to be accurate. Then again, the mechanical tester cost 9K and is much
more fiddely (Tech Term) to use.


--
Gopher 33 28 19N 112 01 49W
'77 CB750K '78 CB750K
'00 ZG1000 '96 Ducati 900SS
**********pull 'mychain' to reply***********
("I've abandoned the idea of trying to appear a normal, pleasant person.
I had to accept myself as I was, even if no one else could accept me.
For the rest of my life I would continue to say precisely the wrong
thing, touch people in the raw and be generally unpopular. I had a
natural gift for it" W. F. Temple)

 

How do you know your Pittsburg wrench works great? I am sure it clicks
just fine, but at the correct torque?

 

I have checked my Snap-on clicker with a beam type wrench. Put the
snap-on handle in a vice and connected the two wrenches together with a
coupling nut. I then compared the reading on the beam wrench with the
setting on the snap-on when it clicked. I am assuming that the beam
wrench is accurate as the properties of the steel will likely not change.

 

I've bought a 0-24 ft/lb beam wrench from eBay. I'll have to check
the accuracy when I get it, but I think I'll probably be able to
understand how it works without too much trouble and it doesn't
look as though it's likely to be affected by phases of the moon,
magnetic fields etc.

This ought to be fine for the few light torque jobs I need.

The one thing it lacks is an easy way to use it upside down,
but I've already got a 10mm adapter that'll take care of most
of these cases.

Thanks for the advice.