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Started By
Message
Gearheads, recommend me an automotive torque wrench
Posted on 11/24/20 at 8:39 am
Posted on 11/24/20 at 8:39 am
I’m rebuilding a truck from the ground up, looking for a good Made in the USA one that is reliable and that’ll last forever.
Posted on 11/24/20 at 8:42 am to Soul Gleaux
matco or snapon if you can afford it. i have an eastwood, a craftsman, some old dial torque wrenches. it depends. you could get by with a cheap harbor freight wrench. their icon brand is pretty good. i use mainly tekton, craftsman, and milkwaukee for automotive use. never had a problem with those brands. hope this helps.
Posted on 11/24/20 at 8:48 am to AdmiralApe
Are those dead on balls accurate?
Posted on 11/24/20 at 8:57 am to HeadSlash
which ones ya talking about?
Posted on 11/24/20 at 9:07 am to HeadSlash
quote:
Are those dead on balls accurate?
You don't need dead on balls accurate for a truck.
Posted on 11/24/20 at 9:21 am to AdmiralApe
Anyone have experience/thoughts on CDI (a subsidiary of Snap-On from the looks of it)? When I searched for Snap-On this popped up and is a good price (I was looking to spend $250-300, should have mentioned that from the get go).
CDI torque wrench
CDI torque wrench
Posted on 11/24/20 at 9:26 am to Soul Gleaux
Check out the reviews on harbor freights new high end line of tools including their torque wrenches. Seen some metrics where there were consistently beating snap on in precision.
Posted on 11/24/20 at 9:31 am to Hurricane2020
Don't buy crap made in China.
Posted on 11/24/20 at 9:47 am to HeadSlash
quote:
Are those dead on balls accurate?
None are. They are, like all measuring devices, accurate only to a standard measurement. A torque wrench has to be initially calibrated and re-calibrated periodically to be accurate to whatever standard it is calibrated to. If it used or not makes no difference. if it stored improperly or receives a shock of some sort it must be recalibrated. This is true of any measuring device if accuracy is important.
If all you need is for one to use rebuilding a truck and the occasional auto repair a Harbor Freight torque wrench or any other than a flea market one will be sufficient. I work in the nuclear industry and snap ons and Matcos are common but they are tested and inspected monthly and calibrated quarterly and they always need some tinkering to calibrate.
Posted on 11/24/20 at 10:23 am to auggie
quote:
Don't buy crap made in China.
Mine is German. I set it to goodentight
Unless your rebuilding an engine (heads, intake manifold, cranks shaft, cam, ect) the harbor freight one will work for most DIY guys. About the only time I use a torque wrench other than engine rebuilds is axle nuts, one time use to torque to yield bolts, oil and transmission pans.
This post was edited on 11/24/20 at 10:38 am
Posted on 11/24/20 at 11:24 am to Soul Gleaux
here is the thing, it has good reviews but i personally have never heard of that brand. i dont often use a torque wrench but the way i base my tool brand choices is how often im gonna use that tool. the more often i use the more im gonna pay for quality. i buy cheap tools for once in a time projects. torque wrenches arent something id necessarily cheap out on but you dont have to go buy snap-on. if you are a total gearhead like i am then you will end up having multiple sets of the same types of tools as you find what brand works for you. its just trial and error man. ive never had harbor freight tools, tekton, craftsman, kobalt, husky, dewalt, milwaukee, ryobi or any brand break on me because im not a moron and i use my tools properly and clean them.
Posted on 11/24/20 at 11:46 am to AdmiralApe
Understood. This is the first project of this magnitude that I’ve undertaken, so there’s been some tools here and there that I’ve had to get. I plan on doing more in the future, so I was looking for something reputable, made in the US, but not necessarily $600-$1k+ in cost. My rebuild is involving front and rear axle swaps, engine, the works. So there’s quite a few things I’ll need it for. I appreciate everyone’s input, I’ll get to shopping
Posted on 11/24/20 at 11:57 am to Soul Gleaux
quote:
but not necessarily $600-$1k+ in cost.
I wouldn't spend that on a torque wrench unless I was building the space shuttle. The factor of safety on modern cars/trucks is such that even for the few items that have critical torque values (most of them are just to ensure it doesn't back off), I'd bet you could build one from the ground up with a wrench that's only within 20% of accuracy and you'd be fine. There are a lot of successful mechanics that rarely use them.
Spend as much as you want, but any known brand in the $80-$120 range will work for what you want. You could probably go cheaper but that would be my comfort zone. I've rebuilt a front end suspension with a Kobalt that was $85 or $90.
Posted on 11/24/20 at 11:58 am to AdmiralApe
quote:
here is the thing, it has good reviews but i personally have never heard of that brand. i dont often use a torque wrench but the way i base my tool brand choices is how often im gonna use that tool. the more often i use the more im gonna pay for quality. i buy cheap tools for once in a time projects. torque wrenches arent something id necessarily cheap out on but you dont have to go buy snap-on. if you are a total gearhead like i am then you will end up having multiple sets of the same types of tools as you find what brand works for you. its just trial and error man. ive never had harbor freight tools, tekton, craftsman, kobalt, husky, dewalt, milwaukee, ryobi or any brand break on me because im not a moron and i use my tools properly and clean them.
I have broken cheap tools and I have broken Snap On and that caliber tool.....and I have done it using them the way they were meant to be used but more often when I have broken them I was doing something with them they weren't meant to be used for....usually a cheater bar was involved but occasionally a hammer and rarer a hydraulic press or jack. They will break.
I buy harbor freight hand tools. Easy to get, good selection, cheap and good warranty.
Posted on 11/24/20 at 12:22 pm to Gtmodawg
i agree. harbor freight has stepped up their quality bigggg time, especially with icon. anyone that says that harbor freight tools are junk is a moron. i rebuild engines, four wheelers, dirtbikes, suspension, the whole nine yards and ive used some harbor freight tools in almost every project.
Posted on 11/24/20 at 12:25 pm to weadjust
I'll say it again. Don't buy crap made in china. Those sumbitches just gave the whole world the freakin china flu, on purpose. Don't buy anything from them.
Posted on 11/24/20 at 2:41 pm to auggie
quote:
I'll say it again. Don't buy crap made in china. Those sumbitches just gave the whole world the freakin china flu, on purpose. Don't buy anything from them.
This post was submitted from a Chinese made product
Posted on 11/24/20 at 3:20 pm to Soul Gleaux
My 3/8" and 1/2" are Precision Instruments split-beam clickers. Excellent tools and you don't have to "zero" them after use like micrometer-style units. I have their 1/4" micrometer clicker that does need to be zeroed but I rarely use it since I also have a very nice NIST-traceable torque-driver for the small stuff. For the 3/8" and 1/2" flex-head wrenches you are going to be in for about $450 total but you'll have them for life.
Posted on 11/24/20 at 3:35 pm to Soul Gleaux
Probably should get both in/lb and ft/lb.
You can use conversion factors but to me not as accurate.
JMO
You can use conversion factors but to me not as accurate.
JMO
This post was edited on 11/24/20 at 5:07 pm
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