Torque Wrenches

[BillyRok]

A quick glance through my FSM shows torque specs from 1.4 - 110 ft-lbs. Having never owned a torque wrench, I'm looking for suggestions. Do I need 2 for such a wide range of specs? Probably have some leeway on some specs but others need to be pretty exact?

[crazy steve]

Yep, you really need at least two wrenches; for the smaller one you're looking for a inch-lb unit rather than ft-lbs (12 in-lbs = 1 ft-lb). That one may prove to be a bit pricey as they're not as common, but still extemely handy to have.

You'll have to look at the range covered by the wrench; your larger wrenches (up to 150 ft-lbs) usually start at about 30 ft-lbs. Most in-lb wrenches only go to 200 in-lbs (16 ft-lbs), so most of the time you need three; small, medium (10-80 ft-lbs), large (30-150). But this can vary by brands, so you do need to look.

[Jerry]

Agree with crazy steve. I have 2 clicker style, one for ~20 foot-pounds and up, smaller inch-pound unit for under ~200 inch-pounds, if my memory serve me correctly...

[jetmechmarty]

Most cheap torque wrenches are accurate to about 4%. I have personally tested my own. Expect a 0 to 150 lb wrench to be very accurate at 75 lbs. They go low above that and high below mid scale. The accuracy diminishes as you move further from the middle of the scale.

The more you spend, expect more accuracy. Inch lb wrenches will cost more for sure. Start off with what you can get cheap and be aware of the error.

[ddragon63]

Buy good quality and have it re-calibrated every few years. I personally own 2 a 20-250 ft/lb SK 1/2 in drive and a SK in/lbs I don't remember where it starts and finishes.

Remember to take the tension of them before storing and try not to use it as a breaker bar.

When I was building Race car Engines I had my torque wrench's re-calibrated once a year. they have a tendency to be high on the low end and low on the high end when they start to go out of calibration. The most I've ever seen was about 3 ft/lbs +/-

Craftsman and SK came out of the same factory. so your local sears will have decent quality ones. If your just looking for close a cheap Chinese one may work for you. I've personally had my SK's since I was 18 sooo working on 15 years.

[BillyRok]

Thank you for the info gentlemen