Torque Wrench

[ShadowsPapa]

I bought a Kobalt.
Its been really good. It’s a clicker, 1/2” drive. It’s installed 4 lift kits and countless other things.

big thing with a torque wrench, back it all the way to its lowest setting when storing.

Yup - always unlock and turn the handle back so the spring is not compressed at all, the lowest setting - I back it a bit further below 0. (and I try to keep them clean as well)

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[Forum Crawler]

Americn made will tend to be more on the breaking of the bank side. Tekton is at least an American company that is making more and more stuff in the US.

https://www.tekton.com/1-2-inch-drive-click-torque-wrench-24340

I have their 3/8 and 1/2 torque wrenches. They’re excellent.

 

[Kevin_D]

I have one of those, but it’s not going to handle the 180 ft/lbs most of our control arm bolts need.

The one I have goes up to 200 ft-lb. I needed one to put a cylinder head back on a V8, at 150 ft-lb, and research said not to rely on readings above ~3/4 full scale, so I got one for 200.
And that was back in the early 70's, way before the InterWebs...

Nice old gear!
My favourite wrenches are S&K - also US made. They are imo a happy marriage between Mac and Snap-on.

I thought it's just S-K.
My dad had mostly S-K tools. My brother has them now.

Kevin

 

[TrainMan]

I was always told, if it doesn't say Made In USA or Made In Japan, then get made in Taiwan. It's not quite as good, but better than China.

BUT I broke that rule, and bought a HF Pittsburgh 1/2" torque wrench 2 years ago. I very seldom use it, but it works, and according to some tests I've seen, it's pretty accurate. If it was a tool I used often, I would have bought something higher quality and more expensive.

I see now HF has two new brands of hand tools that are more "premium" and quite a bit more expensive.

 

[Skull]

If someone hasn’t said it yet CDI torque wrench is a division of snap-on and is made in USA.. I have three of them and they are excellent, calibrated every year with no adjustments needed. Budget friendly.

 

[Mark Doiron]

I scrolled through this really to avoid the dispute over countries (I like U.S-made, but you're going to pay for it), but something way more important is missing from the discussion. The Gladiator has lots of bolts that have the new torque plus angle specification. That is, you pull to the specified torque, then you pull another specified angle past that. For example, the torque on the Gladiator front lower control arm bolts is specified in the Teraflex instructions for their leveling kit as 103 ft lbs + 145°. I presume these are not created by TF, but rather from the Jeep maintenance manual. There are torque wrenches that can perform this. They are not inexpensive. There are also add-on tools that can perform it. A much more wallet friendly solution, if you don't mind a little bit of a kludge. I ended up with the GearWrench and wish I had followed the advice to buy the Snap-on ($250 vs $650).

Doing torque plus angle is a hassle, and especially when you don't have the rig on a compatible lift (one with full accessibility and ground clearance to swing the torque wrench for each angle measurement while keeping full weight on the tires). The GearWrench would time out (turn off, thus you had to turn back on and recalibrate), it would stop reading the angle after several swings (made necessary because I was doing it on the ground with insufficient clearance for a full swinging arc--remember all lift installs require torqueing suspension components with the full weight on both axles). Supposedly the Snap-on is easier to use. If it will take five, six swings and keep track of the angle change at the bolt, that would be perfect for the shade tree mechanic.

A few links related to my post ...

GearWrench ...
https://www.lowes.com/pd/GearWrench...XCVRz7cGW_t29zrtEGsaAr3rEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Snap-on ...
https://shop.snapon.com/product/TechAngle-Models-(2%-Accuracy)/1-2"-Drive-TechAngle-Electronic-Torque-Wrench-(15-300-ft-lb)/ATECH3FR300B

Angle measurement tool ...
https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...hTRWoYRa0XcqcdZ2T-0aAt_dEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Layman's version of torque plus angle theory ...
http://user.xmission.com/~kd7olf/torque.html

Engineer's technical background on torque plus angle ...
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=https://www.boltscience.com/pages/a-case-study-in-torque-angle-tightening.pdf

 

[red/green hawk]

The Gladiator has lots of bolts that have the new torque plus angle specification.

This is a great point. I'm not spending $650 on a wrench I might use once a year though. I've eyeballed the angle using a wrench or regular ratchet. 145 degrees is a little more than 1/2 between 90 and 180. Accurate??? No, close enough??? I do like that $14.99 cheap version of an angle measuring tool.

 

[jbehrn]

I scrolled through this really to avoid the dispute over countries (I like U.S-made, but you're going to pay for it), but something way more important is missing from the discussion. The Gladiator has lots of bolts that have the new torque plus angle specification. That is, you pull to the specified torque, then you pull another specified angle past that. For example, the torque on the Gladiator front lower control arm bolts is specified in the Teraflex instructions for their leveling kit as 103 ft lbs + 145°. I presume these are not created by TF, but rather from the Jeep maintenance manual. There are torque wrenches that can perform this. They are not inexpensive. There are also add-on tools that can perform it. A much more wallet friendly solution, if you don't mind a little bit of a kludge. I ended up with the GearWrench and wish I had followed the advice to buy the Snap-on ($250 vs $650).

Doing torque plus angle is a hassle, and especially when you don't have the rig on a compatible lift (one with full accessibility and ground clearance to swing the torque wrench for each angle measurement while keeping full weight on the tires). The GearWrench would time out (turn off, thus you had to turn back on and recalibrate), it would stop reading the angle after several swings (made necessary because I was doing it on the ground with insufficient clearance for a full swinging arc--remember all lift installs require torqueing suspension components with the full weight on both axles). Supposedly the Snap-on is easier to use. If it will take five, six swings and keep track of the angle change at the bolt, that would be perfect for the shade tree mechanic.

A few links related to my post ...

GearWrench ...
https://www.lowes.com/pd/GearWrench...XCVRz7cGW_t29zrtEGsaAr3rEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Snap-on ...
https://shop.snapon.com/product/TechAngle-Models-(2%-Accuracy)/1-2"-Drive-TechAngle-Electronic-Torque-Wrench-(15-300-ft-lb)/ATECH3FR300B

Angle measurement tool ...
https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...hTRWoYRa0XcqcdZ2T-0aAt_dEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Layman's version of torque plus angle theory ...
http://user.xmission.com/~kd7olf/torque.html

Engineer's technical background on torque plus angle ...
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=https://www.boltscience.com/pages/a-case-study-in-torque-angle-tightening.pdf

Wow, thanks for the knowledge drop! Looks like I’ll be catching up on some reading today.

 

[Gladman]

You could always measure the angle first using paint pen hash marks and an angle gauge then tighten to the measured mark.

 

[j.o.y.ride]

American made /= more accurate or better or stronger or more durable. It means made here, that's it.

 

[Gladman]

The one I have goes up to 200 ft-lb. I needed one to put a cylinder head back on a V8, at 150 ft-lb, and research said not to rely on readings above ~3/4 full scale, so I got one for 200.
And that was back in the early 70's, way before the InterWebs...



I thought it's just S-K.
My dad had mostly S-K tools. My brother has them now.

Kevin

Yes it is S-K on the stampings. I just call them S&K.

 

[Dartboy]

All my torque wrenches are calibrated to be "Dead on Balls Accurate" (it's an industry term)


Seriously, despite the general quality of HF tools, I've always heard their torque wrenches are very good, despite the bargain basement price.

 

[hjdca]

I do not trust my super old clicker Pittsburg 150 lbs Torque wrench, so, I went with the Precision Instruments PREC3FR250F Silver 1/2" Drive Split Beam Torque Wrench with Flex Head (USA made) from Amazon for cinching down my new lift kit. They have it as 38% off right now for $146 and fast shipping.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

You could always measure the angle first using paint pen hash marks and an angle gauge then tighten to the measured mark.

LOL - you beat me to it! Exactly, and I have done that. I have precision gauges that help, as well.
You tighten to torque, scribe a mark or use a pencil (assuming everyone still remembers those!) or whatever. Then you measure using something like a degree wheel (something akin to the wheel used to set the advance or retard in degrees of a new performance cam), protractor, or like I have, a nice Starrett angle gauge and you make another mark at your goal..... And it's simple if the goal is something, like perhaps 60 degrees or similar number as there are 6 points on a hex head bolt. 80 pound feet plus 75 or 90 degrees, very simple.

I have these and other tools, plus a tool designed to measure the angle of u-joints for setting up driveline angles/pinion angle, and so on.

Bottom line for torque plus angle is looking for a specific stretch on the bolt. You know the pitch of the threads, so each turn = 0.x" sort of like setting lifter preload on an older SBC engine - turn down to zero lash, then 1/2 turn more (3/4 for some) and that was a specific amount of preload based on the pitch of the stud threads. This is a reason if you replace any suspension or steering bolts - go back to the EXACT SAME PITCH thread.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Yes it is S-K on the stampings. I just call them S&K.

Yeah, it hit me later - it's a dash, like on this ratchet that's a fave for spark plugs. Bought this in the late 70s and it's still excellent.

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