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Rant on Buying a Torque Wrench: How Frustrating!

Binfordtools

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There is simply too much information out there. All I wanted to do was buy a 20-250lbs. range, American-made, 1/2 drive torque wrench. Down....down....down the rabbit hole I went. YouTube, Amazon, Google, various forums. Hours of reading, getting to the point where one seemed like a great combination of accuracy, strength, and price only to find something else inherently flawed. OK, spend the big bucks - SnapOn? Sold out. Down the line a little, MAC? Sold out. FAWK! Now what? Fine, I'll look at a non-USA-made one. Nope, 20 great reviews, 20 s**t reviews. Back to the starting line.

I'm this age: when my dad or I needed a new tool over the last 30 years of working on cars in his garage, we would run to Sears, grab something that looked good, buy it, use it for 20 years, break it, buy a new one. Done. Simple, no online reviews, no BS, the tool just worked as it should and we were happy. Man, I do miss those days.

Dare I ask - any advice on where to get a middle-class torque wrench? I'm a weekend warrior, not a professional mechanic.
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MrZappo

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Get a Tekton sold on Amazon ... I have 2 and have used them for 10 years ... On and off like a weekend tinker work on motorcycles etc guy ... Jeeps too ...

They work fine, they have a lifetime warranty ... Are they as accurate as a snap on ? Who cares ...

For what I do, they are pretty good and always in the ballpark ... Good enough ...

Most Tekton stuff is made in Taiwan which is a bit better than China IMHO ... But as I said, its priced right, accurate enough, and gets the job done ...

Don't sweat it ...
 

Jeeperjamie

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I've been using my Harbor Freight $20 one for almost 5yrs and never had any issues. Good luck finding a sears still in business. You can still buy craftsman tools at lowes, who knows if they are still made in america. Not sure why some are stuck on buying american made, most things are just assembled here in the USA with foreign parts so might as well cut out the middle man and buy one made in China and save the extra $60
 
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Binfordtools

Binfordtools

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I've been using my Harbor Freight $20 one for almost 5yrs and never had any issues. Good luck finding a sears still in business. You can still buy craftsman tools at lowes, who knows if they are still made in america. Not sure why some are stuck on buying american made, most things are just assembled here in the USA with foreign parts so might as well cut out the middle man and buy one made in China and save the extra $60
Just trying to support my country as much as I can. I buy a s**t ton of foreign-made crap but where I can buy things made in the US, I still try to.
 

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whiteglad

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I would not try to get accurate readings over such a long range of torques. Get a 3/8 drive for the lower numbers, and 1-2 for the rest in 1/2" drive. Beam type are a lot cheaper, never go out of calibration.
 

hjdca

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I like the USA made Precision Instruments PREC3FR250F. You can get it on Amazon for a 2 hundred bucks. It has a finely spaced ratchet that you can turn by hand to get the right angle for torqueing. I find it's design to be extremely accurate and the flex head is great for fitting it in there. Note: You cannot loosen bolts with it - it only tightens to the right torque.
 
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Binfordtools

Binfordtools

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I would not try to get accurate readings over such a long range of torques. Get a 3/8 drive for the lower numbers, and 1-2 for the rest in 1/2" drive. Beam type are a lot cheaper, never go out of calibration.
My dad still uses his Sears, beam-type and so far has always seemed to work. We tossed it on a calibration rig once 20 years ago and it was pretty accurate. Think he paid $30 for it!
 

MrZappo

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Heres the thing ...

With respect to people that pay "several hundred bucks" for a torque wrench ...

What are most of us using these for ? Are we working at space x on rocket boosters that will eventually support human lives flying at escape velocity ? Are we making minute adjustments at CERN on the nuclear accelerator in search of the higgs boson particle ? Are we tweaking surgical robots performing spinal surgery ?

Well, no ...

Were working on things like JEEPS which are not even remotely accurate machines even coming off the factory assembly line ...

Save your money ... If your within 10%, the universe will never know and Ill never tell ...

Anything over $100 is above and beyond the engineering task at hand unless the task is to torque your ego ...
 

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Binfordtools

Binfordtools

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Heres the thing ...

With respect to people that pay "several hundred bucks" for a torque wrench ...

What are most of us using these for ? Are we working at space x on rocket boosters that will eventually support human lives flying at escape velocity ? Are we making minute adjustments at CERN on the nuclear accelerator in search of the higgs boson particle ? Are we tweaking surgical robots performing spinal surgery ?

Well, no ...

Were working on things like JEEPS which are not even remotely accurate machines even coming off the factory assembly line ...

Save your money ... If your within 10%, the universe will never know and Ill never tell ...

Anything over $100 is above and beyond the engineering task at hand unless the task is to torque your ego ...
I'm with ya. I try and spend the money where I feel it's appropriate, like on good tools. I don't mind spending cash, maybe more than some, less than others, I just don't want to have garbage. I don't need a professional, $2000 torque wrench for being a weekend warrior, but I don't want to think I'm at 120lbs. and actually, be at 138lbs. either. I still feel there must be some good middle ground.
 

saintpauljeff

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still running a 1/2 inch drive 20 yr old Craftsman, guess I'm lucky it hasn't broken yet

I did pick up a 1/4 inch drive small one for inch pounds @ Harbor Freight, works well the couple times I've used it
 

hjdca

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Heres the thing ...

With respect to people that pay "several hundred bucks" for a torque wrench ...

What are most of us using these for ? Are we working at space x on rocket boosters that will eventually support human lives flying at escape velocity ? Are we making minute adjustments at CERN on the nuclear accelerator in search of the higgs boson particle ? Are we tweaking surgical robots performing spinal surgery ?

Well, no ...

Were working on things like JEEPS which are not even remotely accurate machines even coming off the factory assembly line ...

Save your money ... If your within 10%, the universe will never know and Ill never tell ...

Anything over $100 is above and beyond the engineering task at hand unless the task is to torque your ego ...
Yes, the foreign made 250 lbs spring torque wrenches are around $100. You need the 250 lbs rating if you plan to torque the control arms on your Gladiator, ie. approx. 185 ft lbs... You also need a long one to get the right leverage, and the flex head plus very short ratchet clicks to get in the right position to torque your control arms. The flex head, length, and short ratchet clicks are key for me on the Gladiator and without that, you may not be able to get the spacing required to do the torqueing on the Gladiator (without jacking up the truck). So, the USA made $200 Precision Instruments PREC3FR250F beam style (not spring) with great length and a flex head seems to me to be just a good a deal as the foreign made $100 spring ones where you may be forced to use flex socket and have to pay attention to the spring tension to insure long term accuracy.
 
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Binfordtools

Binfordtools

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Yes, the foreign made 250 lbs spring torque wrenches are around $100. You need the 250 lbs rating if you plan to torque the control arms on your Gladiator, ie. approx. 185 ft lbs... You also need a long one to get the right leverage, and the flex head plus very short ratchet clicks to get in the right position to torque your control arms. The flex head, length, and short ratchet clicks are key for me on the Gladiator and without that, you may not be able to get the spacing required to do the torqueing on the Gladiator (without jacking up the truck). So, the USA made $200 Precision Instruments PREC3FR250F Split beam style (not spring) with great length and a flex head seems to me to be just a good a deal as the foreign made $100 spring ones where you may be forced to use flex socket and have to pay attention to the spring tension to insure long term accuracy.
Yeah I did an initial control arm torque with my buddy's torque wrench to get to the 180ft. lbs. Good times laying under there one little click at a time while one-handed holding an open-end wrench on the other side. Can't wait to retorque all of them again. Not.
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