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Snap On click or dial type. Dial preferred as you don't have to back them off for storage. I have them calibrated biennially due to low usage and it's my own garage so NIST cadence doesn't apply.
Craftsman and others were ok before going offshore. Check out a garage or estate sale to find old skool USA made is a good choice.
Then theirs the bottom of the harbor junk where you are at your own risk for quality and accuracy.
I have a Harbor freight click type and it works very well
here is a video of snap on vs harbor freight. And harbor freight won the test being more accurate
Home Depot has Husky torque wrenches. You can touch them and see how they feel. They are supposed to be within 4%, where others are guaranteed to be within I have 6%. I can't remember if they are USA made. Don't get the ones that have the lock on the butt end of the torque wrench. I have seen them on the job and half of them are always messed up.
Last edited by OLDSter Ralph; Oct 12, 2019 at 08:19 PM.
I have a 1/2" torque wrench that probably nobody else has. It was made in Germany by Hazet Tool which is probably the German counterpart to Snapon. We sponsored the grandson of the owner in an informal exchange program back in 1984. This was a gift from him. Here is a link. https://www.hazet.de/en/company-profile
I once bought a hazard freight version and i would not even click off one time.. over torque immediately . There side by side tests does not make me think a 15$ tool is now a hundred $ gem.. Oriely auto has the proform brand and some other knock off brands that have worked well for me. Very low prices.
I have a Tekton 3/8" drive click style torque wrench I got on Amazon. It works great. I have a Crapsman 1/2" deflection style torque wrench I got 10 years ago. I guess it is USA made, but I wouldn't recommend Crapsman now.
I don't buy very much from Snap On but I do buy their torque wrenches. I have the 3/8 tech wrench and a 3/8 and 1/2 clicker. That said, I tested my latest Snap On when it was new with my dads really old Craftsman that was not treated very well and they were exactly the same. Done the same test three times and all three times were exact same. I then took both to the Snap On truck and used his tester and both again were the exact same. We grabbed a Harbor Freight from one of the guys tool boxes from work and tried it and it was off by (if I remember correct) 4 ft lbs from the other two.
I would like to know how the techwrench works. How does it know how many degrees it turns?
My Snap On torque wrenches are at least 25 years old, and still accurate. I have access to the fancy certified calibration table at work, those are certified on a regular basis. I had one of the guys from the gauge crib at work walk me thru the testing process, still accurate within 2% at 75% of the max scale reading. Close enough for me!
nice video. thanks for the info harbor freight brand will work for me
Yup...probably will. For awhile.
If the spring inside isn't quality steel, properly hardened and tempered, that accuracy will disappear over time. Do you trust bottom-feeder Chinese junk to be properly-made and durable for a lifetime? I wouldn't walk across the street to get one for free. Given the cost and potential damage caused by improperly-tightened engine fasteners, buying a questionable torque wrench is like playing Russian Roulette.
My main torque wrenches are micrometer-adjusting, click-type Mac Tools; who made them for Mac is a good question. I bought them somewhere around 1994, give or take a couple years. They were sent to Team Torque for testing/calibration a few years ago and returned to me approved and ready for more.
I have a Government-surplus micrometer--click torque wrench that was made--probably--in the 1970s. Team Torque said it's still in calibration. It's calibrated in inch-pounds, so I have to multiply ft/lb torque specs by 12. It's nice for low-torque work, though,
I bought a "famous name" 1/4-drive inch-pounder from a pawn shop. Guess what failed calibration and has no parts available for repair?
Top to bottom: Govt Surplus 3/8", calibrated in inch-pounds,
Mac 100 ft/lb 3/8,
the pawn-shop "failed" 1/4",
Mac 250 ft/lb 1/2", and
a "used-from eBay" torque wrench tester that Team Torque also verified.
Blue tape has my name and info so Team Torque knows who they belong to.
For "most" older-engine work, and mechanical work in general, a 20--100 3/8 drive torque wrench is very nice. Some fasteners need to be tightened above 100 ft/lbs, so my next suggestion is a 50--250 1/2 drive unit.
Split-beam torque wrenches can be nice as long as you understand that they can't be used on reverse-thread fasteners, They only torque in one direction. Most don't even have a reverse lever on the ratchet head.
Deflecting-beam torque wrenches are an unbelievable pain to use, They are inexpensive to buy, they tend to have excellent accuracy., and they work just as well in both directions. They require extreme care in use--they're just full of "operator error". They're good for CHECKING torque, though, and they never need calibration aside from bending the indicator to read "0" at no-load. I have several, 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" drive. 1/4" is good for differential work, 3/8 is used to see how a short- or long-block crankshaft turns in the oiled bearings. The 1/2 is used to check torque on fasteners I haven't installed, to see if they are tight enough (or too tight). THAT'S an imprecise job; not because of the quality of the tool, but because of the nature of friction.
Dial type torque wrenches have no ratchet, just like Deflecting Beam units. No fun to use.
Anything electronic/digital costs substantially more than fully-mechanical wrenches to get tested/calibrated.
I use a Lisle 28100 angle gauge for torque-angle fasteners.
