Torque Wrench Suggestions

[bluebullet]

The only place, locally, I have ever seen break out a TQ wrench is Discount Tire. I stared in awe the first time I went thee lol.

Torque wrenches used at all Coscto Tire Centers.

 

[MileHiM5]

The Snap-On is crazy money. But if you have many years of wrenching ahead of you (I.e., you’re not an old guy), I would highly recommend putting a search notification on eBay for the torque wrench you want, wait for one that saves you a hundred bucks or so (they can be had) and buy that. You’ll never regret it, and it will put hundreds of smiles on your face in the years to come!

 

[jcdeng]

I heard there are fake snap-on tools out there, how to know if the ebay ones are not knock offs?

 

[MileHiM5]

I heard there are fake snap-on tools out there, how to know if the ebay ones are not knock offs?

I would make sure the vendor has a great rating with plenty (thousands) of transactions-

 

[EOD Guy]

Looking for recommendations on a torque wrench for swapping out the wheels. I've got a mounted and balanced set of Method 703's and Toyo AT3's on the way and no dedicated tire shop within a 2 hours drive. Figured I could handle the swap with an extra pair of hands. It's been about 20 years since I've had a car that I built out, and the same goes for tools. When I was younger, I simply walked into Lowes and grabbed a click style torque wrench off the shelf and didn't give things like accuracy and tolerance much thought. Set it and forget it.

I'm leaning towards this 1/2" Gearwrench 30-250 ftlbs click style wrench. The stated accuracy is +/- 3% and its seems to deliver that based on Youtube testing. And it seems like it will fit in the factory tool kit compartment to keep in the car incase I need to use the spare.

Is +/-3% accuracy sufficient? Or is it important to have something more accurate?

Only reason I'm giving it a second thought, is if the lugs are not all tightened evenly (say 94lbs for some and 100lbs for others) will that cause or add to wheel vibration?

May opt to take it to a shop or the dealer to do the swap if they're likely to use a more precise torque wrench. Figured I'd be more thoughtful and not just toss the hub rings or use an impact gun to remove and tighten the lugs. I've used a local mobile tire repair shop before (no dedicated/national chain tire shops within 2 hours drive), and I doubt they're using a $600 Snap-on torque wrench or even bothered to check what the manufacturer suggested torque specs were (not to mention that they managed to chip up the paint on the rims pretty badly).

I wasn't going to reply to this.............. IMO if you are torquing lug nuts, skid plate bolts and oil drain plugs, just a bout any T-wrench will serve your purpose. If you are doing engine rebuilds, pump rebuilds etc...... then I would recommend a higher accuracy T-wrench.

My logic...... Torque wrenches should be calibrated periodically and anytime they are dropped. I don't know of a single Oil change shop, tire shop or accessory install shop that sends their T-wrenches out for calibration every time they are dropped/mishandled. So what's the difference if you're using an uncalibrated T-wrench or them.

I have a set of T-wrenches that stay in the case and tucked in my tool box and only come out when I am working on engines or other close tolerance items ............. the other collection of T-wrenches are for everyday tasks...... mainly aluminum wheels.

 

[surfishjoe]

I use a cheap harbor freight. I always say I want to replace it with a better one- I have had it for about 5 years. Look at the YouTube comparison videos.

 

[24LC]

The Harbor Freight Icon 1/2” drive is amazingly good. I picked one up on the road. It’s a good copy of a Snap-on which I own as well, and way more reasonably priced. It’s also certified for left hand torque, which is fairly rare. Item 64064 $139.99

I'll echo this. Have had the icon for a few years now and its great. Had it calibrated last year and tech was impressed too.

 

[MSINAL]

The only place, locally, I have ever seen break out a TQ wrench is Discount Tire. I stared in awe the first time I went there lol.

Costco uses them too but im sticking with discount tire for future installs, great outfit.

 

[ultane]

I wasn't going to reply to this.............. IMO if you are torquing lug nuts, skid plate bolts and oil drain plugs, just a bout any T-wrench will serve your purpose. If you are doing engine rebuilds, pump rebuilds etc...... then I would recommend a higher accuracy T-wrench.

My logic...... Torque wrenches should be calibrated periodically and anytime they are dropped. I don't know of a single Oil change shop, tire shop or accessory install shop that sends their T-wrenches out for calibration every time they are dropped/mishandled. So what's the difference if you're using an uncalibrated T-wrench or them.

I have a set of T-wrenches that stay in the case and tucked in my tool box and only come out when I am working on engines or other close tolerance items ............. the other collection of T-wrenches are for everyday tasks...... mainly aluminum wheels.

TL;DR

I’ve mentioned this before, but I use torque wrenches when working on my bikes, and anything else mechanical.

13 years ago, before retirement, decided to let a guy who’s wife and I were in the same profession, work on one of my bikes. He was a commercial pilot, was building a plane, had valid A&P credentials, and had 20+ years experience in a BMW bike shop in California, known for their high quality work.

I was watching him retighten my front wheel brake calipers to the fork stanchions. Shocked, I asked, “Why don’t you use a torque wrench?” His reply was that he had “educated hands” and didn’t need one.

Skip forward 3-4 years, and I was putting new tires on my bike (avatar) at my cousins house in East Tennessee after moving back east. I was shocked to find that ALL of the bolts used to hold the caliper on were significantly stretched. Up until him, I was the only person who had removed those calipers (for new tire installation), and I always used a torque wrench.

The bolt on the right is one of the new bolts that I bought to replace all four of the ones that he destroyed. Luckily, the damage he did was visible to the naked eye. I never measured the added length to the original bolt. I don’t know how close it was to failure, which could have been life threatening for me.

This torque wrench thread lead me to a YouTube video about torque wrenches myths, busted. One of the myths that the guy debunked was that dropping the wrenches caused them to be inaccurate. Five years ago, I dropped one of my favorite German made wrenches from about 2-3 feet elevation. I was distraught. Found a place that could check that wrench, and the other three that I had, one going back to 2001 ($49 from NAPA). All of them were spot on.

 

[EOD Guy]

TL;DR

I’ve mentioned this before, but I use torque wrenches when working on my bikes, and anything else mechanical.

13 years ago, before retirement, decided to let a guy who’s wife and I were in the same profession, work on one of my bikes. He was a commercial pilot, was building a plane, had valid A&P credentials, and had 20+ years experience in a BMW bike shop in California, known for their high quality work.

I was watching him retighten my front wheel brake calipers to the fork stanchions. Shocked, I asked, “Why don’t you use a torque wrench?” His reply was that he had “educated hands” and didn’t need one.

Skip forward 3-4 years, and I was putting new tires on my bike (avatar) at my cousins house in East Tennessee after moving back east. I was shocked to find that ALL of the bolts used to hold the caliper on were significantly stretched. Up until him, I was the only person who had removed those calipers (for new tire installation), and I always used a torque wrench.

View attachment 35360

The bolt on the right is one of the new bolts that I bought to replace all four of the ones that he destroyed. Luckily, the damage he did was visible to the naked eye. I never measured the added length to the original bolt. I don’t know how close it was to failure, which could have been life threatening for me.

This torque wrench thread lead me to a YouTube video about torque wrenches myths, busted. One of the myths that the guy debunked was that dropping the wrenches caused them to be inaccurate. Five years ago, I dropped one of my favorite German made wrenches from about 2-3 feet elevation. I was distraught. Found a place that could check that wrench, and the other three that I had, one going back to 2001 ($49 from NAPA). All of them were spot one.

Before I got into the Bomb Squad, I was a helicopter mechanic, if I remember correctly, our T-wrenches were calibrated every six months or if dropped so It's kind of stayed with me. Alum engines/parts are suspectable to deformation due to "over torque" and fatigue due to "under torque" so, IMO, calibrated T-wrenches are a must when working on such items. Everything else where such precision isn't as critical, just about any T-wrench will do.

 

[AlexGates]

were calibrated every six months

A buddy did that in the Air Force, freakin' cush job too. Only three places they could send him, NW Florida, Germany, Japan or ROK (can't remember which.) Got a good job when he got out too. They had some neat (if you are a nerd) stuff in their shop on Ramstein.