Torque Wrench Recommendation

[vinuneuro]

I need a torque wrench that is moderately priced. Any suggestions?

[LeMansX5]

I have the Sears craftsman. Not the best but does the job. I know Griotsgarage.com also has something but never tried.

[GUINNESS]

For budget sake, I picked up a Huskey from Home Depot a few years ago. It gets the job done for what I need. Maybe down the road I'll begin investing in Snap-On tools when I no longer have a garage and tools as a resource.

[hayaku]

sears and husky from home depot... essentially the same as they are made by stanley tools, just rebranded with some comestic changes... about 50 bucks... but you are going to likely need 2 wrenches for the majority of your work.. a low range one (~10-100ft-lbs) and a high range one (~75-250+ ft-lbs)...

i think stanley tools makes about 60% of all the hand tools out there for alot of the other brands.. just fyi.. so don't listen "blindly" to the name brand whores out there...

[JV]

Originally Posted by hayaku

sears and husky from home depot... essentially the same as they are made by stanley tools, just rebranded with some comestic changes... about 50 bucks... but you are going to likely need 2 wrenches for the majority of your work.. a low range one (~10-100ft-lbs) and a high range one (~75-250+ ft-lbs)...

i think stanley tools makes about 60% of all the hand tools out there for alot of the other brands.. just fyi.. so don't listen "blindly" to the name brand whores out there...

And don't forget that a torque wrench that ain't calibrated is just a real funny looking hammer.

JV

[ekaz]

Originally Posted by JV

And don't forget that a torque wrench that ain't calibrated is just a real funny looking hammer.

JV

[vinuneuro]

Originally Posted by hayaku

sears and husky from home depot... essentially the same as they are made by stanley tools, just rebranded with some comestic changes... about 50 bucks... but you are going to likely need 2 wrenches for the majority of your work.. a low range one (~10-100ft-lbs) and a high range one (~75-250+ ft-lbs)...

i think stanley tools makes about 60% of all the hand tools out there for alot of the other brands.. just fyi.. so don't listen "blindly" to the name brand whores out there...

I too noticed that there aren't too many tq wrenches that go from 0-250. We basically have all Snap-on tools here but also have some Neiko micrometers, etc that work quite well. Any opinions on their products?

Here is a Neiko one that goes from 40-250ft/lb, it looks solidly built just like the other tools we have here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...PCN_BIX_Stores

This one is made by American Forge Pro (good?) I like it because it goes from 10-250lb allowing 1lb increments. Thoughts?

http://www.toolprice.com/product/2454F

[hayaku]

Originally Posted by vinuneuro

I too noticed that there aren't too many tq wrenches that go from 0-250. We basically have all Snap-on tools here but also have some Neiko micrometers, etc that work quite well. Any opinions on their products?

Here is a Neiko one that goes from 40-250ft/lb, it looks solidly built just like the other tools we have here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...PCN_BIX_Stores

This one is made by American Forge Pro (good?) I like it because it goes from 10-250lb allowing 1lb increments. Thoughts?

http://www.toolprice.com/product/2454F

too wide a range is not good as any brand torque range will lose accuracy at the extremes.. thats why i suggest getting 2 wrenches... the low range one in 3/8" drive, the high range one in 1/2" drive...

[asawadude]

Very timely post - I need a new torque wrench too.

Harbor Freight which has retail stores everywhere as well as online has a couple of cheap wrenches made by Pittsburg (actually more like China) with a lifetime guarantee. They probably work fine for small DIY jobs.

Here's a 10 to 150 1/2" drive for $11.99.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...Itemnumber=239
Here's a 0-80 3/8" drive for $15.99.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...Itemnumber=807
This second drive looks like a good choice for low torque jobs.

For the bigger jobs, there are a couple of 1/2" drive GearWrenches (made by SK Tools) on sale at Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/002-...5708641&page=3

I don't know much about GearWrench torque wrenches, but I have a set of their flex head ratchet wrenches, and they are well made, also with a lifetime warranty.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Mike

[vinuneuro]

Originally Posted by asawadude

Very timely post - I need a new torque wrench too.

Harbor Freight which has retail stores everywhere as well as online has a couple of cheap wrenches made by Pittsburg (actually more like China) with a lifetime guarantee. They probably work fine for small DIY jobs.

Here's a 10 to 150 1/2" drive for $11.99.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...Itemnumber=239
Here's a 0-80 3/8" drive for $15.99.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...Itemnumber=807
This second drive looks like a good choice for low torque jobs.

For the bigger jobs, there are a couple of 1/2" drive GearWrenches (made by SK Tools) on sale at Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/002-...5708641&page=3

I don't know much about GearWrench torque wrenches, but I have a set of their flex head ratchet wrenches, and they are well made, also with a lifetime warranty.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Mike

I was looking at the second one from Harborfreight last night. It's pretty cheap; I just wonder what the torque increments are in. At that price, you could probaby just buy a new on every one or two years rather than paying to get it recalibrated.