Hey all,

As i'm sure most of you are aware a good torque wrench is a must have in a tool box, so I fancy getting a hold of one for chrimbo.

So who knows a good one? I dont want it to be rediculously priced.

I'm not too hot on the Clarke one from MM, because it doesnt read in units of torque, and you need to use a silli bit of paper that comes with it to work out what settings you should have it at.

Halford have one that looks to be alright, though i'm not sure if it reads in proper units either as i've not seen it in the flesh.

The next part is ranges. Halfords do a 8-60 NM, 60-300 NM and 40-200 NM.

Most of the work i'll be doing will be on smallish cars. Most of the stuff i've done didnt need above 60NM, and went down as low as 12. So the smallest wrench seems to be adaqate.

But should i be getting two wrenches? a #-40 and a 40-200 instead of making one do the job?

Cheers to anyone who can shed some light on this and I hope this post can shed some light for other users too.

oo ps. Also, as far as I know, the wrench must be releaved of all tension before storing it away otherwise it breaks itself. Is this true? As much as it seems to be, most springs are fairly linear in such applications and, I wouldnt have thought, generally work harden or creep.

JAmes

 

Basically its not likely you'll need to do anything up to over 200NM.

Personally I would recommend you get a 3/8" one for up to 60NM or so. And a 1/2" up to 200NM. The springs inside are pretty resiliant nowadays, but if you are a "hobbyist" and as aresult not using it often. Then unwinding it after use cant do it any harm.

Halfords ones are actually pretty good.

 

iirc i used a halfords one to build my engine, no problems yet and it was quite nice to use. Make sure you get one with NM gauge on and lb ft if possible, nearly all ratings are in nm which means if you get a wrench just in lb ft you'll be spending hours working out how to convert the figures, pain in the arse.

 

most of the old school ones have lb/ft and nm on oppositte sides of the wench

but get 2, so you won't be mixing about with one to do tiny bits as well as heaving bits

i've got 3, a 1/2" that goes to 150lbs, one that goes to 220 and a 3/4" one that goes all the way to 500lb/ft (but it's about 4 foot long and bends in half i really wanted the 7 foot long 800lb/ft one, but i think it's a bit overkill to do up sierra hubs )

 

as above, get 2.

get the 3/8" 8-60nm and the 1/2" 40-200nm

halfords ones are very good

 

i just do everything FT

 

As said above, id go with two for the different ranges, a lot of things you want to do up to a small torque will be easier to access with a 3/8" drive anyway, and the scale on the side will be larger and hence easier to set accurately.

I intend buying the 3/8" and half inch hellfrauds stuff when I get some cash

 

yes Fully Torqued is popular with me too

 

Cheers guys, just wanted to see if there were any products out there that people deemed better than the halfords one.

Its got Nm and lb.ft on the same dial. Thankfully its not in some stupid unit like kg/m. (thats not a real unit of torque!)

I'll get the 6-60 for chrimbo, and the bigger one for my birthday then

Thanks again
JAmes.

Ps. Ft is great, untill your putting together an engine and you strip expensive threads, or dont tighten the big end enough.

 

make sure its got a nice click to say its up to torque otherwise you end up using it as a ratchet thinking whens the bastard gonna click

 

hehe DoH!!

JAmes

 

May a bit out of the price range you were thinking of but snap on's new torq wrench is pretty damn good. Digital and has a giro for doing the angular stages.
Bad points are obvioulsy the price and you gotta change the batteries every once in a while

 

Any idea of a part number? Prolly out my price range though I hate being a student.

Where in the UK can you pick up Snap-on stuff if you aint trade?

JAmes

 

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/tools...19918&store=uk

 

worth it if you have lots to do

or have the money and want to show off

don't look too bad either

 

It does look good, but I think it'll be a few years yet till I've got cash to buy snap on. New anyway. Untill then theres always ebay

Most likely looks like i'll go with the halfords one.

JAmes

 

The digital ones aren't actually as good as they look, someone i know bouhht one and it gave nothing but problems.