In The Market For A Torque Wrench

[Millertime]

Im looking to purchase a 1/4 torque wrench with a 20 to 200 inch pound range. I dont want to spend 200 bucks i want to be around 80 bucks or less. I have looked at alot of them online and have read alot of reviews and they are all 50/50 so i cant find one that im comfortable buying. Im looking to use it for working on bike engines and i just was wondering what do you guys use or what do you suggest getting? 

Thanks

[Motorrad]

I use a Proto j6064a professional   Its 40-200 IN/LB.    in 3/8 drive

I chose the 3/8 drive, as A 3/8-1/4 adaptor lives on it... but I can swap back and forth if I want..  (make scense?)

Love it.. use it for EVERYTHING.....


Only one I can find..
http://compare.ebay.com/like/110834979620?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&_lwgsi=y&cbt=y

[turdle]

I just bought one at harbor freight for $20

[Millertime]

I just bought one at harbor freight for $20

Turdle did you get the Pittsburgh wrench? As i was looking at a Pittsburgh 1/4 wrench.

Motorrad i would love to have that wrench you suggested or a snap-on but unfortunately its just not in my budget right now perhaps one day. 

[turdle]

yes i did.it looks like a descent wrench. very similar to my craftsman 1/2 in drive. they also have it in 20-200 ft lbs.

[Millertime]

How do you like it so far any problems or complaints you have with it?

[81cr450]

At the shop I work at we use all snap on. We even have the snap on tourque wrench tester to keep them in calibration. Guys will come in to have their cheap torque wrenches checked. I do the checking & have "never in 9 years" had "1" cheapie pass. Even our snap on wrenches get checked first thing every monday morning. You can adjust the snap-on when needed as well, the snap on hold really well though. My point though is that when we upgraded to the new digital wrenches the boss sold some of the older wrenches back to the snap on guy. You might try the snap on guy , theres always a chance he might have turned up a used set you could get a discount on. Most snap on trucks have the wrench tester on them though I believe, feel free to prove me wrong.
Also the digital snap on wrench does torque to yield, its nice when you do a lot of assembly  

[81cr450]

I was thinking about this some more as I was checking the wrenches this morning. We do have one old craftsman under the bench that passes, but it is not the clicker type. The old rod guage type wrench. If I was in a pinch I would look for one of those. The clicker ones just arent very accurate, theyre the one that guys bring in & then chuck. I would reccomend anybody have their wrench checked, its the only way you can truely verify what you have. The chrome looks shinny & the ratchet works well, doesnt tell you if it reads accurately. Have it checked @ 2 torque settings also , cause the springs dont always read linear. So it may be good @ one setting but not another.   

[turdle]

How do you like it so far any problems or complaints you have with it?

i have not used it yet but i will have my cousin check it and i will let you know the results. he is a certified GM mechanic.

[demographic]

This is more for the people in the UK as many of the brands are different than the US stuff but there's several torque wrenches being evaluated...
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/products/233472/torque_wrenches_tested.html

Oh, and I'm on a roll here.
Bike helmets (for roadbikes unfortunately) being tested and again price doesn't always equate to results, just feed in what type of helmet you want to see the results of and see how many stars they get.
http://sharp.direct.gov.uk/node/33

[kxpegger]

A decent torque wrench accuracy will have a +/- 4% indicated value. Example: 100lbft torque wrench will read or click at either 104 or 96lbft when the desired torque is 100lbft. If you have the same torque wrench with a 100lbft span but you have 50lbft dialed in then your accuracy should be 52lbft or 48lbft when the desired torque is 50lbft. This is what accuracy at "indicated value" means. Another method of determining physical and dimensional accuracy is called "full scale". We can get into that one some other time as we are talking about torque wrenches here. When I was in the Navy I brought my own personal torque wrenches in and calibrated them. They were within about 2%. They were Craftsman and this was back in the eighties.

I personally don't buy anything at Harbor Freight that matters for my own personal well being or a machine.

[Millertime]

I have actually heard alot of good things about craftsman which im actually watching a craftsman microtork on ebay. But if that falls through i was looking at a gearwrench torque wrench that looks really nice for the money.

[Millertime]

Well since i finally got the wrench and have had alittle time to try her out i figure i would post up what i thought about it incase anyone else is looking to buy one as i couldnt find that much information on this wrench.





The one i chose to go with is a GearWrench brand. Overall im pretty happy with it for the money! It has inch pounds on the back and newton meters on the front ranging from 25-250 in lbs and 3.61-29.03 newton meters. The locking ring on it is made of metal and locks into postion nicely and clicks between every inch pound adjusment. Plus it is made in the US. The only two small complaints i have with it is one the switch to drive or back off a bolt is made of plastic but i rarely use a torque wrench to back out a bolt. Second thing is click on the wrench is auditable but i would have liked it to be louder. However there wasnt a time i couldnt hear it but if you couldnt hear the click you can feel it in the wrench when it gives once the torque is reached. However i have notice that it will click louder if i have an extension on it but either it works great for what i need it for and i would definately reccommend it.

[maddoggy]

CDI TORQUE makes all of the snap on torque wrenches. they also sell their own that look identical to snap on without the logo of course. the cdi's are really nice and a little bit cheaper than snap on. look it up at    www.cditorque.com