Torque Wrench
 

Going to have to buy a new torque wrench as I left it round my Mum's and now one of my uncles has nicked it claiming it was his.

My old one was very old and to be honest was looking at stripping it or replacing it soon anyway.

What wrench would you suggest be it a 1/2th or 3/8" ? What you guys use and how much you pay?


Steve

Teng tools, i use the tool shack. Have a range of different one. My half inch wrench is a good mid range. Its big enough to use on big jobs but can be used for some smaller work. If going alot smaller would advise the 3/8

Mike

http://teng.co.uk/1292ag-ep-teng-too...ch_1485_pd.asp
Has come down in price since i purchased mine

Mike

Excellent mate. Thank You.

Does it come with a case?

Steve

Depends how much use it gets. If it gets used a fair bit, then yes Teng.
If not, a cheapo from Screwfix etc is probably good enough.

I keep promising myself a 1/4" drive one for working on the treaders.

Yeah they do I bought from toolshack also :) really nice quality tool, I bought the one below this 20-120 IIRC as it's slightly smaller. :) if I need a bigger one i'll borrow Mikes :D

Steve whats it for
if your only on about things like wheels i mite have a old one at work you can have but if you after one for work on the engine buy a descent.

For me and daily use a Snap-on Tech-angle wrench

Cheers guys for the input.

Ian mate. For wheels and some work in the engine area and maybe under the car etc.

Cheers for the offer mate.

Steve

torque wrench
 

+1:)

How much are these though?

Steve

waytoo much for occasional use but there great if you use every day in garage about £300 1/2 model does range 17nm to 340 nm

Maybe a little bit more than I am looking to spend. lol

Steve

OK, next silly question of the day.

How many nuts/bolts will require more than 200Nm?

Just looked at the Halfords Pro Range torques and one on there for £79.00 up to 300Nm? Will that be an over kill?

So wrenches also don't have a reverse mechanism. Does the Teng one?

Steve

I've just ordered this one:

http://www.pvrdirect.co.uk/productin...catref=STW1011

Reviewed here on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sealey-STW10...5960505&sr=8-4

I needed one that went as low as 20nm for spark plugs.

Free delivery as well if you sign up to their newsletter.

I have always used Norbar torque wrenches. Ive found them to be one of the best if not the best.

Snap-on ones tend to go though gear kits like no tomorrow and all the dealer will do is replace the gear kit.
I had a snap-on one and with in 4 years I had 3 gear kits in it, I then bought a Norbar wrench and is now 7 years old and has never been apart.

as above norbar are very good, as for torque wrenches its not always how high a torque they can go but how low a torque they can accurately go.

For budget decent quality tools I really like Britool, they do a couple of 1/2" ones.

Ive got a lot of Britool stuff and it's been great. Most of my gear is Facom (love their ratchets) and ive got a bit of snap on stuff (but only stuff I've broken in other makes, torx stuff on my impact gun for instance lol)

just had a quick look through torque figures on impreza,as far as i can see hub nut are only 186 nm so you would be better off with a wrench that gos lower instead of one that starts at 70 and up to 340 like the standard click type other snap on one i use. if you do other cars then 300nm range + required.hope it helps dave

Cheers mnatey. Very helpful.

Does anyone know what the Halfords Pro Torque Wrench it like.

I think it's made by Brittool? Not 100% though ? That one is for 300Nm.

Steve

had snap on half inch and 3/8 torque wrenches

great bits of kit

the 3/8 was best just used a step up if needed occasioanlly

In response to the question above about the wrench not being reversible, that is actually a good thing.A torque wrench IMO (and almost all manufacturers agree) is made for 1 thing only, tightening stuff.
Loosen bolts with them and their function/working becomes compromised.

Where I work they had problems with 5kg plate cilinders coming off of a machine. (running at high rpm, decorating beverage cans @ 2050 cans per minute)
Turns out some numpties were using the (bought wrong by some white collar tool IMHO)
reversible torque wrench to loosen the bolts as well.
After removing the reversible function (and people having to use a ratchet to loosent he bolts) problems were gone.

Dialled in torque on the old wrenches was off by as much as 25% to the actual value.

Also , most companies advise to NOT use a torque wrench in the upper and lower 10% of its rating, bacause of possible over/under torqueing.
So a 50-200nm wrench is acuarate for 55-180nm, the lower/higher values can deviate to much. (I would still use it for the 186nm wheel nuts TBH, as having to buy a seperate 200-400nm wrench for just that use (on a Subaru) is a bit OTT.

1/2" drive 50-200nm is good, if you can spent a bit extra I would also get a 3/8" 20-100nm one, as the smaller size is an advantage for working around the brakes for example, where the torque values are generally lower, and space is usually scarce. (For example, I can not get my 1/2 drive Facom in the wheel well for brake caliper mounting bolts, the 3/8"is fine there.)