I think either I'm really really dumb or I don't know how to use a torque wrench. I have tried 4 times to purchase one and have returned every single one. I bought 2 bar types and 2 click then slip types. The bars never moved and the others never clicked. I even borrowed one from AutoZone for $80 deposit. The guy got it to click one or twice after 5 minutes of trying then handed it to me. I didn't work at home.


So what I'm asking is where can I get a torque that will slip when it reaches the set torque, has Nm on it and WILL WORK unlike others I used. Maybe it's something I'm doing or maybe torque wrenches have a high rate of failure.   

This 3/8" drive Craftsman works for me for bikes:

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?cat=Mechanics+Tools&pid=00944690000&vertical=TOOL&subcat=Torque+Wrenches&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

Only $25 and guaranteed for life.  !/2 inch drive is too big for bikes.

Cyclegear has a clicker type for 49.99 that is 0 to 80 ft pounds.  I have both types and GSJack is right the beam type works good for almost everything, I still like the clicker for the oil drain bolt. The folks at Cyclegear will be happy to show you how to use one, most of the ride too. Thank so much for the bolt post that is really helpful

bar type torque wrenches are NOT accurate,  the clicking and dial types are your two best bets.   O own a 1/2" drive craftsman, works great.   problem is, when you use one thats borrowed from autozone, they've probably been dropped numerous times and are inaccurate because of it,  buy new, and get it calibrated yearly.

Craftsman tools are your best bet for reasonably priced, yet usable tools. 

I can suggest this wrench.  Although branded a Craftsman, it is actually made by Sturtevant Richmont in Chicago IL as their model number 3 SDR 75.  See here.  When I bought mine, it was about $20 cheaper though Craftsman than buying direct.

It is a micrometer adjustable 15-75 ft. lb. clicker model.  You don't want a freewheeling wrench, they're designed for production environments.  If you're working in a tight spot in your car you might bust a knuckle when it freewheels.   

Unfortunately, measuring equipment is not cheap.  However, an SR wrench will last you a lifetime with a little care and calibration once every few years in home shop service.  The first time you strip the threads out of an aluminum engine case with a Chinese wrench you'll pay for a proper tool.

A few words on torque wrenches:

1)  NEVER use a torque wrench to loosen fasteners or otherwise abuse it.  The wrench is designed to be used to tighten fasteners only and can lose calibration if it is used in the opposite direction.

2)  A measuring tool is only as good as it's calibration.  For very light duty home use once every two years is acceptable.  Have it checked and calibrated if you drop it.

3) A torque wrench is most accurate between 20% and 100% of the scale reading.

4)  Always turn the thimble back down to the minimum setting (BUT NOT BEYOND) after using the tool

5)  To convert inch pounds to foot pounds, divide by 12. 

Damn it, i wish i had the picture of how we torque up tractor wheel nuts in the field! Can't seem to find it... i shall have to describe it!

We have an air powered torque wrench back up at the farm but when you need to change wheel nuts and your 10 miles away from the farm buildings your looking at 30 minutes drive over the rough terrain so an hour there and back not to mention stopping the job your doing and dragging a piece of kit which could get damaged transporting. So we do it in the field. Now as you can imagine there is no hand torque wrench in the world which can torque up tractor wheelnuts, you just can't get enough leverage it would need to be huge.

So we do it like this...

Socket on the wheel, extension bar (to clear the rim), a 90 degree angle open ended socket. (Abit like a socket end but open all the way through welded at 90 degrees onto an extension bar). Then a 5ft long bale spike (lol) one end shoved into the open ended socket end.

Now you have 2 very strong men, one man stands and braces your contraption extension majigory streight and level to the nut. Then you have your 13stone plus man standing on the tractor steps or on the edge of the pickup you brought your kit down in for support, he then stands on the bale spike end. That sir, is how you torque it up! Not quite an exact science but if you have the right weight man and he stands far enough along the spike you can get the nuts to 500nm or so.

Hmmm.  I'm with gsJack on this one.  I actually bought the 1/2" bar-type Craftsman unit first (and I still use it for the rear axle nut) but when I realized that the 3/8" version covered all but the two (or so) highest torque settings on the GS500, I bought one of those as well.  He's right, the 1/2" unit can really get in the way for small stuff.

Anyway ... I'm no aircraft mechanic, and I haven't done any precision engine work on the GS500 yet, but so far the Craftsman bar-style has worked fine for me.

Quote from: Kasumi on December 04, 2007, 10:48:40 AM
Now you have 2 very strong men, one man stands and braces your contraption extension majigory streight and level to the nut. Then you have your 13stone plus man standing on the tractor steps or on the edge of the pickup you brought your kit down in for support, he then stands on the bale spike end. That sir, is how you torque it up! Not quite an exact science but if you have the right weight man and he stands far enough along the spike you can get the nuts to 500nm or so.

Yup!  That's the trick.  My forklift require 1,200 ft. lbs on the front wheel lug nuts.  I use a 3' breaker bar, hydraulic jack, a shop-built safety contraption to secure the handle to the jack and a 500lb capacity scale.  I've been known to use the forklift, a chainfalll weight gauge, and a lenth of chain to apply torque before on industrial equipment.  Push the "UP" lever until the chainfall gauge reads the proper leverage, relax, then repeat to ensure you're golden.

Kerry,

The main reason why I suggested the SR wrench is my bias, I admit.  I would expect that most of the mid-priced and up Craftsman products will do the job.  However, like most of us, I've been bitten by the Chinese tool man more than once.  As a consequence, I tend to recommend what I consider to be the best tool you can buy, regardless of price.  The SR wrench is actually fairly inexpensive compared to a Mac or Snap-On, but there you're buying a brand image of course.

I suppose I should qualify this by saying that my first torque wrench was a $20 Autozone  micrometer clicker which I bought to work on a car.  I thought I got a heck of a deal.  A few years later I had a chance to put it on a calibration machine.  To my horror I found out that it was off by close to 20% across the scale.  I'm lucky I didn't strip something out!  My next purchase was the 3 SDR 75 I recommended above.  I've used a number of different torque wrenches, but I find this one to be the most pleasant to use. 

That said, I have nothing against a bar-type wrench for most applications.  While the accuracy is more dependent on the operator, they never require calibration, are less expensive as compared to a similar clicker-type, and are more resistant to damage.

Actually Kerry, I almost never use a torque wrench except for engine work.  Cylinder heads should be torqued and I think the only time I used it on a GS was when I replaced the broken exhaust valve on the 02.

Had a 1/2" drive for years for car use and got the 3/8" for bikes.  Bought it when I replaced a head gasket on my old CM400 to fix an oil leak.  When I took a summer job in a garage about 60 years ago they had both the beam and click type and I always preferred the simple beam type.  Tells you what torque you already have when the bolt or nut starts to move.

A beam type is just as accurate as the click type in experienced hands, my hands are almost as good as torque wrenches anyway for everything except a few special things like cyl heads.     I do sometimes look up the torque values before tightening without the torque wrench so I'll know what they want.   

1/2" drive is over kill, given a 10% vaiance at the low end you really arn't getting correct settings with anything under 20ft/lbs...that would include just about everything you might use a tourque wrench on with a motorcyce. (except axles, head bolts)....I used a 1/2" drive in the army on the 6x6x6's and such, IMHO it's probably overkill for a car as well. (Unless your tourquing something down with just a finger tip and don't want to break out the elbow grese a bit)

I got a 3/8" one from craftsman (10-80ft/lbs) and it has worked very well. It is a speciality tool and should be cared for, if you drop it or bang it, might as well not use it for "tourquing" you'd be better off with the "hand" feel. My car's alum head is still on after 75k miles, and my FZR600 head never had any problems, as well as the valve caps (gs's don't have em') which is the real reason I bought it in the first place because it went that low on the lowest setting, had to tourque the valve cap retainers down to 12ft/lbs and since it keeps the cam in place it was a good idea to make sure there is even pressure on the journals for when it was spinning at 10k revs.

my wrench is a click model, if your in the garage with a beer and rock music (like me) then you have to change two things, first sober up to feel the "click" and turn down the radio to hear the click. Its just the initial "click" then back off. With my escort head, you had to go one round with 40lbs then back around at 44. Motorcycle was the same way, so if it clicks at a low setting, the click will be so slight that even after it clicks you can still watch the socket move another 5degrees around.

FYI I should use the wrench on parts where there's a gasket between them but if its 10mm bolt or smaller, "snug" is going to be the same what ever my wrench clicks at the lowest setting.

Quote from: gsJack on December 04, 2007, 12:13:56 PM
Actually Kerry, I almost never use a torque wrench except for engine work.  Cylinder heads should be torqued and I think the only time I used it on a GS was when I replaced the broken exhaust valve on the 02.

Had a 1/2" drive for years for car use and got the 3/8" for bikes.  Bought it when I replaced a head gasket on my old CM400 to fix an oil leak.  When I took a summer job in a garage about 60 years ago they had both the beam and click type and I always preferred the simple beam type.  Tells you what torque you already have when the bolt or nut starts to move.

A beam type is just as accurate as the click type in experienced hands, my hands are almost as good as torque wrenches anyway for everything except a few special things like cyl heads.     I do sometimes look up the torque values before tightening without the torque wrench so I'll know what they want.   

This is all good advice, especially the part about "...almost never use a torque wrench..." 
A little bit of feel goes a long way. Other than rod bolts and nuts on long studs I hardly ever use one. If you pay attention on various bike forums to the threads about stripped fasteners you'll notice that 80-90% of the incidents involve a torque wrench.

And if you grab the ratchet by the head rather than the end of the the grip when tightening the acorn nuts on the oil filter cover you won't be breaking off the studs.   

Two words....Snap On. I prefer digital or the type that give when they reach thier setting. I'm sure if you do your own maintenence on your bike, you may also do it on your car, and on your girlfrieds car and help your friends with bikes. In my opinion it's worth the cost! You get what you pay for.

Quote from: GeeP on December 04, 2007, 09:31:22 AM
1)  NEVER use a torque wrench to loosen fasteners or otherwise abuse it.  The wrench is designed to be used to tighten fasteners only and can lose calibration if it is used in the opposite direction.

Excellent post aside this comment.  Most torque wrenches...clicker types, anyway...are just as able to tighten left hand thread fasteners as they are right hand thread fasteners.  Clicker types are also just as capable of measuring break torque, as well as breaking, as they are compression.

Personally I do use a cheap chinese wrench for most tasks...it isn't accurate per it's stampings, but it is consistent and I have it measured periodically.  Having a full understanding of how your tools work is key when saving dollars.  When it comes to high dollar part and precision repairs, though, I use a Starrett.

ended up getting this one. I'll post once I get it.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=807

^I have the same wrench only in 18".  Just like I said, though, it's not accurate per it's markings so be wary.  Have it checked.

Ok....I'm convinced there is a global conspiracy against me. Brand new 3/8" Torque Wrench from HarborFreight.com just arrived.....It WILL NOT CLICK. I have read the directions and so has my girlfriend. This thing WILL NOT click. Test 20 ft-lbs on my rear axle. I stopped because I didn't want to strip anything.


So my question is where can I take this to get it calibrated. Someone who can SHOW me that it works correctly. Please tell me I'm not crazy.

The only thing I can think of is that I don't know how much 20 ft-lbs actually 'feels' like it's much more than I think.

Spark plugs are about 8 ft-lbs and rear axle nuts are about 35-60 ft-lbs and that just about covers the everyday range for the GSs.

My beam type torque wrench never clicks.   

Buy a cheap-o beam type one (like gsJack mentioned) that will tell you exactly what torque you applied; then compare with the clicker-model.