I think I'm going to retire my old, beam style torque wrench since it can be a pain to maneuver in tight spaces. Can anyone recommend one at a decent price? Sears wants over $70 for a Craftsmen!

No fathers' day sale on torque wrenches? They're having sales on lots of other toolsie stuff

Central is a good company & sells well and I rarely see them come back.  3T317 3/8DR 20-200in lbs, jobber is 28.29,...suggested is 42.43.  Or 3T415 1/2" dr 10-150 ft lbs jobber 29.64 and suggested 44.46.

WHere's the torque measurement on that thing?

I would assume toward the end of the handle as on other "click-type" torque wrenches. Basically, you set the amount of torque you require for the bolt/nut, torque the bolt/nut until the wrench clicks and stop immediately. Assuming your wrench is still within calibration tolerance, you're good. You don't actually measure the torque while you're wrenching with this type as you would with a beam or digital torque.

Huh. nice. I think that might be actually better than the other way, most of the time.

Do you have a link to where we can get them for those prices?

Amazon looks to be the closest to suggested that I'm seeing.  Jobber is what we sell them to retailers for.  Sometimes Amazon will beat our jobber pricing which customers don't like, of course.  If I were selling to one of my guys I'd do 28 even for either one.  But seeing as they are Matco, Mac, Snappy or Cornwell dealers, they'd probably double it, financing to the mechanics.

Quote from: comradeiggy on June 11, 2012, 02:16:11 PM
Do you have a link to where we can get them for those prices?

not the same brand, but looks about the same:

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/PFM0/M200DB/N0730.oap?ck=Search_N0730_-1_3062&pt=N0730&ppt=C0216


Or in my neck of the woods:

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=torque

has a bunch of 1/2" drive ones for $19 on sale for fathers' day.

"pittsburgh pro" brand, lifetime warrantee, 18" long.

Or a much larger 3/4" one for $74


Orrrr.. a craftsman microclicker20-150ft.lbs wrench is "on sale" for $53.99 at sears this week.

waitwhat?.. stupid website... they have (the same one?) on sale for $39.99, down from $79.99
confusing.
I think the scumbags may be using "variable pricing". When I enabled some javascript blockers, that offer disappeared, so I cant quote it

The whole layout changed when I enabled some javascript. ARRRG.


And... when I closed a "harbor freight" tab on my browser? !!  -.-
I feel all slimy now

i never use the torque wrench... the claibration gow off and you just end up over tourqing things and ruining it. i know several bike mechanics who also dont use them , just my 2 cents

Interesting point. But are the "clicker" types more prone to go off calibration, than the bendy-lever ones?




Seems like the bendy-lever ones couldnt really go non-calibrated?

Unless you apply enough force to permanently deform a beam torque wrench, then it will never really become uncalibrated. Clicker type use a ball detent and a spring, so they can become uncalibrated if stored improperly and as the spring gets older and changes.

Quote from: Phil B on June 11, 2012, 08:39:31 PM
Interesting point. But are the "clicker" types more prone to go off calibration, than the bendy-lever ones?




Seems like the bendy-lever ones couldnt really go non-calibrated?

agreed. i use the same beam type wrench and have a set of crows feet for the business end ( for tight places etc

You don't want a clicker type, they can break your shaZam!, just saying. Even the most expensive ones get off-kilter easily...the cheaper ones might as well be a breaker bar.

You should stick with either a dial-type or beam type like you've got. Honestly.

Quote from: Kijona on June 12, 2012, 12:02:13 AM
You don't want a clicker type, they can break your shaZam!, just saying. Even the most expensive ones get off-kilter easily...the cheaper ones might as well be a breaker bar.

You should stick with either a dial-type or beam type like you've got. Honestly.

agreed. also if specs call for what would be the low end of your wrench range, or hte high end, youre better off getting a higher capacity wrench. aka if spec calls for 10ft/lbs and wrench is rated for 10-120 more often than not you will break the bolt. specs in that range, go with an in/lb wrench and multiply by i believe 12 so 10 ft/lb would be 120 in/lb ( someone correct that conversion if wrong. ( tbh would not be first time )

Quote from: Kijona on June 12, 2012, 12:02:13 AM
You don't want a clicker type, they can break your shaZam!, just saying. Even the most expensive ones get off-kilter easily...the cheaper ones might as well be a breaker bar.

You should stick with either a dial-type or beam type like you've got. Honestly.

wait.. what's a 'dial type' ? how do they work?

Quote from: Phil B on June 11, 2012, 02:57:23 PM
waitwhat?.. stupid website... they have (the same one?) on sale for $39.99, down from $79.99
confusing.
I think the scumbags may be using "variable pricing". When I enabled some javascript blockers, that offer disappeared, so I cant quote it

Does anyone know how to get the best prices when online stores use variable pricing?  Do you just google search it 3 times per day and the price drops? Someone needs to make a program that will exploit the javascript and return the best prices.

Basically, it's similar to a beam torque wrench except the beam is replaced with a dial gauge (like a tire pressure gauge).

Here's an example of a dial type for those visual learning folks: http://www.itorque.com/mech_dial.htm

I'd be surprised (putting it mildly) to find a dial torque wrench under $40. But, you get what you pay for. IMHO, you're better off not buying a precision tool like a torque wrench if you can only afford the cheapest version of it. Like Kijona said, you'll break your shaZam!.

Quote from: Phil B on June 12, 2012, 07:20:31 AM

Quote from: Kijona on June 12, 2012, 12:02:13 AM
You don't want a clicker type, they can break your shaZam!, just saying. Even the most expensive ones get off-kilter easily...the cheaper ones might as well be a breaker bar.

You should stick with either a dial-type or beam type like you've got. Honestly.

wait.. what's a 'dial type' ? how do they work?

Similar to the "bar-type" people are talking about, except this one has a dial on the handle that indicates exact specs. Normally, they don't have a stop feature, so there's really no way for them to get thrown off. Much more reliable and accurate. Good thing too is you can turn them really hard (I presume) and make the dial go all the way around for exact specs beyond what the dial reads. So say it's from 1-100...you could turn it past 100 to 25 again and you'd have 125...arbitrary numbers I know, but you understand what I mean.

yup. a cheater bar is your friend there. but length of said bar has to be calculated. ( very easy to do)