foundvettelifeisgood

You can buy a torque wrench for $50 or $200 or anywhere in between. There's 3/8" and 1/2" drives.

Looking for some guidance on what I should get for torquing chassis and engine nuts.

:cheers:

Jughead

Uh-oh....I think were getting close here Jay. :D I have the old beam type torque wrench from Sears. I think I paid $30 about 20 years ago. I recently had the engine shop calibrate it and it was dead on correct. :hurray: BUT----I never dropped it or rode over it. :lol: There's a big clicker-type contingency here though. I had a clicker a few years back and wound up throwing it away. I set it for 50 ftlb and the &^%$*&# :cuss :cuss :reddevil thing never clicked.

Jughead

Oh, I have a 1/2 inch for the ftlb torque and a 3/8 for in.lb torque.

J. Swisher

I have a click type torgue wrench from Craftsman, was about $60 when I bought it. Never had a problem with it. Biggest thing you have to remember once you buy your torque wrench is that it should be set on its lowest setting when done using it and should never be used to loosen a bolt

mapman

foundvettelifeisgood,

Three torque wrenches: 1/2" with max about 150 ft-lbs, 3/8" with max about 80 ft-lbs, and 3/8" with max about 250 inch-lbs.

I try not to use any torque wrench near its maximum or minimum rating.

All these wrenches are "clicker" type.

For suspension work the lower rear control arm to crossmember bolt torque is 95 ft-lbs. Front wheel bearing torque (before backing off and re-setting by hand) is about 140 inch-lbs.

Rear suspension camber cam nut is about 120 ft-lbs. Bolts that hold clamps for the propeller shaft and half shaft u-joints are torqued to about 150 inch-lbs. Quite a range.

If you are on a budget, you might see if you can borrow a "High Torque" wrench for those times you need it. A medium and a low range torque wrench is pretty useful.

For the high range and medium range torque wrenchs, you could get less expensive "bar" type wrenchs and calibrate them against a known good quality "clicker" type wrench.

Gator81

I have a Craftsman and two Husky torque wrenches, all clickers. The Craftsman's plastic indicator ring broke, and when I took it back to Sears (hey, it's a Craftsman, right? guaranteed forever, right? AJ Foyt said so!) and that's when I found out that the Craftsman guarantee DOES NOT APPLY to torque wrenches. You'd think they'd point that out when you buy one.

Husky torque wrenches, on the other hand ARE guaranteed forever by Home Depot. I've got the 3/8" for in/lbs and the 1/2" for ft/lbs. :seeya


[Modified by Gator81, 8:36 AM 1/16/2003]

GTR1999

The clicker wrenches are good, as are the beam type for general work. If you rebuild the differential or steering box you'll need a very good dial in/lb wrench like the type Snap-On has.
Gary

page62

Ummm... I picked up a click-type torque wrench at Harbor Freight for 10 bucks (no kidding). It works fine!

norvalwilhelm

To me the torque wrench is one of the most important tools in my box. If you can afford only one get a 1/2 inch drive. Torquing some of the head bolts is too much for a 3/8th drive. I like the click type so I don't have to watch the dial. Also only use it for torquing not as a breaker bar for tight nuts.
Get a good one, take care and it and it will last a lifetime.

Twin_Turbo

I have 3 Norbar torque wrenches (partially overlapping ranges), I have owned others but liked them the most.

vettfixr

:withstupid: I will never buy another Craftsman torque wrench. I have 2 Husky's from Home Depot now and they work just fine and are guaranteed for life. I think I used my Craftsman for about a month and the ratchet went.

Smith

I just purchased the new Snap on electronic torque wrench. It is 3/8 and works from 5 ft lb to 100ftlb. I will never use another torque wrench. It never needs to be set to zero for storage. It buzzs when you hit the set torque and also tells you what torque you actually hit. You will be amazed at how bad you are with the basic click torque wrench. You can switch from in lb to ft lb to nw mt with the push of a button.

Jon69L46

Like others, I have two. 3/8 & 1/2. About 160.00 for both. Gotta have it. :yesnod:
Jon