Hello folks. If you work on your own car, may I ask if you have a favorite brand and model of torque wrench? It can be one that you use for wheel lugs or it could be a model for things like cylinder heads or EV contact posts in a receptacle or EV charger junction box. If you have a brand you trust, …

I have a Craftsman click type, must be 30 years old, hasn’t seen daylight in at least 20 years.

My old work, as of retirement 2021, we used all Snap-on torque wrenches only for lug nut torque, they were swapped out every 6 months to be recalibrated and or repaired… Before Covid, they cost the company about $180.00 each… [image] 5:23pm cst

[image] keith: They all lasted about 2.5 months until they no longer passed the “cal check” I had the end nuts come undone on my 1/2” Craftsman once. I needed it at the time, so managed to get it back together, and then had to fuss with it a bit to get it back in spec using the fish scale. I’…

[image] keith: They all lasted about 2.5 months until they no longer passed the “cal check”, no matter the cost. Just curious, were they always returned to zero after use? Or did they leave them set to a particular setting?

[image] TwinTurbo: Just curious, were they always returned to zero after use? Good question. I don’t think it applies to the beam types as they return to zero automatically (?). But mine are the clickers. I always back then off after use. Not to zero (as none of mine go to zero or to a positi…

No, these were in constant use, two shifts a day. They were not returned to zero at the end of the second shift either but they probably should have. But they were cal checked at the beginning of each shift. BTW, NIST is the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The level 1 standards a…

[image] TwinTurbo: were they always returned to zero after use? Even the instructions of HF’s say to return to 0.

I was almost embarrassed to say I have a 1/2" beam wrench, glad to see others have them. Worked for me when I needed it, but not doing any work these days I need it for. Left over from the 70’s I think.

Beam wrenches are dead simple. If it returns to zero after use, that would seem to indicate that nothing is bent. If nothing is bent, I can’t see how they would ever lose accuracy. I use my beam type to check my click type torque wrenches. Not lab grade calibration but good enough for most shop wor…

What brand and model torque wrench would you recommend?

Maintenance/Repairs

Rod-Knox August 29, 2025, 12:53pm 30

Using a proper size ratchet always seemed to make it easy to get things torqued down correctly. I can’t imagine using a 1/2” ratchet on a 1/4” hex head bolt/nut not being overtightened by a DIYer.

Of course combination wrenches’ length to bolt diameter is quite appropriate.

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What brand and model torque wrench would you recommend?

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