Hahaha, I started to do the same and then came up with this idea, I used a 1/4 socket on the 1/4 beam torque wrench, to a 1/4 hex shank 1/2 driver to the pinion nut socket… Works like a charm…
1:11pm cst
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Funny, just brought the wife home from knee replacement. Year ago was shoulder replacement. Didn’t Look either time. Fun times ahead.
Before I retired, I worked at a distribution transformer manufacturer. They used a variety of click type 1/2” drive torque wrenches that were “cal checked” twice during each shift. A “cal check” is not the same as a NIST calibration, but a quick check against a calibration level 4 standard.
Anyway, the torque wrenches we used cost anywhere from around $20 from HF to $75 Craftsman. They all lasted about 2.5 months until they no longer passed the “cal check”, no matter the cost. We decided to go all HF and not pay to have them recalibrated as a new wrench was cheaper.
BTW, these got a LOT of use in their 2.5 month lifetime.
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Hi Keith. This comment grabbed my attention. I was interviewing a mobile tire installer, Jay, one of our Car Talk team of experts. He said the same thing. He just buys a new wrench periodically rather than fuss with calibration.
I have a Craftsman click type, must be 30 years old, hasn’t seen daylight in at least 20 years.
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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…
5:23pm cst
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’m sure it wasn’t to “level 4” standard (since IDK what that actually means), and certainly not NIST. But I was pretty confident in it. That’s when I started checking it periodically. It didn’t take that long to finagle it back into shape. I’d rather that than spending another $XX - but I’m also not a company. Just a DIY guy who wants to make sure things are right, but doesn’t have the wrench time of pros.
Just curious, were they always returned to zero after use? Or did they leave them set to a particular setting?
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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 positive stop at the lowest value, so I’ve been conservative about it). But I back them down to something close to their lowest value. E.g., my 1/2” craftsman is 20-150 ftlb, so I always back it down to something around 25 ftlb. I don’t actually know the specific internals of how these work. But my understanding is that whatever internals, like springs or whatever, are subject to more wear/fatigue if left loaded. But that’s just my impression.
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.