tib _500

so far, on my tools Ive used daily, Stanley is a great tool brand. there relatively cheap, last pretty long, and are sold at most Wal-Marts. flaws, however, include easily broken ratchets, allens/torques heads are weak and twist, as do the torque bits, and the looks you get for using Stanley brand. the look your used to (for driving a Hyundai), all ratchets end up breaking with daily use, and most allens/torques flex bend and break after heavy usage.

quality on more expensive items, however is key, especially on steps. if your torque wrench breaks i the middle of a job, you may as well un-torque everything and do it all again when you get another wrench (most likely was not right anyway, if broke).

netsniper

Seriously you can pick up a click type AM Pro (advanced auto) torque wrench for like 32$ or so with a life time warrentee and thats 10 to 150 ftlbs. Secondly for the little 3/8" torque I know people might hate harbor freight tools but if your only going to use it a few times go spend like 10$ there on it and it will do its job I have bought both my 1/2" and 3/8" torque wrench and compaired them with snap on and they are accurate as all hell the guy with the snap on truck has a calibration machine that I have had my cheepos tested and they are accurate at .00028 per ftlb so I would say just buy them from there and they come with a limited life time warrentee too

Bullfrog

Easy guys. I have mostly craftsman at home as well. Im finding thou that they are cutting corners and do not feel as quality as they once did. I took a socket wrench and got it replaced to be disappointed that the one i received feel lighter and not have a good quality feel. They even look diffrent, same part number though.

Anyhow, I'm from the camp that you buy a good tool once then a cheap tool twice. Thank you all for your suggestions and comments.

Feel free to make comments about my statement for craftsmen.

REDZMAN

DTN is a tool, I recommend him.


I'm a craftsman fan, of course designs change over the years, but the warranty doesnt.

DTN

^^ all the ladies say that about my tool.

I like craftsman. Don't they still have lifetime warranty deals on their tools?

daafisch

^^^ Yeah bring it back and get a new one or in some cases a refurbished one.

tib _500

^^^^thats not true on all craftsmen tools though. don't be fooled, read before you buy, not all are lifetime.

REDZMAN

Correct, their power tools are not lifetime.

fury

I've got 3 torque wrenches; 2 of them I bought 'cause they were on sale:

1. a mastercraft 4 - 29.4Nm (~ 3 - 21 ft/lbs) click-type, 3/8"
2. a mastercraft 30 - 340Nm (~ 21 - 250ft/lbs) click-type, 1/2"
3. no-name brand 0 - 340Nm (0 - 250ft/lbs) dial-type, 3/8"

if I had to buy one (and just one!) all over again, I'd go with a click-type, and all the way up until 250ft/lbs.

dial-type:
(there's a dial/scale on the wrench, and as you torque, a needle moves. You stop torquing when the needle gets to the desired torque measure)
pros:
- you get to visually see how much more strength you have to apply until you're there
- you don't spend time having to pre-set your required torque on the wrench; just start using it right away.
- no calibration needs to be done, after some time.
- let's say there's a nut/bolt you need to remove from your car and you don't have the manual (so you don't know how much you need to torque that nut/bolt back on), removing that bolt/nut with the needle-type torque wrench will give you an idea of how much you will need to torque it back in
- cost-wise, it's cheaper

cons:
- the dial/scale is a bit wide and sometimes other parts get in the way, so you don't have a full swing
- it has a larger margin of error the higher up you go in torque (when the needle points at a specific torque, it's not really 100% accurate)
- if the needle twists, the wrench is not that useful anymore because you won't be able to accurately tell when you've reached a certain torque


click-type:
(you twist something close to the handle so as to set the torque that you need. Then, when applying torque to a bolt/nut, you will hear a click; the bolt/nut is now torqued to what you specified)
pros:
- very accurate
- no needle to twist, no scale to get in the way

cons:
- you have to get it calibrated after some good use (or misuse)
- it's hard to know how much more before that bolt/nut is finally torqued
- it's hard to tell how much torque you actually applied to remove a bolt/nut (this info can sometimes help to get an idea of how much torque that bolt-nut will need when you're putting things back in).
- you have to spend a few minutes pre-setting the torque before you can use it
- more expensive