Torque Wrench

[BigDon]

I am looking at getting a good quality torque wrench whats a good ft/lb or NM range for a wrench and can anyone recommend some brands Im thinking Teng/powerbuilt/Kingchrome.

Cheers,

John

[evil_si]

forget those brands, get a Norbar,

[bluemaumau]

i got a powerbuilt one in a sale for 170, down from 260. lifetime warrenty

[Quint]

I've got a teng one that goes to a little under 200NM, no idea what would need tightening up that much, or if i could even tighten a bolt that tight!

[thegreatestben]

Mate has a teng one. Has used it like once. Useless for anything practical

[big_boy]

what do you work on small cars, larger cars, trucks ect iv got a full koken set from 3/8th 1/2th & 3/4th but i work on trucks more than cars so you never know what you will need intill you know what your working on

[BigDon]

I had seen the Norbar branded ones but its not a brand I’m familiar with, obviously they are good?

I want it for working on my BZ-G and for getting my wheel nuts to the right torque especially for the track work the car does. I have a bad habit of over tightening them which isn’t good for the studs!

What model powerbuilt and teng ones do you guys have I have seen a Teng for around $120 trade and a powerbuilt for a bit more $145 mark. Cant remember how much the norbar one was right now.

[Steve123]

Powerbuilt or other cheap brand will be more than adiquate for this.

I bought a powerbuilt 5 or more years ago, something cheap untill I could get a better one. I never got a better one. I have done up countless cyl heads wheel nuts etc. very reliable.

You need soemthing around 20-100ft/lbs for a car

[BigDon]

Cheers for the comments guys, Im going for a norbar one:

http://www.norbar.com/products_description.php&category_multid=1&range_multid=12&id=1183

Getting it trade for $260 (retail of $360 crazy!) and the folks are springing for it for my birthday so its all good. The wrench is 10-180ftlbs and should be overkill in terms of accuracy for wheel nuts and should be good enough to do any real accurate stuff if I ever need to.

[Zak]

You realise thats the 3/8th drive don't you?

It looks a bit small for doing wheel nuts and stuff, if it were me I'd go for a 1/2" drive one. More leaverage means less work...

All though it will probably be more again...

[Dell'Orto]

Hell, I just got a Motogard one some years back, and its fine. Probably needs to be recalibrated, but its reasonably accurate for a shitter thing. Only cost like $50 or so.
Splash out and get a Koken one

[strap-on]

sykes pikavant (i think thats the SP) is a brand that i heard was quite good

IT may be telling you to suck eggs a bit, but if you make sure you wind a torque wrench back to zero when you are finished with it it stays in calibration alot longer

[tianporn]

Would those ones from supercheap be good for things like bolting down heads?

[2LTR Rona]

Hell, I just got a Motogard one some years back, and its fine.

Snap I even still have the original casing too perfectly fine for the "backyard" type stuff but if in the trade & getting use everyday then I wouldn't buy that again

[big_boy]

Would those ones from supercheap be good for things like bolting down heads?

how good are you at gessing because my gess is after a week there about that good as well

[BigDon]

Im sticking with the 3/8 drive Norbar one (10 to 180ftlbs range) as you cant get 1/2 inch in a good range like that and that range is good for engine work as well. Wheel nuts are only 75 / 80 ftlbs so wont require to much effort to do up I am just going to use an adaptor (guy at blacks and pykels said it wont effect reading) so I can use my 1/2 inch drive socket set (plus Im a big unit and have a bit of physical leverage to help for higher torque applications).

[atmosports]

A lot of people think that by winding it back to zero & taking the load off the spring it will stay in calibration longer, the truth is once a spring has sacked out & settled it'll never return to it's original length & your calibration will be out, unless they sack the spring out first & then calibrate them. Same reason when you buy Eibach springs they are pre-sacked & don't settle at all. If you don't want the calibration to change don't buy a spring type torque wrench, buy a deflecting bar one that uses a piece of high-tensile steel bar as the spring as unless you either fatigue the bar or else go past it's plastic limit the calibration generally doesn't change. Hence the reason my old man's torque wrench he's had for over 40years is still accurate to less than 1lbs/ft, it's never been recalibrated, but gets tested every 6 months, pretty sure it's a Warren & Browne or something like that. I've had brand new Tengs that have been way out, so much so we had both a wheel & a flywheel come loose using a new one that was way over reading.

[method]

You can check the calibration.

Get a 1m powerbar and chuck 9.8kgs on it at 90* to the bar. The wrench should slip at or just under 10Nm

Ghetto but if you are accurate you can get a decent idea if your tool is still accurate or if its off.