Big torque torque wrenches

bmwpower · Jul 7, 2007

Ok... let's have some tool discussion here for a change.

Who makes a good one that goes up to 350+ ft.lbs besides Snap-On? I have a crank pulley that requires upwards of that much.

Is the mechanism the same as the lower end wrenches? Or does 350+ ft.lbs require something different?

Uncle Buck · Jul 7, 2007

Easy, Proto, OTC, of course Mac, Cornwell, Matco there are probably as many others that I have not mentioned. OTC and Proto would be my first go to guys.

I have an older Snappy 1" drive dial that I picked up in a swap years ago, so far, only used it once. It works like any Beam type except it has a dial read.

PanelDeland · Jul 7, 2007

As an industrial mechanic I have had occassion to torque at that and higher.I have found that a torque multiplier is a great way to go that high.It is especially handy when going to torque ranges of over about 500 ftlbs.since it is sometimes hard to get into a position where you can apply that much torque/pressure to the wrench.They tend to be a bit pricey but I doubt it is much over a wrench rated that high.It allows you to use your regular torque wrench also so having itt calibrated is just a question of keeping your regular torque wrench in good repair.

I have actually torqued up to 2800 ftlbs with one.Well myself and a 400lb guy we called "Grape Ape"lol.

A_Pmech · Jul 7, 2007

http://www.srtorque.com/tamarsdwspec.html

Many tool truck torque wrenches are made by these people, the better Craftsman branded products too. Their micrometer line goes up to 700 ft. lbs. Buy direct and save.

Personally speaking, I got tired of chasing the tool truck down the interstate at 85MPH to get a socket replaced. Funny though, they were always on time when somebody was late on a payment.

george4 · Jul 7, 2007

I have actually torqued up to 2800 ftlbs with one.Well myself and a 400lb guy we called "Grape Ape"lol.[/QUOTE]

Curiosity kills me, what torqued to 2800? :beer:

ImportTuner · Jul 8, 2007

A_Pmech said:
http://www.srtorque.com/tamarsdwspec.html

Many tool truck torque wrenches are made by these people, the better Craftsman branded products too. Their micrometer line goes up to 700 ft. lbs. Buy direct and save.

Personally speaking, I got tired of chasing the tool truck down the interstate at 85MPH to get a socket replaced. Funny though, they were always on time when somebody was late on a payment.

Probably would be safer for you to call him on his cell/land line than chasing him down ...

-lecroix- · Jul 8, 2007

ImportTuner said:
Probably would be safer for you to call him on his cell/land line than chasing him down ...

Shouldn't have to "chase" anyone to have something replaced under warranty. Be it the highway or the telephone.

Charles (in GA) · Jul 8, 2007

A_Pmech said:
http://www.srtorque.com/tamarsdwspec.html

Many tool truck torque wrenches are made by these people, the better Craftsman branded products too. Their micrometer line goes up to 700 ft. lbs. Buy direct and save.

Personally speaking, I got tired of chasing the tool truck down the interstate at 85MPH to get a socket replaced. Funny though, they were always on time when somebody was late on a payment.

Be aware that the dimension "A" in the top table of torque wrenches, for the last two, the 600 and 700 ft/lb models, is incorrect, way too short for the weight. We have the 600 lb models at work, they are quite long.

Cannot say as I've ever seen SR torque wrenches branded any other way. They are very distinctive style tools, the ratchets have a back and forth thru button for the reversing mechanism, and a large squarish head, which is their only drawback.

I've preached this before, according to the guy who calibrates our torque wrenches at work, and he does hundreds of them, the SR wrenches are absolutely the best ones he's seen, bar none.

Charles

Uncle Buck · Jul 8, 2007

Charles (in GA) said:
Be aware that the dimension "A" in the top table of torque wrenches, for the last two, the 600 and 700 ft/lb models, is incorrect, way too short for the weight. We have the 600 lb models at work, they are quite long.

Cannot say as I've ever seen SR torque wrenches branded any other way. They are very distinctive style tools, the ratchets have a back and forth thru button for the reversing mechanism, and a large squarish head, which is their only drawback.

I've preached this before, according to the guy who calibrates our torque wrenches at work, and he does hundreds of them, the SR wrenches are absolutely the best ones he's seen, bar none.

Charles

I will second the opinion that SR wrenches are truely the best. Fact is I had almost forgotten the name, but yes they are almost a legend! I was on Alloy Artifacts doing some reading yesterday. In the Plomb section it showed a picture of an old beam torque wrench and identified SR as the actual manufacturer so I guess some rebranding occurred with them as well! :thumbup:

bmwpower · Jul 8, 2007

Charles (in GA) said:
Be aware that the dimension "A" in the top table of torque wrenches, for the last two, the 600 and 700 ft/lb models, is incorrect, way too short for the weight. We have the 600 lb models at work, they are quite long.

Cannot say as I've ever seen SR torque wrenches branded any other way. They are very distinctive style tools, the ratchets have a back and forth thru button for the reversing mechanism, and a large squarish head, which is their only drawback.

I've preached this before, according to the guy who calibrates our torque wrenches at work, and he does hundreds of them, the SR wrenches are absolutely the best ones he's seen, bar none.

Charles

Ok, so how do I get one? Call the rep? Or are they available online for purchase?

ImportTuner · Jul 8, 2007

-lecroix- said:
Shouldn't have to "chase" anyone to have something replaced under warranty. Be it the highway or the telephone.

Hey lecroix ... you're getting too literial; ya gotta call to make contact ... and find out where he is at.

-lecroix- · Jul 8, 2007

you missed the point ... nevermind.

bmwpower · Jul 8, 2007

hholmberg said:
Easy, Proto, OTC, of course Mac, Cornwell, Matco there are probably as many others that I have not mentioned. OTC and Proto would be my first go to guys.

I have an older Snappy 1" drive dial that I picked up in a swap years ago, so far, only used it once. It works like any Beam type except it has a dial read.

Ok... So I've started looking. Looks like the OTC units have a lifetime warranty. I've never seen a torque wrench with the lifetime warranty before.

Interesting...

Here's the one I'm referrencing:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120133125145

I've already contacted the seller and he claims there is a lifetime warranty on the tool. I guess I should contact OTC to verify too....

Uncle Buck · Jul 8, 2007

bmwpower said:
Ok... So I've started looking. Looks like the OTC units have a lifetime warranty. I've never seen a torque wrench with the lifetime warranty before.

Interesting...

Here's the one I'm referrencing:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120133125145

I've already contacted the seller and he claims there is a lifetime warranty on the tool. I guess I should contact OTC to verify too....

Yes, check it out and let us know, I suspect that the lifetime warranty is for the ratchet mechanism in the head, because I have never known of any manufacturer warrantying them on calibration beyond the first year at most.

kartracer55 · Jul 9, 2007

My question is why spend the money on such a limited use tool?? It would probably be cheaper to have the car towed to a diesel shop where they would have the torque wrench,slip the guy a 20 or two to torque the pulley, then either drive it or have it towed home. That would not be a cheap tool... MSC has an armstrong for 500$

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT?PMPXNO=1652725&PMT4NO=25338149

Or you could just blast the fawker down with a 3/4 impact gun :thefinger

lol

iiibdsiil · Jul 9, 2007

Crank pulley? Impact gun!

bmwpower · Jul 9, 2007

Impact gun?!? Who are you guys? Do I know you?

bmwpower · Jul 9, 2007

hholmberg said:
Yes, check it out and let us know, I suspect that the lifetime warranty is for the ratchet mechanism in the head, because I have never known of any manufacturer warrantying them on calibration beyond the first year at most.

Got an email from the seller again. The warranty is for the entire unit. Not bad.

Uncle Buck · Jul 9, 2007

bmwpower said:
Got an email from the seller again. The warranty is for the entire unit. Not bad.

I am still leary, I would be interested in knowing what the manufacturer says about the warranty specifics more so than the seller. No guarantee how long the seller will be in business, but hopefully the manufacturer is a different story! :thumbup:

Additionally, have you thought about calling rental companies, or other creative ideas? Such as those already suggested by others?

As I said, I have had my 1" torque wrench for years, and have only used it once or twice, but I paid nothing for mine, I got it as part of a trade. I would have to figure something else out beyond buying such a seldom used tool.

bmwpower · Jul 10, 2007

hholmberg said:
I am still leary, I would be interested in knowing what the manufacturer says about the warranty specifics more so than the seller. No guarantee how long the seller will be in business, but hopefully the manufacturer is a different story!

From OTC Customer Services:

"OTC torque wrenches are covered by a one year warranty against defects in material and workmanship."

Thank you,
OTC Customer Services
800-533-6127 ext. 1
[email protected]
www.otctools.com

MustangRick · Jul 10, 2007

600lbs for a crank pulley? I wonder what it takes to rotate the engine past a compression stroke. I wouldn't think it would be much higher then that for a typical gas engine that has a few miles on it.

bmwpower · Jul 10, 2007

MustangRick said:
600lbs for a crank pulley? I wonder what it takes to rotate the engine past a compression stroke. I wouldn't think it would be much higher then that for a typical gas engine that has a few miles on it.

No, I believe the spec is 325 or something like that. 600 is just the capacity of the wrench.

russlaferrera · Jul 10, 2007

Is there a formula that can be used to double the readings of a torque wrench? ie: using a 1 ft long breaker bar w/ socket on the bolt and welding a old socket an the breaker bar handle to attach the torque wrench.

If you are not going to use a large cap. torque wrench often. Why buy one ?

bmwpower · Jul 10, 2007

russlaferrera said:
Is there a formula that can be used to double the readings of a torque wrench? ie: using a 1 ft long breaker bar w/ socket on the bolt and welding a old socket an the breaker bar handle to attach the torque wrench.

If you are not going to use a large cap. torque wrench often. Why buy one ?

Not sure about the first part.

If I knew someone that had one, I would borrow it. If I knew of a place that rented them, I'd rent it (maybe...rental tools prob ****).

I could always buy, then sell I guess.

Charles (in GA) · Jul 10, 2007

russlaferrera said:
Is there a formula that can be used to double the readings of a torque wrench? ie: using a 1 ft long breaker bar w/ socket on the bolt and welding a old socket an the breaker bar handle to attach the torque wrench.

If you are not going to use a large cap. torque wrench often. Why buy one ?

Actually, you could do that, by using not an extension, but an offset. If the offset were 90 degrees to the tool, it has no measurable effect on the torque, however if it is inine with the tool, it increases the torque, or you need to decrease the torque setting to get what you want.

Lets say you had a 17" long torque wrench, and from the mid-point of the grip to the center of the square drive was 14". Lets also say you have a offset box end with 6" center of the square drive to the center of the box end.

The formula is

Torque reading or setting on tool = required torque on bolt times length of wrench divided by the length of the tool plus the length of the adapter.

In our example we need say 300 ft/lbs times the lenght of the tool which we have determined to be 14" and this equals 4200, and we divide this by the length of the tool PLUS the adapter which if inline is 20" and this equals 210 ft/lbs which is the setting we want on the torque wrench to achieve an actual 300 ft/lb on the fastener head.

See the attachment for an illustration.

Charles

Uncle Buck · Jul 11, 2007

Charles, thank you for posting that, very worthy of saving, at least that is what I am doing with it.

Charles (in GA) · Jul 11, 2007

I should have noted, the page came for a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Advisory Circular AC65-9A which is the General Mechanics Handbook. It is part of a set of three, General, Airframe, and Powerplant, available to download in chapters from the FAA or on disc or in print from several different sources. Basically these are textbooks for new mechanic students and reference for us long time mechanics.

Charles

Uncle Buck · Jul 12, 2007

Charles (in GA) said:
I should have noted, the page came for a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Advisory Circular AC65-9A which is the General Mechanics Handbook. It is part of a set of three, General, Airframe, and Powerplant, available to download in chapters from the FAA or on disc or in print from several different sources. Basically these are textbooks for new mechanic students and reference for us long time mechanics.

Charles

For anyone who is interested, I suggest following Charles instructions on how to get the AC65-9A. I did and saved it to my favorites, now it looks like I have alot of reading to do! Good stuff though, VERY GOOD! Thank You Charles for sharing! :thumbup:

Ironcrow · Jul 12, 2007

Right. Like Charles said. What I did was weld up an "offset" twice the length of my 250 ft-lb Snap-on torque wrench. Now, I add the extension, and the wrench goes to 750 ft-lb.

Charles (in GA) · Jul 13, 2007

I suppose you might want the links.

General Aircraft Mechanics Handbook AC65-9A

http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulator...A563729E3DAAC121862569F1005F80F1?OpenDocument

Airframe Mechanics Handbook AC65-15A

http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulator...66AB237BAF7184A0862569F1005F7733?OpenDocument

Powerplant Mechanics Handbook AC65-12A

http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulator...614BD958F4D610DF862569EE0077E5F0?OpenDocument

Each link takes you to a screen with a whole heap of chapter listings and Adobe acrobat symbols. Click on a symbol and it will take you to that chapter which you can save, go back, click on another one, save it when it loads, go back, do it again and again. If you don't have broadband, don't even bother. Some good useful mechanical information in here.

Charles

bmwpower · Jul 13, 2007

Ironcrow said:
Right. Like Charles said. What I did was weld up an "offset" twice the length of my 250 ft-lb Snap-on torque wrench. Now, I add the extension, and the wrench goes to 750 ft-lb.

Unfortunately, this is something else I can't do because I don't own a welder.

Big torque torque wrenches

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