1/2" dr split-beam torque wrench w/fine-tooth ratchet head

[The Critic]

I am in the market for a 1/2" dr split-beam torque wrench with a fine tooth ratchet head, preferably something with at least 72 teeth. I currently have a P.I. but it the coarse teeth ratchet mechanism isn't my favorite and it is due for a calibration.

I would prefer to buy from a brand that offers a flat-rate repair/calibration service. Does anyone other than Snap-On, offer this?

Looks like Tekton and Matco have 72 tooth options. Snap-On has a 80 tooth option (TQSG3F250) and Icon has a 90 tooth.

Snap-on Store

shop.snapon.com

undefined undefined | Matco Tools

www.matcotools.com

1/2 in. Drive 40-250 ft. lb. Professional Split Beam Torque Wrench

Amazing deals on this 1/2In Drive Pro Split Beam Torque Wrench at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

1/2 Inch Drive 72-Tooth Flex Head Split Beam Torque Wrench | TEKTON

1/2 inch drive split beam torque wrench. Range from 40-250 ft/lb. TRQ62203.

www.tekton.com

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Just a thought if you use it regularly, have you considered digital? With the tool truck split beams, you're into digital money when talking used, although a new tech angle for instance is a solid $125 more than your example.

 

[Wamsutta]

Maybe you just need to take the P.I. head apart and fill it up with RLL. It's the cure for MAC 30 tooths if you ever get one of those.

 

[The Critic]

Just a thought if you use it regularly, have you considered digital? With the tool truck split beams, you're into digital money when talking used, although a new tech angle for instance is a solid $125 more than your example.

I already own a 1/2” dr techangle. I primarily use my split-beam for tire and suspension work; I feel that the electronic ones are too nice for this type of work? Could just be personal preference.

 

[Wamsutta]

The P.I. is the real deal. Those other two are reverse engineered fakes.

 

[The Critic]

The P.I. is the real deal. Those other two are reverse engineered fakes.

I have the P.I. - there is nothing special about it. The 36 tooth head is undesirable for my usage.

 

[Wamsutta]

I have the P.I. There’s nothing special about it. The 36 tooth head is undesirable.

That's all they use at America's Tire. They can afford any torque wrench that want, but they rely on P.I.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I already own a 1/2” dr techangle. I primarily use my split-beam for tire and suspension work; I feel that the electronic ones are too nice for this type of work? Could just be personal preference.

Probably preference. My 3/8 5-125 techangle is pretty beat up, chips taken out of the plastic, you can't even fully clean it anymore. They're tough and they work.

FWIW they also are coming out with mostly metal body tech angles. Not all the size ranges yet, but check the website. IIRC the first model with the new 90%+ metal body was the new 1/4 that goes to 25ft/lbs. Love that little guy.

Snap-on Store

shop.snapon.com

1/2 drive. metal body. Thank god my dealer has never ordered one to have on the truck.

That's all they use at America's Tire. They can afford any torque wrench that want, but they rely on P.I.

I'd say that is possibly the worst endorsement I've ever heard. LOL

We have PI units for the shop torque wrenches, split beams, per my recommendation.

 

[Wamsutta]

I'd say that is possibly the worst endorsement I've ever heard. LOL

Why's that? It's a goofy corporation but the guys working there do good work.

 

[The Critic]

Why's that? It's a goofy corporation but the guys working there do good work.

All they do are tires. Some of us use our 1/2" dr torque wrenches for additional applications where other features are desirable.

 

[Benito]

The ICON is 90-tooth and one of the cheapest so that's you top bet there.

Otherwise, they'll recalibrate your Matco pretty cheap as well, at least mine was

 

[Wamsutta]

All they do are tires. Some of us use our 1/2" dr torque wrenches for additional applications where other features are desirable.

I'm trying to sell you the wrench you already have.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Why's that? It's a goofy corporation but the guys working there do good work.

While I have been blasted for this many times - wheel torque is not a particularly sensitive application. Basically anything between 65 and 140 will hold the average passenger car tire on. That's not the right way to do things, but give somebody an 18" breaker bar and "acceptable" results could be reached. They could get away with having a non-ratcheting head as well, tons and tons of room. Over torquing is generally a simple fix, stud and lug. I think of torque wrench use for some tight area, M6 bolt, into a multi thousand dollar piece of aluminum.

While the tire shop application does hold a ton of cycles, IMO it's not a high precision nor access limited application.


OP: You mention calibration. What's your requirement for that, work related? I just test mine from time to time, I don't keep certificates sitting around. That's one of the reasons I prefer snap-on torque wrenches. When someone blames you for "over torquing" something, you can just point at the logo and they generally shut up.

 

[ronkz650]

I use the Snap-on TQFR250E for tires and although only 36t or whatever, it works fabulous. No use using the Techangle there.

 

[Wamsutta]

While I have been blasted for this many times - wheel torque is not a particularly sensitive application. Basically anything between 65 and 140 will hold the average passenger car tire on. That's not the right way to do things, but give somebody an 18" breaker bar and "acceptable" results could be reached. They could get away with having a non-ratcheting head as well, tons and tons of room. Over torquing is generally a simple fix, stud and lug. I think of torque wrench use for some tight area, M6 bolt, into a multi thousand dollar piece of aluminum.

While the tire shop application does hold a ton of cycles, IMO it's not a high precision nor access limited application.

Not a super sensitive application but I've heard you can warp the rotors if each lug nut is not within X lb.ft. of each other.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Not a super sensitive application but I've heard you can warp the rotors if each lug is not within ** lb.ft. of each other.

It would be a % thing, not a fixed number. People are worried about essentially jacking the rotor because of the clamping force. While I have seen many proofs of causes of rotor runout, I have never seen a proof of such issues. The rotor and hub as a combination have a given runout. Even cranking down the lugs, we're talking about compressing the rotor with an M12 or M14 nut enough to deflect/jack the entire thing crooked. Generally warped rotors locally are from overheated pads being baked into the rotor, or hub runout problems. That, and rust related issues.

Not that there's an excuse regardless for cranking the lugs down, or having wildly different values.

 

[dnschmidt]

It was mentioned above that P. I. is the real deal. Unfortunitely, they haven't changed a damn thing in 35 years. So in my opinion their stuff is antique real deal. Buy the ICON, it's cheap enough and if it dies you go to HF and they hand you another one.

 

[plinker]

I have a 1/2 PI, got it mainly for being faster to adjust and used it for tires often, For whatever reason it was reading 20lb low, so I had my Matco guy send it off, Have not got it back as of yet, so no idea on cost of re-calibration. I sent of a Snap-on 1/4 clicker and it was 95$

I've got a couple electronic units, not keen on using them for tires and such. Preference I guess. I fail to understand why fine tooth torque wrenches have only come about in the last few years.

I do know one guy that has a Matco split beam, no issues that I know of. Both the Matco and S-O seem like a lot of money though for a pretty basic type of torque wrench.

 

[Outahere]

I have the P.I. - there is nothing special about it. The 36 tooth head is undesirable for my usage.

I am unimpressed with my two PI split-beam wrenches. No calibration certificate included, and they do not meet their 4% accuracy specification.

Precision Instruments new 'FX' wrenches out of calibration

I've had very good accuracy out of their standard M line F series micrometers, within 1.5% accuracy. But PI's new FX series (X = extended range) have fallen short. Advertised range is 3%, I was consistently getting up to 7+% at multiple settings that were tested in the 20-100% range on...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[The Critic]

OP: You mention calibration. What's your requirement for that, work related? I just test mine from time to time, I don't keep certificates sitting around. That's one of the reasons I prefer snap-on torque wrenches. When someone blames you for "over torquing" something, you can just point at the logo and they generally shut up.

Out of habit, I do like to have my torque wrenches calibrated on a periodic basis. Having good service options from the manufacturer makes it convenient.

 

[Steve_P]

Out of habit, I do like to have my torque wrenches calibrated on a periodic basis. Having good service options from the manufacturer makes it convenient.

Why not just buy the 3/8 and 1/2" digital torque "adapters" from HF? Unless you're working on airplanes, this should be enough to prove that the wrenches are accurate enough. How often do you need to have a wrench calibrated? I have a 30 year old Craftsman clicker than still tests great.

For tire and suspension work, I've never needed more than my coarse CDI 36? tooth torque wrenches. I finally bought a 90T 3/8 Icon for engine work where I could use a finer mechanism.

 

[BarrelRoll]

I picked up one of the snappy you linked. It's been a decent torque wrench. Mine was on special on the truck, I can't remember how much off though I want to say $50-100 off. My coworker picked one up barely used off the truck as a trade in for $200 or $250. It wouldn't hurt to see if your dealer has any deals or trade ins.

 

[mhejl]

I have older 3/8 and 1/2 SO TQFR split beams (3? tooth heads) and a newish PI 1/2, also low tooth count. The SO TQFR 1/2" is still 36 teeth, not dual 80 (why?!?).

EDIT - I see SO has 80 tooth TQSG series (at over $500!) now but they only had the 36t on the truck last time I checked.

I've supplemented the SOs with the newer Icon 90 tooth wrenches and hardly use my older SO or PI ones any more. I particularly like the 3/8 Icon as it is about 3" longer than my SO. I should probably offload my older ones.

I tried a 1/4" Tekton and sent it back - was about +20% off spec. The Icons are spot on. I also have a Wera but they're only 45 teeth or so.

So, I'd suggest trying the Icons for the 90t heads, (relatively) low cost, and easy warranty.

 

[M635_Guy]

I have the Icon split beams. Tools Tested did a post-1000-cycle test for both 3/8" and 1/2" and they did great:

 

[roofdweller49]

It was mentioned above that P. I. is the real deal. Unfortunitely, they haven't changed a damn thing in 35 years. So in my opinion their stuff is antique real deal. Buy the ICON, it's cheap enough and if it dies you go to HF and they hand you another one.

What is with all the US legacy manufacturers and the attitude of "well we've been doing it this way for x years, if you want something different, find someone else"

I'd like to support P.I. because they're a small US company, but between the price and the ancient ratchet - it's hard to

 

[tak1313]

I have three PI split beams, and I PERSONALLY feel their QC has been slipping lately as far as initial calibration out of the factory. The tool itself is fantastically built, but it seems like they are either not actually calibrating them correctly out of the factory, or they have monkeys doing the calibration.

If I were to buy again, I would likely go with Icon.

 

[Clutchsmoke]

I have the Icon split beam and I have no complaints.

 

[The Critic]

My Snap-On guy made me a decent cash deal so I now own one:



The ratchet head is very smooth - it is a nice upgrade over my current PI. Grip is great as well.

Any thoughts on the calibration?

 

[Pinemarten]

It appears most calibration labs settle on 3000 torque cycles as a good number before recalibration.

StackPath

I think I'll just charge a five-cent torque charge per "click". Then I can skip the downtime and just buy a new torque wrench when the old one has reached its as manufactured accuracy life.

 

[goblue1998]

The Tekton is now on sale at Amazon for $98.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B4BFXNJ9/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[rust in the eye]

Not a super sensitive application but I've heard you can warp the rotors if each lug nut is not within X lb.ft. of each other.

I've heard this over the years as well. All you are doing is clamping the rotor hat between the hub and wheel. An extraordiary amount of pressure would need to be applied to distort that chunk of cast iron. Inconceivable to me. Perhaps some nitwit may have tightened ONE wheel bolt only at some point causing a boatload of radial runout just because the rotor/wheel wasn't seated correctly.
I've been working on cars a long time and have never seen this in spite of seeing some grossly over and under torqued wheel fasteners.

 

[rust in the eye]

I think I'll just charge a five-cent torque charge per "click". Then I can skip the downtime and just buy a new torque wrench when the old one has reached its as manufactured accuracy life.

Wouldn't that fall under "shop supplies"?

 

[skulldrinker]

Maybe you just need to take the P.I. head apart and fill it up with RLL. It's the cure for MAC 30 tooths if you ever get one of those.

What's RLL?

 

[Wamsutta]

What's RLL?

I can't say it out loud.