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1/2" Torque Wrench just died.

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mpire

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I have a craftsman digi-torque wrench and I've had it over a decade. Its almost exclusively to torque the wheel bolts to 120 nm, but I did do an occasional suspension component with it.

It just spins freely, not sure what happened, but its passed on.

So cyber Monday is coming, what brand do you recommend for a guy who mostly torques his wheel bolts?
 
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ronkz650

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Olsa tools, Harbor Freight, and Tekton also have decent quality 1/2" split beams. I like the Snap On TQFR250E, but as always Snap On is not a cheap tool. I like and use the Snap On for wheels.
 
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Jeepster04

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Jun 25, 2013
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Firebrick43 said:
Precision instruments or CDI split beam. Split beams are the most durable of the click type wrenches, and long lasting unlike electronic ones.
Click to expand...

This. Had mine for a few years, really like it. Sometimes it can be a bit hard to hear the 'snap,' but it works perfect. The slight swivel works well too.
 
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Firebrick43

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Precision instruments used to and CDI currently (owned by snapon) makes snap on torque wrenches. If they were not sold under the snap on name they had a more basic ratchet head and not the dual 80 head but the rest of the torque wrench was the same.

The only other split beam I have experience with is stahlwille. They came with one of the german cnc machines I worked on and were good as well but I doubt they are common here.

I have never used the Olsa, HF, or tekton torque wrenches.
 
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j3rf

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Amazon just had the Tekton 1/2 split beam on sale for Black Friday for $98.60. I bought two.
 
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isb cornbinder

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mpire said:
I have a craftsman digi-torque wrench and I've had it over a decade. Its almost exclusively to torque the wheel bolts to 120 nm, but I did do an occasional suspension component with it.

It just spins freely, not sure what happened, but its passed on.

So cyber Monday is coming, what brand do you recommend for a guy who mostly torques his wheel bolts?
Click to expand...
I would bet that you, have greased the ratchet and the grease has dried and allows the ratchet pawl to slide over the ratchet ridges. Clean out the ratchet and run it dry. it is not like the ratchet is spinning fast enough to get hot from friction. If I use any sliptivity, it will be a dry lube.
I have and use a Craftsmen torque ratchet and maybe 8 others. I have had the Craftsman for over 60 years.
Some time ago, I took the Craftsman in to MOTION for service and calibration. The tech guy cleaned the accumulated dirt and what looked like harden grease and told me to run it dry.
 
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ThePostman

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If you want digital 1/2" with angle, the Quinn at HF, made by Eclatorque is a winner, especially with a coupon. I have a Precision 3/8" split beam, it works great, for a 36 tooth head. Were I to buy a non-digital 1/2" torque wrench, which could happen at any moment, Im buying the Icon split beam. Short of 1/4" drive, I do not know how or why anyone is buying click type torque wrenches given the widespread choices and ranges of split beams.
 
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M635_Guy

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dnschmidt said:
The ICON split beam is the best deal.
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I have the Icon 1/2" split beam, and I liked it enough to grab the 3/8" version. They've both tested out excellently for accuracy on the Tools Tested 1,000 cycle shootouts.

I just wish the damn case wasn't so (unnecessarily) long...
xlpCTb.jpg
 
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cannuck

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I recently "lost" my 1/2" clicker for tire changes so went to Princess Auto for a 50-250 on sale for about $160. Yeah, not split beam, not electronic but something I have come to accept ESPECIALLY for wheel bolts is the range of variable factors in re-use fasteners far, far exceeds the range of accuracy of ANY torque wrench. Will stick with my ultra-accurate split beam Repco for 3/8 and have gone to electronics with an angle gauge to make that more accurate. Some day I might buy a Stahlwille electronic, but I would have to feel extra flush with cash to do so. I can be a bit of a tool eccentric, but the premium stuff in Princess Auto's range of offerings is often "good enough" for a lot of purposes.

To the OP: I would start by opening up your ratchet head and cleaning out old lube and put in some light oil.
 
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ChevyEFI

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I think I killed the grease in my $9.99 HF after 15yrs. I left it in the small toolbox in my truck the last few years. Maybe I will bother fixing it. Bought another anyhow.
 
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richfinn

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Leeds, Yorkshire, England
We get issued with Norbar (part of Snap-On nowadays) Torque Wrenches at work, I change lots of wheels at roadside, they last around 10 years before the constant abuse and bad weather finally kills them.

They always pass the annual audit and easy to read/set in poor light.
 
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GirlnAgarage

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CDI

I currently have a USA made Husky 1/2" that I bought way back from HD for $75 that is my 1/2" go to. Pretty sure current production is not US made. It was a clone to the Mac tw I believe.
 
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dlleno

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M635_Guy said:
I have the Icon 1/2" split beam, and I liked it enough to grab the 3/8" version. They've both tested out excellently for accuracy on the Tools Tested 1,000 cycle shootouts.

I just wish the damn case wasn't so (unnecessarily) long...
xlpCTb.jpg
Click to expand...
To me, that dude is interesting and all of that, but he's not testing the probability of getting a good copy. Well, except when he got a tekton copy that wasn't calibrated well and tekton promptly tuned one up real good and gave it to him.

So he got a good Icon copy and showed longevity. The other YouTube guy got one that was off.

So my conclusion is that one should either send it off for immediate calibration or self calibrate , either the manual method with a known weight or a torque adapter such as the 1.5% accurate AC Delco.
 
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908Jim

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for click style torque wrenches, I always recommend Proto. I own 4 of them up to 250 ft-lbs and they have never failed mechanically and they have held their calibrations for several years without issue. The clunky 24 tooth heads are indestructible which is fine because you definitely don't need 4 degrees of arc swing, there's nearly zero backdrag, and rebuilds are readily available just in case. They're also fully serviceable. Good luck getting any import serviced.

I saw proto most often in engineering test lab environments and CDI/Proto/Utica in aerospace production environments. Utica are under the radar workhorse torque wrenches. I think the prevalence of Proto is largely due to the high quality and availability from industrial supply houses. With that said CDI and Precision Instruments both make excellent tools that I would not hesitate to buy. I don't think you can go wrong with Proto/CDI/PI/Utica.
 
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pbon

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Snap on is very good … and stupid expensive. Icon is the only one I am aware of that offers a lifetime warranty. I have a 1/2” Precision split beam, which generally get great reviews, and an Icon torque angle wrench.

I have 2 old cheap clicker 1/2 torque wrenches. They are probably 20-25 years old. I always zero them out. Don’t use them much anymore except maybe to leave in the car on a roadtrip. But I have occasionally rough tested them against the Precision and Icon by seeing if they click or don’t click at a certain torque that I am using the Precision for.

Most of my work is on my BMWs, and the newer ones are using a lot of angle torque specs. So I had to buy an angle torque. Used a 3/8 Quinn and that was fine until I had a task where it was maybe 45 lbs plus 180 degrees and I exceeded the 100 rating and stripped the wrench. Quinn is not lifetime warranty. I waited until I had a 25% off coupon and bought the 1/2 Icon angle torque. No Icon 3/8 angle torque yet … had to learn the lesson and accept the loss and buy another with a 25% off coupon. Need the 3/8 for the smaller jobs since it is 5-100 lbs and the Icon 1/2 is 12.5 to 250 lbs. Accuracy is best in the middle and worst at the extremes. If working on an engine, I want more accuracy.

In 20 years, maybe I will just need a soldering iron….
 
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M635_Guy

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dlleno said:
To me, that dude is interesting and all of that, but he's not testing the probability of getting a good copy. Well, except when he got a tekton copy that wasn't calibrated well and tekton promptly tuned one up real good and gave it to him.

So he got a good Icon copy and showed longevity. The other YouTube guy got one that was off.

So my conclusion is that one should either send it off for immediate calibration or self calibrate , either the manual method with a known weight or a torque adapter such as the 1.5% accurate AC Delco.
Click to expand...
It's a fair point, but I doubt there are many YouTube channels who can afford to buy a statistically-significant number of units to measure/control for sample variation. He's doing far more than anyone else I've seen. He's tested several different Icon models, and they've consistently performed at or near the top in his testing.

Mine are testing very consistently with each other, my SO torque wrench as well as the Quinn digital torque angle wrench and the Quinn digital torque adapters I've cross-tested them with. I'm not building race engines, so the accuracy is fine for my purposes.
 
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BM333

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Wamsutta said:
I recommend Precision Instruments or CDI. It don't cost me a dime to make a recommendation. :bounce:
Click to expand...
Precision Instruments have been exceptional to deal with in my experience. They went out of their way to support me with a warranty issue relating to calibration. Can't say enough about them as a US business standing behind their product and providing very high quality USA made products. I have four PI wrenches that have all been consistently exceptional.
 
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Notgrownup

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May 5, 2014
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Snow Hill NC
My few year old click 1/2” craftsman torque wrench also just died . Didn’t realize it only had a 1 year warranty so in the trash it went and I got a Quinn from HF. I mainly just use it to check my wheels … seems like it does fine. Gonna check it against a Matco or snap on soon that my SIL has. $69 with a lifetime warranty.
 
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jsaw

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Oct 11, 2008
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Geneva, N.Y.
I use My Precision split beam multiple times a day It cost $200 when I bought it. Even if the split beam cost more, it is worth it to Me to not have to back off the adjustment like You have to do with the micrometer adjustable style.
 
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Rockable

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Jan 6, 2019
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Oak Ridge, NC
When my 1/2" Digitork died, I snagged a nice Snap On Micrometer wrench on eBay. I also bought two Tekton 3/8 torque wrenches. I cannot say that I like the Snap On any better than the two Tektons. I'm pretty impressed with Tekton.
 
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PoorUB

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I bought a Proto 25-250 ftlb clicker in 1978. If finally was time to retire it. The adjust was beyound sticky, and dissassembly would require recalibration. I tied to get it apart and clen it up. but it refused to come apart. I think the threads on the adjustment were screwed up. I figured after 45 years it didn't owe my anything, so it got tossed into the scrap steel.

I shopped around, HF, Northern Tool, and a dozen places I have forgotten, then remembered CDI. I bought a 30-250 clicker from CDI. Nice wrench. $185
 
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cannuck

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As I had mentioned earlier in this thread, my 3/8 Repco 80 lb./ft split beam has served flawlessly for over a half century. That design is now (and I think was then as well) Warren & Brown. They make a full range of various types of torque wrenches, all done in house in Oz. IMHO by far the best mechanical torque tools available. Does anyone know if there is W&B distribution in North America??

(on edit) found Willmington Instruments now Global Test Supply. They seem to stock, but not exactly cheap!!!! In Canada ITM Instruments - who are also Fluke distributor - so once again you can guess at the pricing. Most of their torque wrenches are surprisingly Gearwrench - at premium pricing - and a bunch of Cementex ones that go deep into the thousands of dollars price range. No W&B stock as 3 week delivery. If I buy another W&B think I might just order it from Australia rather than pay the 49th parallel premium that screws us over for so many tools and supplies (i.e. an extra level of disribution that for W&B seems to be Oz to US, then market it up AGAIN to go USA to Cannuckistan.
 
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