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1/4” Torque Wrench Suggestions

Rickkyyr8

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Oct 31, 2021
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163
Not trying to brake the bank for one but what’s a solid purchase? Preferably one with a digital reading but open to suggestions without one too
 
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cgrutt

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Mar 4, 2016
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8,349
I recently bought the Pittsburgh (HF) clicker. It was ridiculously priced I think something like $12 after coupon. It had surprisingly good reviews and used it on my transmission pan it worked good. Tested it against my 3/8 snap on dial wrench and it seemed to be in spec. I had a 1/4 snap on dial type with a screwdriver handle. It was a great tool but very expensive (want to say $400 but don't recall exactly). Sold that one a few years ago when I needed cash...
 

Fedwrench

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Dec 9, 2007
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Valley of the sun


Neither one of these are cheap but, they're quite good.

I would also recommend NOS Armstrong and older Gearwrench models that were made in the USA back in the day.
 

qqzj

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Nov 28, 2017
Messages
3,747
I have a gear wrench tw that have interchangeable heads. Can be used with open wrenches or flare nut heads or whatever. Not essential, but pretty cool
 

MarcSeattle

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Mar 25, 2010
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575
Location
Seattle
Hazet is an easy choice. I sold my Snap-on and bought a Hazet. And there is a trick to get one for less than Gearwrench.

I like the Hazet torque wrenches for various benefits. They have an easy-to-read to scale. The wrench is very accurate, but more important, they have a new engineering design that is accurate over the entire range. Each one comes with a signed calibration certificate with that wrench's numbers. They also don't have to be reset to zero after use (I do it anyway).

They are crazy expensive but oddly they are available at reasonable prices from Amazon.de (Germany). Try the other Amazon sites in Europe like England or Belgium or Italy because the prices vary. I don't know why Amazon does this but I'll take any loophole I can find.

Example: Hazet 5108-2CT (2.5 - 25Nm) has an msrp of around $500. KC Tool has it for $330, Amazon US has it for the excellent deal of $185, but get this: go to Amazon.de and it's €145 (US$130) currently. Note on Euro prices: you will get 20% off because we don't have to pay VAT, but then add 10% for the conversion to dollars. Also note that the prices jump around, what is $130 today may be $120 next week and $180 the week after.

The only negative to ordering from Germany is that once you see the prices on other German tools it's like going to Costco and coming out with a big cart full of stuff.
 

KnurledNut

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Jan 28, 2011
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n/a
Never heard of this company before, https://www.srtorque.com/ but they are made in the USA and found a used one on ebay for $30. Feels solid and precise.


^^^^ That's top of the line stuff. They have been in business for many decades.
Sturtevant Richmont was acquired by Snap-on in 2016.
Their flat-beam deflecting torque wrenches are likely the most rugged in the industry.
https://www.srtorque.com/error-proo...enches/flat-and-tapered-beam-torque-wrenches/
 
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boom_bap

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Feb 29, 2020
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614
Location
Idaho
CDI 1/4 is pretty nice, around $130 not cheap not crazy either though.

When it comes to 1/4 inch, IMO, spend extra and get a good one. The small stuff, if over torqued and stripped, is a disaster to fix, compared to larger 3/8 or 1/2 stuff.
 

visionguru

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Jan 2, 2017
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1,233
Location
Chicago
Not trying to brake the bank for one but what’s a solid purchase? Preferably one with a digital reading but open to suggestions without one too
You definitely want digital in 1/4". Because it's mostly used on 10mm-ish bolts on the engine, quite easy to snap or torqued unevenly.

If I didn't alreay have Snap On 1/4" Techangle, I'd consider GearWrench 1/4" 120xp flex head:

or plenty of sub-$100 bike related TWs, such as

 

finn

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Mar 27, 2005
Messages
16,328
Location
The UP, God's country
Mine is a SnapOn with the dial. I pretty much just use it to measure rotating torque when doing rear end gear changes.

Probably overkill, though, for how much I use it.
 

Kuma601

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Joined
Dec 24, 2020
Messages
960
Location
Cali
I have a CDI 1501MFMH. I use it for the bicycles and lower torque fasteners on the car: valve cover bolts, water pump, etc. My buddies have the $$ ones but I'm not in their game to pay that much so their suggestion was the CDI line. If you are using it regularly for critical-delicate fasteners, I would consider spending up for something relative to the piece being worked on. I've not worried about the times I'm torquing for carbon fiber parts. These are pretty low values well within the range of where the wrench will perform well at. Some of the torque screwdrivers might be appropriate as well.
 

ronkz650

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Joined
Oct 29, 2022
Messages
221
Location
Denver, CO
CDI works good, but only goes to 150in/lb, so 12ft/lb or so is your limit. I found many times I like to use a 1/4" up to 20ft/lb. I would spend the money for the new Snap-on Techangle atech1fs300 if it was me. Gives you the range of anything up to 300in/lb in a nice and compact steel electronic tool. However, it's $599.00. I always weigh tool purchases on money over time. Say it lasts you 15yrs, that's like $40 a year or just over a dime a day. I like nice tools that work.
 

wjjeep

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Joined
Nov 3, 2021
Messages
51
I mostly use Tekton TRQ21101 (10-150 in.-lb.) Comes with a nice shell type case.
 
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