Argos torque wrench problem.

muddyl

Any one bought the torque wrenches from argos?
I bought two, but think I have a problem. Used torque wrenches before, but not sure if i'm missing something with these. Put it to a low setting, just to test, then did my car wheels. But when tightening, even on a low setting it wouldn't "click". Got to the point where I didn't feel safe to go tighter. Now I usually go pretty tight anyway (bought this as a couple of mechanic friends are always on my back for over tightening stuff) but this seemed silly tight, and still no click.

Anyone had problems with these? Just seems strange that both brand new one's seem the same.

SteveJH200

I'm sure you mean the Challenge ones?? Whilst not the best quality in the world, it should work. Why not borrow another one from elsewhere and set it to the desired torque and then compare the two. If the Challenge wrench doesn't measure up then take it back. In the 22 years that I was a mechanic I never once used a torque wrench on wheel nuts - we just knew how tight they should be if that makes any sense.

muddyl

Thanks for that, i'll try comparing it to another. I never normally use them on wheels, it was just the only thing I could think of that didn't involve crawling about in the snow at the time.

droopsnoot

Are you using it in the right direction?

On most torque wrenches that work by releasing the drive when you reach the specified torque (I haven't looked at this specific one) you'll find an arrow on the handle. This is the direction in which the torque release operates - i.e. if you're pulling the torque wrench handle in that direction to tighten the bolt up, it will release when it reaches the specified torque setting. If you're pulling in the opposite direction to the arrow, it will act just like a breaker bar and never release, allowing you to apply far more torque than you wanted.