Torque Wrench

Wig

I'm looking for a new torque wrench, the one I had was upto something like 110 - 120 Nm, and I never found any large torque I couldn't do with it.

So I'm looking at the ones in the autoexpress review and one thing I notice is that they nearly all go up to 210Nm and they are nearly all innaccurate at the lower scale. So the problem is if using it on a car the jobs will usually only take you up to 90 - 110 Nm with most use being under 70Nm

The Halfords ones are good in the review but
small is 20 - 60Nm £75
medium is 40 - 200Nm £75
Large is 60 - 300Nm £85
And I really don't think that range is good enough, the small one won't do the higher jobs (obviously) and the medium and large will be innacurate for the jobs around 40 - 90Nm.

I'm going to ignore all the ones on the review and go for one with a range of upto 110Nm or 120Nm, which is going to be more accurate across the range usually required on cars.

I still have a small one up to 15Nm
and a medium one up to 30Nm

And if I ever need 200Nm I'll consider getting the screwfix one for £22, because it's accurate at the top end and dirt cheap, but I doubt I will ever need it..

Basically the reason I wrote this post is to say the review is pretty useless considering it is aimed at the home mechanic ... they should have tested ones upto a max 110 - 120Nm

like this one
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Teng-3892ag-E3-Torque-Wrench-20-110nm/dp/B0001P0V8K
Although I'd prefer a 1/2"

TrickyWicky

Ignore the halfords ones. I have one here that caused me a lot of trouble - didn't click off and stripped out metal threads. Halfords denied all responsibility (though did let me fill in a complaints / concern form) and tried to exchange it (after costing me £Mega in helicoils etc). Just this fortnight I took back a ratchet spanner which had an open end that kept prizing apart on nuts. They quibbled about the 'life time warranty' and eventually changed it for a new one... putting the old one BACK ON THE SHELF IN THE GLASS CABINET to be RESOLD.

I wonder where else my certified torque wrench had been that didn't come in a sealed plastic wrapper ?

AVOID HALFORDS TORQUE WRENCHS AT ALL COST.

LincolnshireYokel

Halfords Tools are largely cheap rubbish anyway. My dad was an engineer (a real one, he built prototype gas turbines) and he wouldn't have touched them with a bargepole. He always bought tools from a reputable tool merchant.

vaio

One of the car mags has a group test of torque wrenches this month. Can't remember the mag or result (was in a waiting room) but a quick browse at your local WH Smiths should find it

Notmyrealname

LincolnshireYokel wrote: »

Halfords Tools are largely cheap rubbish anyway. My dad was an engineer (a real one, he built prototype gas turbines) and he wouldn't have touched them with a bargepole. He always bought tools from a reputable tool merchant.

Halfords Pro range are every bit as good as the Mac and Snap-On stuff I used to have.

londonTiger

Looking for a good torque wrench to do up the nuts and bolts on my vw golf to the correct spec.

Any recommendations. I've seen them start at around £20 and go as far as £100+

I'm trying to go as cheap as possible - without ending up with a micky mpuse wrench that isn't calibrated properly to accuratly apply the right torques.

Cheapest I found was this: http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_39220.htm

but it's not available in my local asda.

skivenov

To be fair, even the cheap ones tend to be pretty accurate, my cheap one looks like it's probably the Lidl one in a different box.

I had my two (one cheap, one not) checked against the control one at my mates work and they were about as good as each other.

They do lose accuracy over time, but the main thing is detension them when you're not using them, don't let them get knocked about or subjectted to vibration, ie don't leave it in the boot.

Unless you're planning on taking your crank pulley off, that should go high enough for anything on a Golf.

londonTiger

skivenov wrote: »

To be fair, even the cheap ones tend to be pretty accurate, my cheap one looks like it's probably the Lidl one in a different box.

I had my two (one cheap, one not) checked against the control one at my mates work and they were about as good as each other.

They do lose accuracy over time, but the main thing is detension them when you're not using them, don't let them get knocked about or subjectted to vibration, ie don't leave it in the boot.

Unless you're planning on taking your crank pulley off, that should go high enough for anything on a Golf.

thanks, how much did you pay for your lidl lookalike?

londonTiger

do you think these traditional torque wrenches will have better logevity?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-34487-2-Inch-Square-A-Type/dp/B0001K9T24/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1361144290&sr=8-6

skivenov

No idea. I got it from Screwfix ages ago, it was more than that one though.

lil.smartie

Check Halfords Pro range, they are very good & often on half price (or get a mate with a trade card to buy it!)

Kate