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Message started by Arizuno on 10/20/11 at 18:02:12

Title: Torque Wrench
Post by Arizuno on 10/20/11 at 18:02:12

My Clymer manual is on it's way & I'm gonna need a torque wrench. Looking at 1/2" drive Craftsman beam type, 0-150 ft/lbs., $26.99 on line/local pick-up. Any other suggestions, cautions, whatever?

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by Demin on 10/20/11 at 18:21:32

I would pay the difference and get a click type.Alot more accurate.

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by Boule’tard on 10/20/11 at 18:31:51

The 150 ft-lb wrenches are fine for larger torques but I'd get a different one for low torques. I think the rule of thumb is, don't trust the accuracy at the top and bottom 20% of the wrench's range. I bought the $40 clicker from Northern Tool and it is pretty good. But sure enough, it takes a little "exercise" to get it to behave consistently at low torques. So I bought a little 1/4" drive beamer for the light stuff.

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by Howitzer on 10/20/11 at 18:32:59

Clicker types can theoretically lose their accuracy over time. I think in practice this doesn't happen much more than a few %.

I do know that with clickers, you just turn until you here the click. In contrast, beam type wrenches require you to stand directly above the gauge; you can't stand to the side, otherwise you'll get an inaccurate reading. To me, a clicker is more convenient.

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by Oldfeller on 10/20/11 at 18:44:16

I would have to disagree on that point.

Ran QC calibration labs that calibrated both, clickers only went 1-2 years before requiring internal tweeking to get back to low and top range spec, often they would do one but not the other and were scrapped or re-spec'd to the zone they actually functioned well in.

(mostly they got scrapped if they were plant owned tools, the personal tools only folks got all funny about their$200 Snap On or Proto clicker wrench that wouldn't calibrate any more and we would re-spec them for them to be used only in the zone they were reliable to use if it was reasonable to do so. Or we told them to take them home, they could not come back into the shop as they were junk/nuts/useless for the range the set up man actually worked in)

Deflecting beam units remained relatively consistent and faithful unless taken way out of range (damaged) but you had to buy one that was aimed at the range you were working in for the application you were doing to get enough graduations to pass a GR&R study.

0-150 foot pounds is a bit silly for fine work -- way too broad. Get a 0-50 and a 50-100 ft pound unit and use the one that best fits what you are trying to do.

One sterling use of a broad range 0-150 beam type is detecting issues with fastener pull up (bolt stretching) on LARGE bolts. If you get a lot of bolts that stretches before hitting torque, or one that will not maintain spec torque after a half hour at rest, you can determine that with a beam unit much quicker/clearer than with a clicker unit.

Personal preference for my pocketbook is a beam unit because you can see the torque build up and you know you are almost there.

A clicker leaves you blind, and ---- was that the click? mebbe not, a little more and we'll see, nope, a little more ..... nope .....

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by Gyrobob on 10/20/11 at 21:01:07

5F7C7476757C7C7562100 wrote:

Very enlightening. Never knew about the tolerance drift on clickers. How much does it actually drift?

I have a 1/2" drive beam torque wrench, and a couple of different sizes of clickers. I haven't used the beam for years. I think I'll dust it off, wipe it down, and get reacquainted.

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by RidgeRunner13 on 10/20/11 at 21:03:39

Clicker types retain their accuracy much longer if you do not leave them on a setting & back them off each time before storing. I have an old beam type I use to check accuracy of clickers occasionaly by rechecking recently torqued bolts. 8-)

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by Fish on 10/20/11 at 21:55:54

I just recently bought a Craftsman 3/8" drive beam type with a 0-75ft lb range. For $25 it fit my budget.

Pretty good range for what the Savage would need, eh?
I do agree a smaller range would be nice for things like the headcover bolts and engine case allen bolts.

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by Howitzer on 10/20/11 at 22:34:05

Thanks for clearing up the reliability of the clicker torque wrenches. I'm always a bit nervous when using mine anyways, since I never tested it after buying it.

I think buying an inch-pound torque wrench is also a good idea. The crank case bolts are especially easy to shear off, since there's usually oil around the threads. In this situation, lower torque should be applied.

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by Gyrobob on 10/21/11 at 06:17:33

My brother in law pulled the cylinder hold down bolts right out of the case of his Hodaka Ace 90 years ago. He told me he was using a torque wrench and was very careful about setting it to the recommended setting, 90 ft-lbs. I said that sounded a little high. He showed me the manual. I'll bet you know what the manual actually said, eh?

::)

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by RidgeRunner13 on 10/21/11 at 06:44:25

When I was seventeen I worked for a dealer who was just getting started. He had Yamahas & Bonanza mini-bikes. Some of the Bonanza mini- bikes had Hodaka engines & were scary fast. The chopper style one they had was fun to ride wheelies on. One interesting thing, if there was any kind of problems with the Hodaka engines, they just sent us a complete new engine. I borrowed an Ace 90 frame from a friend who had just moved up to a Yamaha 250 dirt bike & built an engine for it from the 'bad' engines. Had a lot of fun until I started beating a kid whos' dad bought a 125 from us, suddenly we had to return all those warranty engines. I quit a couple of months later for a better job (turned 18).

That job paid off when I turned 20 & wanted a RD350. Owner sold me one for $847. List back then was $1299 & they were in such demand he didn't have to discount them at all, couldn't keep them on the floor. Two crates (4 bikes) wouldn't last a month. 8-)

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by drums1 on 10/21/11 at 16:44:37

I had bought a small clicker type torque wrench (3/8 0-50 I believe) from harbor freight for doing the side cover when I installed the verslavy. As I was torqueing them down, it kept turning and turning and.....snap. Stupid thing never did click, or it was so subtle, I never heard or felt it. Got my $$ back.

Then, when I worked at a Tires Plus, (Bridgestone/Firestone owned) they had a shop rule--every single lug nut got torqued. And checked by a second person. Shop had preset wrenches (different colored) Every now and then, one would just quit working. I wonder to this day if any of them was ever right. (They went through an ungodly amount of cars)

And don't even get me started on torque sticks.........(useless junk)

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by bill67 on 10/21/11 at 17:22:17

Did you know a lot of the battery drills which have adjustable pressure are torque wrenches.

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by Arizuno on 10/21/11 at 17:49:11

I like Fish's idea, partly because I suspect one can reasonably "guestimate" really light torques (go light), partly because whatever I get isn't going to get used all that often. OF? Anybody?

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by verslagen1 on 10/21/11 at 18:20:02

get your self a fish scale
measure the length of the wrench you need to use from the center of the bolt to where you can pull on it with the fish scale.
take the torque value and divide it by the length of the wrench

25 ft.lbs / (8 inches /12 inches per foot) = 37.5 lbs

90 in.lbs / 6.5 inches = 13.85 lbs

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by Arizuno on 10/21/11 at 18:37:01

Verslagen1, thanks to the tightwad in me, if I had half your brainpower you could be my new best friend. As things stand, however, my relationship with math is not unlike my relationship with electricity. I better stick with a dedicated tool. But thanks.

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by Gyrobob on 10/21/11 at 19:16:40

Even though I was not enlightened about clickers like I am now, I picked up a technique from a fellow out at the airport that used clickers.

He would always torque things down at about 1/2 value first, then do it again at full torque. Now that I think about it, this technique might give you a warning if a clicker was way out of tolerance,.. like clicking with almost no torque, or the opposite - no click.

Since I still have my Craftsman beam torque wrench I bought many years ago, I think I'll go out to the workshop and do some test torquing -- comparing my two clickers to the beam. Crude, maybe, but it might show if one of the clickers was grossly out of tolerance, anyway.

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by verslagen1 on 10/21/11 at 19:21:54

6152495A554E4F200 wrote:

Only buy wrenches that are 1 foot long, then torque = pounds 8-)
of course you'll also need a set 1 inch long. ;D

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by Boule’tard on 10/21/11 at 19:28:15

5E4D5A5B44494F4D4619280 wrote:

of course you'll also need a set 1 inch long. ;D

Naw, just drill a hole through your wrench one inch from the socket and hook your fish scale through that. Then you have both a high and low range tool without spending any more money. ;D

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by Gyrobob on 10/22/11 at 07:17:03

3F32283138293C2F395D0 wrote:

[quote author=5E4D5A5B44494F4D4619280 link=1319158932/15#17 date=1319250114]
of course you'll also need a set 1 inch long. ;D

Naw, just drill a hole through your wrench one inch from the socket and hook your fish scale through that. Then you have both a high and low range tool without spending any more money. ;D [/quote]

Have you ever tried to drill a hole through a Craftsman or Snap-on wrench? You'll have to buy some extra-special drill bits.

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by bill67 on 10/22/11 at 07:51:28

My crescent has a hole in it,No need to drill ;D

Title: Re: Torque Wrench
Post by built2last66 on 10/22/11 at 11:58:18

Using a torque wrench for the first time the other day (Craftsman Microtork Torque Wrench, 150 ft/lbs borrowed from the neighboor) I'd have to say that the clicker is easy for noobs.

Click on, click off.