Best Torque Wrench??

[Restless]

Did a search on the site but obviously due to the recent crash, I wasn't able to find much. 

I'm slowly building an inventory of "quality" tools for the bike and I'm looking for a good torque wrench.  I've been doing a lot of research on this lately and I've looked at Sears (read some pretty negative reviews on Craftsman torque wrenches as of late) and Snap-On (CDI is also a Snap-On brand but less expensive) , and recently the C2 Split Beam torque wrench by Precision Instruments.

I also realize that there may be a couple of different wrenches required (i.e. inch # and Ft #) to handle all the torque ranges for the C14 so, that being said, what torque wrench do you guys own and which would you buy today if you didn't have one?

Thanks....   

[ManWorkinghere]

I have a Craftsman mini-torque 3/8" wrench that works on everything I need except the axles.  I can torque down the good stuff just fine with the Craftsman. 

Might get a bigger one at a rummage sale or somewhere just to have...

[gflint]

Back when I was a professional mechanic (OSSA was a popular brand then) I tested my fancy, high dollar SnapOn torque wrench against one of those cheesy long pointer, flex bar type torque wrenches.  The SnapOn dealer had a nifty torque wrench calibration box.  The cheesy needle type was just as accurate as the expensive SnapOn.  He was not too happy about the results.  I still have both.  I have to get the SnapOn re-calibrated every now and then.  The cheese is always ready to go.  The SnapOn does have a cool box.

[Tactical_Mik]

I don't have any scientific data to back up my following statement(s) but here goes.  I use torque wrenches in the middleish of their range and have never had a bolt fall out.  Does this mean it is better than another?  I don't know.  Am I operating under a completely wrong assumption?  Probably but it has worked for me so far.  I have expensive tools and cheap tools, both offer the same performance to me.  Again, I might be way off base.  Such is life.

[manowarwi]

I have an el cheapo from Harbor Freight:
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-8-eighth-inch-drive-click-stop-torque-wrench-807.html

I think I bought it on sale for $9.99.  I was also curious about its accuracy so I did some "unofficial" testing compared to a friends pricey one, going back and forth between the two on various bolts and they both always seemed to line up pretty darn close. 

I think generally using any brand torque wrench is better than using nothing which I'm pretty sure 90% of people do since just about every bolt on every car / bike has a torque setting yet I hardly ever see them in people's tool kit.

[JetJock]

Craftsman beam style that I've used for a few (many) decades.

I've had my eye on one of the digital readout versions, but it would be purely a luxury . . . and would cut into the monthly beer budget too much.

[mikeboileau]

Beams are hard to read under stress.  I like a clicker.

[OregonLAN]

Anything that is critical, I use a Craftsman clicker. Anything that is not, I use the GNT scale.

[riverbound51]

+ 1 on the Craftsman. 

[Pokey]

Harbor Freight

[riverbound51]

Harbor Freight

I like Harbor Freight, but they have been hit and miss with me, in their quality.  Some things have worked really well, while others have literally fallen apart the first time I used them.  I love going to their stores and looking and playing with everything, I am just cautious about what I will buy from them.  Nice to know that their wrenches can hold up.  I may have to take a second look at their stuff.

[manowarwi]

I like Harbor Freight, but they have been hit and miss with me, in their quality.  Some things have worked really well, while others have literally fallen apart the first time I used them.  I love going to their stores and looking and playing with everything, I am just cautious about what I will buy from them.  Nice to know that their wrenches can hold up.  I may have to take a second look at their stuff.

As posted earlier I bought mine from Harbor Freight as well, but as you pointed out, you must be very careful with stuff from there.  The first thing I did when I bought the torque wrench there was read the manual (you have to run it totally through its adjustment area to lube it - a common issue with them not clicking) and then tested it with a friends more expensive wrench.  I do like going there for stuff I don't use too often like allen and torx head sockets, although my main set of sockets and wrenches are all craftsman.

[Kazairl]

Craftsman and Harbor Freight are the 2 top picks? That's scary.

  CDI makes all of Snap-Ons Torque wrenchs as well as Armstrong and Precision Instruments. So something like this would be a pretty good deal.

  http://www.tooltopia.com/precision-instruments-c3fr250f.aspx

  At work we have our Torquing tools checked every year and every tech I've talked to says pretty much the same. This little excerpt is from another forum.

I used to calibrate torque wrenches for a living... everything from cheap clickers to $10k+ hydraulic heads.

Craftsman are junk... as are Husky, etc. They're the same cheap chinese wrenches. Proto are decent.

The best bang for your buck is CDI... that's the company that Snap-On bought because they wanted more control over their torque wrenches (CDI has made Snap-On's torque wrenches forever)

Armstrong are also CDI wrenches

the cheap/crappy wrenches are actually pretty accurate when they're new, and if you store them indoors and don't use them often, they'll stay fairly accurate.

Two keys to clicker wrenches... 1. store them at ~20% of their max torque... DO NOT back them off to zero and certainly don't back them off below zero!!!!!!!!!!! 2. clickers, especially your cheaper wrenches, will be more accurate if you warm them up 5-10 times at 1/2-3/4 your max torque value...

If you've got a craftsman style that the ring has backed off/slipped or a proto that the bottom has come off of, or damn near any clicker that has lost its indication, THROW IT AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A cheap wrench isn't worth the cost of calibration... you can get a new one for about the cost of a calibration. A high end wrench is worth having recalibrated.

The Snap-On digital wrenches pretty much lose adjustment... I never came across one that was out of cal... But I don't like the way they don't break over when they hit their torque level.

if you've got any questions, hit me up, like I said, I used to make a living doing this stuff... I've done Snap-On (CDI) factory training and seen all kinds of stuff in the field

oh, Blue Point is a cheap way to get CDI/Snap-On also... cracks me up when people overpay for Snap-On... I've been to the factory, there are like 10 brands built at that factory, and they're all exactly the same wrenches with different colors/labels.

The Snap-On's have different ratchet heads (that aren't any better, just more expensive and say "Snap-On"

hint for you Snap-On owners... Snap-On does not warranty ratchet heads on torque wrenches. If you hose a ratchet kit, just swap the guts into a socket wrench and have the Snap-On guy warranty it for ya 

[JetJock]

Beams are hard to read under stress.  I like a clicker.

So have a couple beers first to relieve the stress . . . Man, I have to explain EVERYTHING around here First the guy asking about cats in his muffler and now this.

[JetJock]

Craftsman and Harbor Freight are the 2 top picks? That's scary.

  CDI makes all of Snap-Ons Torque wrenchs as well as Armstrong and Precision Instruments. So something like this would be a pretty good deal.

  http://www.tooltopia.com/precision-instruments-c3fr250f.aspx

  At work we have our Torquing tools checked every year and every tech I've talked to says pretty much the same. This little excerpt is from another forum.

On Craftsman, I'd say my beam style is as accurate as I need for working on motorcycles. It was also made at least 30 years ago in the USA and I very much doubt that it's at all comparable to the current Craftsman model made in China. I used to only buy Craftsman tools, but as the quality went down (blame KMart for starters), I started to stray.

[OregonLAN]

I recommended Craftsman because it's relatively cheap and readily available in most areas, not because it's the best or most accurate for the job. I have a collection of both expensive (Snapon, Mac, S&K) and inexpensive (Harbor Freight, Cobolt, Husky, Stanley, Craftsman) tools. To be completely honest, most hand tools have a lifetime replacement warranty anymore and some of my expensive tools have wore out just as fast as the inexpensive ones, so YMMV.

[h2smokin]

I have 3 craftsmans myself, smakk one for inch# and another for ft # both 3/8 and then a big 1/2 inch drive for axles and such but use it mostly for working on the 1 ton dodge no problems yet

[ernie4110]

We bought 20 torque wrenches from Harbor Freight last year for a product recall to send to our distributors. We checked the accuracy against our torque wrenches that get calibrated every three months and the Harbor Freight wrenches averaged 7-8 foot pounds less at mid-range.
If you want accuracy try something else. But for $15.00 it was cheap and so-so accurate.

Ernie

[Kazairl]

I have 3 craftsmans myself, smakk one for inch# and another for ft # both 3/8 and then a big 1/2 inch drive for axles and such but use it mostly for working on the 1 ton dodge no problems yet

 About the only thing a 1/2" torque wrench won't do on a Dodge is torque the Pinion nut. On a Dana 80 it torques to about 450 .ft-.lbs.

  I would agree that the older craftsman are quality tools. The ones today? Not so much. Besides, the title is "Best Torque Wrench". While there are different definitions of "best", "cheap and works so-so" does not qualify as "best" in my book.

[B.D.F.]

For what it is worth, the cheesy needle- pointer, beam bending torque wrenches work directly on physics, which is pretty hard to out smart. The bending of a piece of a known type of steel is easily predicted and very repeatable. So for all the torque wrenches that really do talk to you, take batteries and use sophisticated Wheatstone bridges with a strain gauge on board, the simple act of bending a stick of any homogeneous, crystalline material will work extremely well as a gauge.

Of course if the electronic version was to come with a remote authentication system, then I am sure it would be much, much better.

Brian

Back when I was a professional mechanic (OSSA was a popular brand then) I tested my fancy, high dollar SnapOn torque wrench against one of those cheesy long pointer, flex bar type torque wrenches.  The SnapOn dealer had a nifty torque wrench calibration box.  The cheesy needle type was just as accurate as the expensive SnapOn.  He was not too happy about the results.  I still have both.  I have to get the SnapOn re-calibrated every now and then.  The cheese is always ready to go.  The SnapOn does have a cool box.