One of the many surprises in learning how to work on my car, has been the need for
"smaller" instead of "larger" for so much of the engine repair & maintenance. With a few exceptions, 10mm or 8mm suffice.

I have 2 torque wrenches; one is 1/2". the other 3/8". Both are larger than my breaker bar. Too long & heavy for most engine work.

I'm inclined to think a1/4" ratchet type is what I'm after. I'm in the process of doing cam cover gaskets, etc. Do you have a favorite? Please let me know.

Part of me thinks that I have a pretty good touch and can go by feel. However, I will defer to the makers of the car and torque accordingly.

Thanks for your help,

Steve S.

 

Hi Steve,

I have all three torque wrenches, a 1/2", an 3/8" and a 1/4", and yes, it makes sense to have all of them because only in this way you can cover all torque values needefd for the car.

Tor torque wrenches, always aim for quality.

One of my 1/2" torque wrenches comes from Hazet, which is one of the to tool companies here in Germany with prices to match.

Most of my tools, including the other torque wrenches I have, come from a company called Proxxon, and they also sell in the US.
In my opinion, they have a good quality for reasonable pricing, and I am quite satisfied with them.

Best regards,

Thomas

 

This is what I have for 1/4" drive torque wrench:
Yes, it is cheap chineese tool, but I do not rely on it to make a living. I use it seldome, like all my tools. Together with common sense, I feel comfortable using it.
Yes, I do subscribe to a concept "...if you do not know it, it will not hurt you..."
c'est la vie

 

Hi Steve,

One very important thing to keep in mind is that, according to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), a torque wrench is considered sufficiently accurate if its tolerance is +/- 4% or less, and the SAE further states that no torque wrench should be considered sufficiently accurate in the lower 20% of its range. So a typical 3/8" drive 0 - 75 ft. lb. / 100 Nm torque wrench should not be considered sufficiently accurate between 0 and 15 ft. lbs. / 20 Nm.

So you are absolutely correct that you need an inch-pound range torque wrench for things like intake manifolds, throttle bodies, cam covers, oil pans, etc., and inch-pound torque wrenches are usually 1/4-in. drive.

These days, most 1/4-in. drive torque wrenches are probably "accurate enough." A friend of mine buys almost all of his tools from Harbor Freight, and one day we compared his new 3/8-in. HF click-style torque wrench with my $650 digital Snap On 3/8-in. wrench, and the HF was surprisingly close at torque measurements near the middle of its range.

The engineers have good reasons for specifying fastener torque, so it's never a good idea to guess by feel. This is especially important for a cam cover or oil pan that has multiple screws that need to be tightened evenly to reduce the risk of future leaks, or a plastic intake manifold with screws being tightened into metal threaded inserts molded into the plastic, or even directly into the plastic with no metal insert.

For those who want excellent professional accuracy and repeatability at a slightly lower-side-of-professional price, I recommend the CDI click-style torque wrenches. For years, CDI has manufactured the Snap On click torque wrenches, and is now owned by Snap On. But if you buy the CDI brand, you pay less than the Snap On price:






This wrench is also available in the 10-50 in. lb. range. I have both of these and relied on them before I upgraded to digital Snap Ons in the 3/8-in. and 1/4-in. size (retail on the 1/4-in. was $850, but I bought a lightly-used one and sent it in to have the calibration checked). I also have a 0-150 in. lb. Snap On dial type wrench that is accurate to 0.5%. All of these are obviously massive overkill for most do-it-yourself owners and occasional users. Any decent-quality 1/4" inch-pound range torque wrench that has not been abused or stored incorrectly should get you in the ballpark.

Another thing to remember is that click-style torque wrenches should be set back to zero after use to extend the life and accuracy of the springs.

Cheers,

Don

 

@Don I believe you're reffering to setting torque to lowest possible or even lower than that, Just relieve spring from any compression, as oppose to other meaning of "zeroing": calibrating.
+1 On Don's recomendation

 

I went with a cheepy, but it has good reviews & it will be here this afternoon:


Thanks for the help,

Steve S.

 

Just delivered in only a few hours after ordered! This is one of the most beautiful tools! If it works as well as it looks and feels...
Range Nm 1.1 - 16.9; increments 0.113 Nm
Accuracy CW +/-4%; Accuracy CCW +/-6%
Ratchet 72 Tooth Gear

I think this is in sync with most of the important variables.

Thanks again for the help!

 

Its funny you mention Harbor Fright. My nephew has worked for a decade at a company that specializes in doing "calibrations" of all sorts of gauges and tools. He was telling me they actually have customers who buy HF clicker torque wrenches practically by the pallet and bring them in to be tested. The ones that pass are put into service. He said that maybe only two or three out of a hundred might be too far out of spec. They've been really impressed. But the strategy in some industries where they can't count on their employees to treat their issued tools with kid gloves, its cheaper to buy a whole bunch of HF ones and have them tested than to buy one Snap-On, have it dropped and interrupt work while its sent in to be tested/re-calibrated. Drop a HF one, just toss it in the trash, grab a new one out of the bin and keep working.

I have three Tekton 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 drive, clicker types that I got off Amazon that cover most of the range I've needed for automotive stuff, like 20 inch/lbs to 250 foot/lbs. Also have a couple of old Sears Craftsman beam style that I've had since I was a teenager, but I don't use those much anymore because of the inconvenience of having to get my eyes on the scale just right. Its one thing to use the beam type for cylinder heads on an engine stand, but not so much for a suspension bolt upside down under the car. That's where the clicker shines. Also have a little 1/4 drive beam from I think KD Tools that is very sensitive and light, like 0 to 40 inch/lbs, which I've used for plastic covers that need to seal without breaking but I bought it for setting bearing preloads. So indeed, the smaller, lighter ranges do come in quite handy. My motto is a man can never have too many tools.

 

Wow, Pdupler, what sage advice; thank you! I'm beginning to agree with your last statement since hardly a day goes by that at least one tool doesn’t find its way into my garage.

We have a 5,000 sf house & only a 2 car garage. My wife says that if I don't stop, we'll need a 5,000 sf garage & a 2 car house!

 

Another vote for HF Torque Wrenches. Look at the video's they are just as accurate as the more expensive brands. I have a CDI TW. They make TW's for Snap-On and are considered top of the line. The price also reflects that.
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