I'm in the market for a decent torque wrench now, in order to continue doing mods myself. Anyone know which one is the most accurate/afforadable/dependable?

 

Run to Sears and check out the Craftsman Digitork, I have had mine for 10 years, its awesome.

 

+1...

 

what they said

 

Agreed.

 

And if that's not in your budget, the Craftsman 'Beam Type' wrench is my choice. The click type wrenches are fancy, but I feel much more comfortable with the beam type because you can see the torque being applied and don't have to worry about missing the 'click'. Trust me, it's a horrible feeling when you hear the 'click' and it's not the wrench, but a busted bolt in your (motor's) head.

 

I use low torque (in. lb.) wrenches at work all the time and prefer the click type.
If you are used to them they are more accurate and will never break a bolt (unless the bolt was defective anyway).
Sears does have a less expensive "microtork" which I have for 1/2" drive applications (with the higher torques precision is less critical, still a good wrench though).

 

Guys ,
What is your opinion on the microtork craftsman torque wrench? thanks

 

I agree. Clicker torque wrenches are fancy but they are less durable, and break and lose accuracy more easily than a beam type (just drop it on the garage floor). Beam torque wrenches are more rugged and to calibrate them you just push the pointer till it lines up with the zero mark before use.

 

Thanks for all the info.

 

You'd be surprised at how tough a clicker type wrench is. Where I work, we use a wrench produced by Central Tools and it routinely goes 20 to 25,000 cycles before needing to be recailibrated, and this is with several drops and bangs on the wrench between calibration.

 

We have an entire staff of people where I work just to calibrate equipment.
They would agree with you.

 

The professional grade torque wrenches like SnapOn, Mac, Central Tools, etc must be a lot better than Craftsman (like I had and broke) and Harbor Freight, but then they are lot more expensive too. For a professional that uses a torque wrench everyday, ~$200 or more for a torque wrench isn't bad, but for a hobbyist that only uses a torque wrench a few times per year? I guess you get what you pay for though...