The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Torque Wrench

I need to buy a torque wrench for my restoration project. I want a good one, no Chinese or Taiwanese crap.

Recommendations, advice, comments???

Thanks.

Last place I worked at, for QS9000, had all the torque wrenches in the lab calibrated/certified. The well-used Snap-on wrenches (click type) were out but correctable. 2 brand new click-type Craftsman were so far out of whack that they couldn't correct them. They noted in the report that they weren't just inaccurate but imprecise - never gave the same result twice.
The results were surprising. If you are going to depend on that wrench, get a good one and have it checked annually (not that I do ).
I don't recall the name of the outfit that did our calibrations, but a quick search turned up
http://www.teamtorque.com/

Your local Snap-On tool dealer can have your"Quality made " torque wrench recalibrated.May need to send off though.

I got old Snapon....new Snapon all kindsa Snapon
torque wrenches NOTHING ELSE HAS WORKED or I WOULD HAVE STEPPED UP!!

When I was in high school, my friend and mechanical mentor explained to me how to remove the 235 head on my '54. I went home, pulled the head, had the work done on it and when I was ready to torque it back down I went back to my friend to borrow a torque wrench. He didn't have one and never did. I asked him how he'd do it and he said, just tighten 'em in the right order a little at a time and the bolts will tell when they've had enough. He said they'll "squeak" when they're done. He opened that shop in 1919 and worked there until 1996. He built a portable boring bar to bore out cylinders with the engine still in the car/truck, was proficient at his lathe, so I guess I don't need a torque wrench either. Jacques

Praise to the Almighty Swampcat,,,,torquemaster Extrordinaire!

the best one i've found is by a company called "cornwell". use one in the service years ago. almost never needed recalibration.

He built a portable boring bar to bore out cylinders with the engine still in the car/truck, was proficient at his lathe, so I guess I don't need a torque wrench either. Jacques

Jaques, you say HE was proficient, but the question you need to ask yourself is: "Is Jaques proficient?"

...enough so that I did it on a '54, 235 and one on a '55, 2nd series and ran 'em both for a few years after with no problems!

You should be able to locate a tool business that will calibrate your torque wrench for you. Look for a business that sells to machine shops. You could also talk to a business that uses torque wrenches, calipers or mikes to find out who they use. If you can afford them, avoid the junk. Check your local pawn shops, with the economy down you can find some good deals.