Which torque wrench for a Gen 2

A run of the mill click torque wrench from harbor freight will do you once you start tightening and what not most of these bolts you won't need it once you figure out what a certain amount of torque feels like you notice bolts are given a range of torque things like that I have it torque wrench is probably not been out of the box and I don't know 15 years maybe 10 or 12 I might have used it to sock down some head bolts but that's it usually I use them on head bolts flywheel things like that most of the rest of the generic stuff no torque wrench at all spark plugs no torque wrench wheel studs and nuts no torque wrench

 

Nope never had nothing fall off or snapper to come destroyed from improper torque or holding so far imagine now that I'm getting old one of these days I'm going to have a wheel go rolling off a car that happened to me and my dad when I was like 7 years old Fiat 124 spider We were going left in the tire went right rolling down the road

 

I've ended up with three, a 1/4" drive (has range suitable for stuff like throttle body hold-down nuts/bolts, studs), a 3/8" drive (has range suitable for spark plugs, fill/drain bolts, oil filters, brake caliper bracket bolts), and a 1/2" drive (has range suitable for wheel lug nuts, suspension bolts/nuts).

Prime reason for having 3: they're more accurate near the middle of their range than at the extremes; you don't want to tightening throttle body hold-down nuts/bolts with the 1/2" drive torque wrench.

Also, you want to be on your toes when reading torque values: in the extremely low values (aforementioned throttle body hold-down nuts/bolts for example), auto manufacturers tend to switch to inch/pounds (instead of foot/pounds). To convert inch/pounds to foot/pounds you need to divide the value by 12. More than one poster has snapped the head of a small locator bolt, torquing it to a value 12 times too much. Too, these minor locator bolts are an instance where you really just need to use common sense, torquing to spec is overkill.

All of my torque wrenches were relatively cheap, $30~40 USD, made-in-China, micrometer style. Tekton seems a good name in Chinese-made. The 1/2" drive I got decades back, the 3/8" in the last decade, and the 1/4" quite recently. I've tested them recently and all were surprisingly accurate.

 

1/4" drive: 20 to 240 inch/pounds
3/8" drive: 5 to 80 foot/pounds
1/2" drive: 10 to 150 foot/pounds
(with the 1/2" drive, something like 30 to 200 would be preferable, in hindsight)

 

There are a few small bolts that require a very low torque value. That includes the ones on the modules in the HV battery. For those use a 1/4" torque wrench, usually with a range like 0 to 80 in-lbs. Be aware that the ones that look like this

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/performance-tool/performance-tool-1-4-inch-drive-torque-wrench/pfm0/m195?q=torque+wrench&pos=3

and are found at all the car parts chains are really junky. The beam tends to stay bent after a measurement. The "fix" is to bend it back so that the pointer is once again on zero. Better low torque tools tend to be pricey.

 

Tool tip: after use always back the torque down to lowest setting before putting the torque wrench away.

 

The harbor freight torque wrenches have served me well over the past three years for anywhere from tire rotation to brake jobs and more. The jobs I did required less than 100-120 lbs ft so I was ok with the cheap ones. I did test them out of curiosity with a a handheld weighing scale and they looked to be in the ballpark.
But for a recent wheel hub replacement project I needed 160lb-ft so I had to look for a new one.
I bit the bullet and bought an electronic torque adapter that's small, portable *and* accurate.
Might want to consider this:
1/2 in. Drive 25-250 ft. lb. Digital Torque Adapter

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Yes.

The reviews for that particular device note some performance problems. It is apparently quite touchy when bumped. It seems to be prone to breakage. Some note that it is a bit off on its torque measurement. Not sure how they determined that though, their other torque device might be the one which was off. A lot of HF tools are of dubious quality, and it is probably the case that if you were to spend more on one of these from a more quality conscious manufacturer these problems would not apply. (In my experience with posting HF reviews, a negative review will sometimes mysteriously fail to appear, and once it has been submitted, the site will not let you post another for that item. Is this "glitch" intentional? I think so, as it makes the reviews for their tools appear to be better on average than they actually are.)

Another usage issue, assuming the device works perfectly, it makes the "stack" above the nut/bolt head taller and there may not be enough clearance to put the whole assembly in place to use it.

I mostly see these plug on electronic torque devices used for calibrating torque wrenches, or in other torque related testing. For instance, Project Farm videos on youtube employ them frequently.

 

I have the 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" and 3/4" torque wrench all from Harbor Freight.

I seldom use the 3/8". The 1/2" is mostly the all around torque wrench for regular (or common) size nuts/bolts, 1/4" for smaller things and transmission valve bodies while the 3/4" (the largest) is mostly for torquing the cv axle nut (anything needing above 200+ ft/lbs)

This is my 2nd 1/2" torque wrench from Harbor Freight, 1st one broke and since it's lifetime warranty it got replaced with no questions asked.

 

you can take a look at their specs in harbor freight website. The 1/4" is usually in inch/lbs and the 3/4" usually go above 150 ft/lbs, I think the 1/2" is limited to 150 ft/lbs.

 

My Craftsman 1/2 inch torque wrench goes up to 145 ft-pound, but you would have to find one used as it is about 75 years old.

JeffD