Spent $60 on a decent torque wrench after stripping bolts for years

3 comments

3 Comments

$60 is a lot for a torque wrench. You probably overpaid for the brand name. Those cheap beam-style ones at the auto parts store work fine for most jobs and cost like $20. The click-type ones need to be calibrated every year or they drift off. That $60 one is probably already off by a few foot-pounds out of the box if it's a cheaper brand. You'd be better off with the old-fashioned beam style that never needs calibration and just shows you the actual torque as you tighten.

lucashenderson3d ago

Ngl, you're acting like torque specs are life or death when most people are just changing oil and lug nuts. A few foot pounds off isn't going to make your car explode.

cora8133d ago

On the calibration thing, I have to agree with casey268 to some degree. I've been using a cheap beam style torque wrench from Harbor Freight for like 5 years now and it's still reading dead on every time I check it against my buddy's fancy Snap-On. The click type ones are convenient but I've had two that were way off out of the box, maybe 5-10 foot pounds low. For oil changes and lug nuts the beam style is honestly fine, just takes a little more attention to read the needle right. I managed to get my oil pan bolt right at 18 foot pounds last time and it hasn't leaked a drop since.