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Spent $60 on a decent torque wrench after stripping bolts for years
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casey2681mo ago
$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.
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lucashenderson1mo 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.
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cora8131mo 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.
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