I just picked up the 1/2" version of the digitork unit from Craftsman. I got the 3/8" last year. I've had a few instances where the 3/8" ran out of measurement...

 

i've heard some things about those digitork wrenches, like the handles breaking. i used to always want a craftsman wrench until i started working in the rental biz...all we use at work are proto, and we rent the same tools we work in the shop with.

i'm even thinking about splurging and replacing my craftsman ratchets with proto ones.

 

I haven't heard of these problems. Not sure how this could break unless the wrench was dropped - which is a nono for torque wrenches anyway.

 

It depends. Working on a something that is either TTY, like head bolts, or made from aluminum, i use the torque wrench. If its a steel part, like steel rims, valve cover's, oil pan, stuff like that, i just crank on it, uless of course it has a specific spec.. Its how ive always done it.

 

from what i've heard, something breaks and lets the handle spin and you lose your torque setting. only hearsay from the pbb though, so who knows how accurate.

i think the most important thing is getting one that a shop can calibrate!

 

makes you wonder how strong factory head bolts are. ARP studs are supposed to always be lubed. if you use their moly antisieze assembly lube, it says 80lbs. if you use 30w, i think 125lbs! that's a pretty significant difference, just between lube!

 

I have a selection of torque wrenches. It is very important to select the proper wrench to pound in the correct screw...

 

 

only hand tools are garanteed for life. i saw that in the back of my craftsman catalog. last time i was in sears i saw a air rachet that proudly had JAPAN stamped on its side :cry:

 

protos are still made? i dont even know who makes proto. someone told me its stanley but im not sure. Got my breaker bar at a garage sale, its a proto.

 

if you torque it and it breaks you needed a new one anyways.
touchy-feely works for most bolts, usually 2 grunts and a fart is plenty tight.
snap-on recommends that their 'click type' be calibrated annually and be reset to zero when not in use. i prefer my bar type from craftsman which doubles as a breaker bar (˟˟˟˟˟ how'd it get THAT tight). a necessity in any engine rebuild.

 

Many engina parts can be made from soft aluminum so proper torque specs can be important since overtightening can happen very easily and crush aluminum and now you have an fix that is just throwing $$$ away instead of using the proper tool.

 

I always use a torque wrench on all my stuff, especially my rims. According to my uncle, who does a lot of mechanical things, if you dont use a torque wrench, you can bend things on your rims or whatever you may be tightening. I am a torque wrench user, but if ya wanna do the touchy feel thing, go for it, just be careful. Good luck.

 

I recently started using the torque-wrench for wheels (80lb/ft). Before was using a regular 2 foot breaker bar until it felt snug, after the wrench I realized I was torque-ing it to around 150-180lb/ft.

 

1) just tighten till it strips then back off 1/4 turn
2) you don't need a torque wrench, why do you think they invented Helicoils

 

when i got my tire patched this weekend, they used a torque wrench after the impact driver to verify spec, its tire pros new policy. thats the first time ive EVER (25+ driving years) seen one used on any of my wheels.

 

i use a tq wrench for almost every tighting sequence when i work on vehicles. probably not needed on eveyrthing, but there are some critical fasteners that if you dont use one, your just not serious about what your doing. also, on the first page(from 2002!) someone said that tq's are very inacurrate. totaly not true. like all things, you get what you pay for. I have a Stahlwille manoskop(german tool company, the manaskop is required tool for all vag dealerships in europe) vag=volkswage audi group. anyways, tq will always be the most accurate in the middle of their adjustment range, and worse at the highest. mine has been professionally calibrated, and tested:
in the middle of the range, its accurate to one tenth of one percent! the most mine is off is at its highest setting, one of the pulls(they do 3 pulls at bottom, middle top of range) measured 2 percent off, but the other 2 pulls were 1.5. thats why the manoskop is arguably the best non-electronic tq in the world. there are some things ill buy from harbor freight, but a tq, or anything precision for that matter, is not it.

 

A torque wrench can not be used to "verify" torque, only to set torque as the bolt/nut is tightened. If they tightened the lugs with the impact and then put the torque wrench on them, they wasted their time with the torque wrench as the lugs were probably past spec already. Using a torque wrench after using the impact only tells you that the lugs are AT LEAST to what the wrench is set to and could be much more.

Impacts should never be used to tighten lug nuts (maybe to spin them down, but not tighten). There is no way to verify what the torque is when using the impact (unless they have a calibrated impact, but I have only seen them in manufacturing plants...).

I have had tire shops tell me they could tell what the torque is by how the impact *feels*, and I made them loosen them and use a torque wrench (that they had to find as they never use it...). There is one exception to using a torque wrench for tightening, and that is if they use the proper torque stick (which this shop had and again never use). I don't use them anymore, even for my free rotations.

hupptoy

 

has anyone used this wrench:

http://www.tirerack.com/accessories/tools/tw605.jsp

 

i will be now since i just picked up a torque wrench. mostly for suspension/driveline components as well as wheels. spark and drain plugs...maybe not so much.