Decent Digi Tourque Wrench 3/8 Drive

Opinions? Not trying to break the bank but seeing as most of my work is in the 3/8 range, I think Id like to make the switch.

Thanks in advance.

 

Pick one they are all the same chinese made bullshit. They all work reasonably well. All you are pying for at soem point is branding.

 

Kinda thought that but theres folks in the know about tools more than this half ass hack bolt cross threader.

 

I'm going by personal experience. When compared to my profesional mechanics $400 plus dollar Snap-off the $150 dollar Kobalt I own works exactly the same way.

 

We have calibrated torque thingy’s at work, new - ish snap on, an Icon (or whatever HF “premium” brand is), a dudes older Kobalt and some no name brand. They were all 40-100ftlb range. The HF one was most accurate across the board, Snap on 2nd and other two about the same in distant 3rd. The icon read give or take 02lb high at 40-60 ftlb in increments of 10. The snap on would read low then at 70ftlb went same distance away but high. Other two were all over the place.that being said they were all within the ballpark of doing anything no precision, I’d only use the top two if doing a head or something like that.

 

Thank you! Good info there!

 

And I know I should only have opinions so sorry to use actual data. What’s funny is we had a debate last week about this and I forgot we had the calibration machine because I just approved the PO for it to be calibrated (so it was spot on). Biggest key to any torque wrench is backing them off after use, there is lots of data to support that claim.

 

Ill keep that in mind.

 

End user plays a big part in accuracy as well. Application of force smoothly leads to good results. Someone being less than smooth can cause false readings in either direction.

 

Almost, if not more important than the wrench itself.

 

Thanks guys. Appreciate the knowledge.

 

I also needed a torque wrench when my ancient USA made one died. Ended up with CDI. Very nice USA/Taiwan tool.
Made by Snap On if I recall correctly.

And as stated previously, always back it down to zero in between the times you use it and for storage.

 

This^^, and storing them in stable environment. My three torque wrench’s live on the top shelf of a cabinet in my kitchen area when not in use. My heavy straight edge and good air gauges reside there also.

 

There was a guy on Garage Journal, who worked for Boeing, who mentioned having a little tension in the torque wrench was a best practice. It was a while ago, can’t remember any other info really, but that always stuck out.

 

Yes. What I’ve been told over the years by multiple guys who calibrate stuff for a living is to back them off to their lowest setting then slightly under that. If it’s a 40-100 lb back it off roughly 10% of lowest, so around where 35-36 would be. As one guy put it was keep the tension to stop stuff moving around but no stress on it.

 

Looks like everything I was going to say has been covered so, me too.

 

CDI Torque Wrenches can be picked up from industrial supply houses and are often in their sales fliers. They’re the OEM for some of the much more expensive tool names.

There’s been a few reliability studies that have found a wide range of quality issues with many off the shelf torque wrenches. Which is why a lot of facilities have testing labs to regularly verify calibration. Depending on your work budget and the importance, Snap On makes a nice wall or bench mounted test station. They’re maybe $500 each. Certainly not going to provide lab level calibration checks, but pretty worthwhile for daily quick checks.

 

Im winning track days and the odd club race. Not sure $500 is gonna be worth it provided I care for the tool with the above guidance. But I do appreciate the input!

 

I got both 1/4 & 3/8 GearWrench 120XP (model 85195). I like them well enough. I think they were recently discontinued by GearWrench for a much more expensive swappable head 120XP version, but you can still get them on Amazon from a few sellers. Harbor freight only makes the Icon digital in 1/2" drive. They have Quinn digital in 3/8" which seems similar to Kobalt etc... If you are doing Harbor Freight, tomorrow(President's Day) is the last day for a 10% or 20% off coupon with no exclusions to save you some money.

 

If you generally do right-handed threads, skip the Digi-wutamajig and just get one of these. Super reliable and no fuss. They make the wrenches for Snapoff or CDI.

https://www.amazon.com/Precision-Instruments-PREC2FR100F-Wrench-Torque/dp/B000YOX568