thom kuby wrote:
>
> Anyway gents...I'm in the market for new torque wrenches. I say that in
> plural because I think I need two...one small: for up to 75-80 ft-lbs, and
> one large: for the real numbers. Am I right to think I should split the
> "weight categories" up? or do you suppose I can get away with one, VERY
> GOOD torque wrench, to do everything imaginable that requires a torque
> setting?
Since my preference is very much for the 'click' type (like your
Microtork), and I've never seen one that covers the entire range I'm
interested in, I'd say you need 3 torque wrenches, with the third one
being for torques in the inch-pound range.
> My previous Torqer was a "microtork" (or something like that-I'm not going
> out to the tool cabinet to look, right now) by Craftsman, and that thing
> only went up to about 80ft-lbs...which covered a fair amount of ground. It
> was a clicker and it finally died, so I need another one. My first thought
> was to go back to basics, and buy two standard beam wrenches from, again,
> Sears...but I see the same thing happening that some of you do...that is,
> an apparent cheapening of quality at Sears.
My understanding is that the Craftsman torque wrenches are covered by
the lifetime guarantee, the 1 year thing only applies to their rated
accuracy. So, I'd start by seeing if they will repair your old one. If
they repair it, it will probably be as good as new, and if they replace
it with a current, lower quality model, you can always sell it on eBay
<g>
Actually, it's probably worth a look at their current offerings for
torque wrenches anyway. They are considerably different than the
wrenches and sockets everyone complains about, so perhaps have not
suffered the same decline in quality.
> So, I'm all ears and open for suggestions and vendor recommendations. I'm
> not a full-time pro so Snap-On is probably overkill, unless of course they
> happen to be the "only show in town". BTW:I don't suppose this really
> matters, but I'll be working on anything from old VW beetles to Porsches to
> old Triumph TR3s new Hondas to large 3/4 ton pickups. (this is a typical
> garage & driveway inventory for me)
I haven't been able to get them to send me a full catalog since they
were bought by MSC, but Enco is still in business (
http://www.use-enco.com/ ), and I've had good luck in the past with
their tools. My 1977 catalog lists a 1/2" 150ftlb "Designed for general
purpose automotive work" click-type torque wrench for $16.84 ...
Randall
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