torque wrenches

[Wilcoy02]

I am in the market to buy a Torque Wrench. The Honda manual gives me any torques from 9 ft. lbs to 70. I would like to put my bike back together correctly.

What is a good wrench to buy? And where to buy it at? I see prices from $30.00 to the hundreds. I would like to get a good wrench for several years of service but it does not need to be gold plated.

Thank You for any suggestions.

[Happytrails]

I am in the market to buy a Torque Wrench. The Honda manual gives me any torques from 9 ft. lbs to 70. I would like to put my bike back together correctly.

What is a good wrench to buy? And where to buy it at? I see prices from $30.00 to the hundreds. I would like to get a good wrench for several years of service but it does not need to be gold plated.

Thank You for any suggestions.

I can sympathize. When I was looking at torque wrenches it was frustrating. Craftsman came out with a nice inch/lb micro clicker torque wrench for the lower stuff. I have another Craftsman that goes from 15-75lb I think. And I bought the bigger Craftsman that goes from like 50-150lb that gets some use on my truck as well as the higher torques on a goldwing. I kind of remember the rear axle on a 1500 is 80lbs or something like that and I used to just tug a little more There is a rule of thumb about torque wrenches and usable ranges. As you get to the min-max of a torque wrench they are less accurate supposedly. On a car or truck its usually not going to make much of a difference. I only use a torque wrench on my truck when I'm working on brake parts like calipers, etc... But its a little different on a motorcycle. Everything seems to be made of soft aluminum so have to get it tight but not too tight or it strips. For a garage DIY mechanic they are pretty ideal and easy to find. I bought 2 of them off Ebay from top rated sellers that deal with mostly Craftsman stuff. Reasonably priced. Sometimes used SnapOn torque wrenches show up in somewhat ok shape. Sometimes labs buy them for certain things then just toss them on ebay after they sit around too long.

$60 & free shipping for the 25-250 Inch/lb micro clicker. Not bad. So thats umm.... 2-21'ish ft/lb? You can probably find the 15-75 ft/lb one on there yourself
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Craftsman-25-25 ... Sw9mFWL8UM

[goldwings 4 ever]

You will definitely need 2 if you want to cover that entire range. You'll need an inch/lb one for the lower torque. The larger ft/lb ones are pretty inaccurate at lower torque's such as 9 ft/lb's. Buy the best you can afford. Unless I'm desperate for a tool right now (which happens a lot according to my wife) I try to wait until they are on sale somewhere.

[dovesdrummer]

Believe it or not, the Pittsburgh Pro from Harbor Freight isn't a bad torque wrench. Lifetime Warranty and only costs $22. They have a 3/8" drive version that adjusts from 5 ft lbs - 90 ft lbs if my. memory is correct. Check on the specs to be sure.

[WingAdmin]

Definitely get two. As mentioned, a wrench that can measure up to 100 ft-lbs is going to be uselessly inaccurate at the low range - and you REALLY don't want to over-torque a fastener that is only supposed to be torqued to 10 ft-lb.

I also agree on the Harbor Freight wrenches - I bought a couple as "throw-away" tools (as most Harbor Freight tools are), but they both still work great, and have stayed perfectly calibrated (I check them periodically with a beam style wrench).

[NVSB4]

+1 on the HF torque wrenches.
They also have sales on them quite often.
I got my copy of Wing World yesterday and there is an HF coupon with them at $11.99 for 1/4, 3/8 & 1/2" models.

[bodasefus]

I went with the Harbor Frt... I got the better ones they have and got the 1/4,,,3/8,,,1/2 wrenches... they all came with a case,,, their accuracy is close enough for government work... They have a great return if within the time limits... For less than $75,,, I got it covered...

[bntyhntr6975]

I have and use HF torque wrenches also, no problems yet. I think I got all 3 (1/4, 3/8, 1/2) for like $10 or $12 each with their super coupons.
Theres usually various past issues of several magazines on the break tables at work. Im pretty sure it was Popular Mechanics that I had read a review/comparison of various torque wrenches at some point in the last few years. Anyway, they actually ranked right along with the bigger brands as far as function. Longetivity seemed to be their weak point, but only when stressed near their max. So for the price (and warranty), theyre really hard to beat.