I had new tires put on my BMW at Firestone, I drove the care home (<10 blocks), almost took a 50 mile freway trip but was tired (thank god) because the next day on my way to Best Buy the left front tire came mostly off (hanging by one lug).
Ruined the rim, tire, disk and wheel bearing. Firestone repaired/replaced everything free and gave me another set of tires for my Wife's car. Keep an eye on tire places.
Not to show off the bling factor.............But after borrowing one of these more than once and getting the speach on how to and not to handle it, I just stepped up and bought one. Not cheap, but it works for me. 5-100 ft puonds and also does inch pounds and converts them. It vibrates and beeps when you hit the desired torque and has memory of how many pounds you went over. Also tells you what it was at when you remove a bolt....Kinda cool.
You guys are a bad influence. By a stroke of luck, I just managed to score a Snap-on Techwrench off Ebay, minus the case and manual for $122. The guy has a good history and had the wrench calibrated in Feb.
Torque sticks limit the MAXIMUM torque you can put on a wheel. My students tried to prove conclusively that they do not torque the wheel to the proper torque when I first got them. We had a few problems.
They can be used to set the lugs, but a torque wrench must be used to verify.
Damn I hate this forum at times! I was blissfully ignorant, shopping away on the Sears website for a couple of Craftsman torque wrenches when I had this insane compulsion to do a search or two on mud on the subject. Naturally the 80 forum is a rich hunting ground for anything remotely anal retentive so I found what I was afraid of. Can't bring myself to buy one now. I know; it's a disease. I just wish the Snap-On vaccine wasn't so damn expensive!
Damn I hate this forum at times! I was blissfully ignorant, shopping away on the Sears website for a couple of Craftsman torque wrenches when I had this insane compulsion to do a search or two on mud on the subject. Naturally the 80 forum is a rich hunting ground for anything remotely anal retentive so I found what I was afraid of. Can't bring myself to buy one now. I know; it's a disease. I just wish the Snap-On vaccine wasn't so damn expensive!
anyone have a tip for how to calibrate for a backyard mechanic?
I used my TW for the axle rebuild, but I'm not 100% confident that it is calibrated, would like to know how close it is to "true"
anyone have a tip for how to calibrate for a backyard mechanic?
I used my TW for the axle rebuild, but I'm not 100% confident that it is calibrated, would like to know how close it is to "true"
that's easy, get long bar ideally with a socket at the end, a weight and a ruler. Hang known weight at known distance from the socket. Compute produced torque. See at what setting wrench clicks. (Or check deflection if analog.) Compare to known torque.
(Or alternatively move weight along bar until set valued wrench clicks, see what distance, calculate true torque.)
Or.......................you could just find your local Snap-On dealer and use his tester. I'm sure he wouldn't have a problem letting you test any brand because maybe he'll make a sale
The Snap-on guys around here don't have any testing equipmet. They want you to surrender the wrench so they can "send it in to get calibrated" and they give it the rest cure and hand you a bill....
I officially hate Mud now...after reading this thread (and knowing that I needed to anyway) I just went online and hit eBay up for four...yes...four Snap-On torque wrenches...
I figure these will pretty much have me covered for anything that I need to do to the truck. Let me know if I missed a range I should also get. Did I mention I love eBay...
The Snap-on guys around here don't have any testing equipmet. They want you to surrender the wrench so they can "send it in to get calibrated" and they give it the rest cure and hand you a bill....
Snap-On will take your old beat up Snap-On wrench, no matter how beat up it is, and return it to you good as new (literally) for 1/2 the price of that wrench new. A friend of mine sent one in that you could barely read the settings on & when he got it back it looked like they pulled a new one off the shelf & dropped it in the mail. I have no idea whet they charge for a straight calibration.
I've been in the calibration business since '83 & have cal'd thousands of wrenches. Trained by/calibrated for/retired from the Air Force over a 23 year span. Now I'm back at the same Lab as a civilian drawing 2 paychecks from you taxpayers. I don't personally cal wrenches anymore, we have Airmen for that. I do Cal the Calibrator though.
Snap-On is a good wrench as far as support from the company & parts availability but it is far from the best. My favorite brands are CDI, Matco, and Proto. CDI is a "Snap-On company " but I'm not sure who owns who or if CDI is making the wrences for Snap-On. The 2 companies wrenches don't look alike except for the digital one. In addition to returning the wrench to it's lowest setting, You are also supposed to excercise it at the highest setting 3 times prior to use.
Hey E9999, Don't forget to take into account the weight of the bar at the end of it and whatever is used to attach the weights.
We cal' from 5 inch ounces to 2000 Ft Lbs.
From this
of course, but that can be a small contribution if you use a heavy external weight and a short bar. But you'd add the bar weight at only 1/2 its length, not the full length.
I figure these will pretty much have me covered for anything that I need to do to the truck. Let me know if I missed a range I should also get. Did I mention I love eBay...
Mark, Assuming 10-50 (QC1R50) are in-lb, you are not covered from 50-240 in-lb (5-20 ft-lb) which is fair commonly used range in torque spec. Time to hit eBay again As Dan pointed out, the flex head will help. (I have been looking for one myself - a flex head 5-75 ft-lb.)
I've been in the calibration business since '83 & have cal'd thousands of wrenches. Trained by/calibrated for/retired from the Air Force over a 23 year span. Now I'm back at the same Lab as a civilian drawing 2 paychecks from you taxpayers. I don't personally cal wrenches anymore, we have Airmen for that. I do Cal the Calibrator though.
I am always wondering whether I can easily use one torque wrench to test the others assuming the range overlaps. I have a craftsman that I use for years on my bikes, and I believe it is reliable, and recently I got a couple of used snap-ons. To test the snap-ons, I put a bolt on the vise, and tighten it to a number with the craftsman, and then check the new snap-on for the same torque. I know it is not very scientific, do you think the method effective at all?
In addition, I am under impression that when a click-type torque wrench lost its precision, it tends to always over-tighten a fastener. Is it correct or it can go wrong both ways?
WXM - Excellent...you are absolutely right. I need to hit eBay again...don't tell the wife. I think now is a good time to hit eBay as I know a lot of car dealerships are going under and a lot of mechanics are selling tools as they lose their jobs. I hate to hear people are being laid off but, on the flip-side...I have noticed a lot more high quality tools on eBay as of late. It looks like I am searching for a QD2FR75.
WXM - Excellent...you are absolutely right. I need to hit eBay again...don't tell the wife. I think now is a good time to hit eBay as I know a lot of car dealerships are going under and a lot of mechanics are selling tools as they lose their jobs. I hate to hear people are being laid off but, on the flip-side...I have noticed a lot more high quality tools on eBay as of late. It looks like I am searching for a QD2FR75.
Funny but this was the first forum that I searched for information on torque wrenches. There were no hits (but there will be now)....the 80 forum was my second stop!
Take it easy guys. Don't let emotion take you over. I saw QD2FR75 on eBay all the time, and have seen good used one sold around $70 (which is my target price). From my experience, I actually am hoping get metric wrench. My old brain doesn't spin very well having to deal with in-lb or ft-lb.
All of my Snap-On guys have had a tester to let you know that your wrench was still within spec or not.
As Dan pointed out, the flex head will help. (I have been looking for one myself - a flex head 5-75 ft-lb.)
