Sears Torque Wrenchs

[ReconRat]

Sears Craftsman has indeed gone downhill. And so has a lot of other brands and sources. Choose wisely. I've not had any problems with mine, and yes, I torque everything and occasionally tear an engine down. Not near as much engine work as I used to do.

Accuracy? I took all my torque wrenches to the aviation school where they had calibration. All passed. Both the beam and the clickers. Most everyone had equipment that passed. Which probably means within 5%, I forget the limits. If you abuse, break, or drop a torque wrench, it needs to be calibrated or replaced.

Having said all that, the last time I used my Craftsman inch-pound wrench, I didn't like the way it was working. It seems to be over torquing, and I will have to check it out before trying to use it again. I sense something wrong. It's only what, 20-30 years old?

edit: I've been buying a lot of tools at Harbor Freight and Lowes and even Ace hardware. And I don't like some of the Kobalt tools. Junk.

Edited June 19, 2011 by ReconRat

[RSparky]

at home calibration for cheap asses: measure your wrench, put a certain weight on one end. say... duct tape a 20 lb dumbbell to it. it should be at the center of the handle. stick it on a rigid fastener horizontally. read the torque, divide it by the length. does that equal the weight?

if it's near enough you're good. this isn't a nuclear bomb you're working on. :-/

[Bubba]

Pretty much true. One ft-lb of torque means one pound of force applied to the handle at a distance of one foot from the axis of rotation (socket). Only problem I see is that you'll want to check the calibration across the entire range of adjustment. When you get to duct-taping that 150 lb dumbbell to the handle, be sure to account for the 75 lbs of duct tape!

[Wicked1]

Sears tools? LoL

That's the best joke I've heard all day.

A few years ago I would buy craftsman in a heart beat- now its all made offshore= crap.

[InyaAzz]

Thanks guys. I'm gonna go buy a few of these and then get my bike on the horsepower treadmill thing and see how much yuuut ugghhhh I gained.

[2Wheeler]

I have 2 Craftsman torque wrenches that I bought about 20 years ago and I trust them. I don't shop at sears anymore for tools because they dont honor thier waranty.

[jporter12]

Most of the stuff I NEED a torque wrench for require even torque more than a specific value. I do know that ALL fasteners have a torque spec, though. I guess I'm just not that much of a perfectionist.