Torque wrench took a dump

[onion]

In 1997, I bought the 'big' craftsman 1/2" torque wrench. I was mainly using it to torque N14 Cummins head bolts to 220 ft-lbs. It broke. Got another one. It broke. Got another one. It broke. Got my money back and bought a Mac. It still works fine.

I bought a 3/8 craftsman at the same time, and it worked fine for about 11 years. It finally broke a few months ago- the adjuster threads galled and the handle came off. I bought a cheap-[censored] Harbor Freight one to replace it. It's got a range of 5-80 ft-lbs. Heavily built, LOOKS like it's built better than the craftsman. And it's shorter. I checked it against a recently calibrated snap-on wrench, and it's dead-on. Don't remember how much it cost exactly, but it was around $15. Them Chinamen are getting better at what they do.

 

[leftlane]

After seeing all the problems people had with their craftsman torque wrenches and problems with warranty repairs/replacements I sold my $80 craftsman 1/2" 10-150lb wrench and bought a cheap $23 10-150lb torque wrench at autozone which I actually like better since I find it a more user friendly design. Ive had no problems with it in the year that Ive had it and even if I do later on it was only $23.

This reminds me, if you hunt at sears for craftsman socket wrenches make sure to test them first because you'll likely find several that dont work right and are ill fitting unlike the rest of the identical socket wrenches on the shelf that were made well. Their quality has apparently gone downhill.

 

[doitmyself]

Quote:
anyone know who makes cornwells torque wrenches and how long is the warrantee


The Cornwell split beam wrenches look to be a dead ringer for Precision Instruments. I'm not sure about the micrometer wrench.

I think the standard warranty by PI is one year. I'm not sure if Cornwell warranties them longer.

 

[televascular]

Originally Posted By: doitmyself
It is getting harder to get a good "medium" priced torque wrench. Also, lots of people abuse them....use them to break nuts loose, don't turn them back to their lowest setting for storage, etc..

I thought that all torque wrenches were uni-directional only?

My Precision Instruments wrench is amazing to look at and to use. It has one of those locking dial mechanisms on the side which I have grown to love. According to PI, you don't have to set the dial to the lowest setting to preserve accuracy... but I always do anyway.

The problem is, after only two years of very light usage, it's showing rust at random places. Even though the entire shaft of the wrench is plated. And it's spent 95% of its life in the supplied carrying case.

Other than that, I guarantee you won't be disappointed by a PI torque wrench.

 

[AcuraTech]

I've been considering getting a nice torque wrench for awhile. I've delayed doing it because I don't use them very often. So I asked my Snap-On dealer how much the top of the line electronic 1/2 torque wrench cost. $389.00! I asked if that came with Vaseline.

Yeah, it's a lifetime investment, but holy cripes!