Torque Wrench

i am considering getting a torque wrench [or maybe 2 - a big one and a little one] Has anyone had any experience with these and any recommendations?

Not bragging, but i've got a big one, but i'll swap it any day for a small one .For some reason the small ones are more expensive but if you work on your
bike they are a must . My large one was $80 but a good small one start at $5oo .Useage large 10% -small 90%

yeah. i use the torque wrench 105% of the time to, gus

as a mechanic i use em all the time. if you can, get both. both mine are the repco brand...best one i have ever used. my boss has the same one, 20 years old, and tested against mine, his torques thing to the same setting...never been adjusted.

not sure about cost though.

Repco sell the Warren and Brown torque wrench ( Branded as Repco) ( I think Repco own Warren and Brown) - I have two of them and they are excellent. A very simple deflecting beam design which has been tried and tested for decades. They are not cheap but they will last a lifetime - buy expensive and complain once or buy cheap and complain all the time as my old Dad used to say.

Rough idea on price on the two I have:

4 to 80 ftlb 1/4" drive $259.00
20 to 220 ftlb 1/2" drive $325.00

Not outrageously expensive for what you get.

Couldnt make my mind up 5 or 10% useage .Finger disagreed with mind .

I have access to these at work. Someone was thoughtful enough years ago to buy a 1/4 & 1/2 inch Sidchrome back when Sidchrome was the ducks guts. The 1/4 inch still has the wax paper around it in the steel case it came in. That's actually been "put aside for safe keeping"

Hi Steve,

I have a 3/8 Warren & Brown which I bought 30 years ago for about $200.00, my whole fortnight's spending money at the time and have never looked back! This was the same brand they used in the hanger in my Ansett days. These days they are sold under the Repco brand. I would suggest a 1/4" for the 5 - 10 mm threads generally used around engines, plus a 1/2" for axles, sprockets etc. i.e. the big stuff. To me accuracy is much more important with the smaller wrench so spend your money on a good one. Personally, my half inch is a Kingchrome for about 80 bucks from Bunnings and I reckon its plenty good enough for axle nuts etc.

Regards Peter

I used to swear by the deflecting beam type wrenches and still reckon they are a good buy. Easy to use and easy to calibrate/fix when broken. Often a fairly expensive purchase but have the potential to last a lifetime. A couple of downfalls for me is that the causal user can forget to reset the pin and tighten things too far because there is no "click"

For home use and for those on a bit of a budget I recon the micrometer type like this kingcrome one are a good alternative. The ratchet function comes in handy some times (they are not really for undoing things or torquing left hand bolts/nuts tho) and it's a bit easier to set to a specific torque setting I recon.
You can't forget to reset the pin (there isn't one) and there is little to no chance of not hearing/feeling the click when it reaches the set torque. IMO a better choice for the casual or less experienced user
Downfall is that they can have a bit more of a tolerance between set and actual but this is easy to overcome.
Calibrating and repairs can take longer and cost a bit more but not overly bad.
Since getting this type my WandB don't get used.

Thats the large one i've got ,works fine .I didnt think it came in a small size though, for say 10 nm.?

txs all - sounds like a little repco and a big kingchrome might be the go

My wife recently brought me a 1/4" torque wrench. I ended up with a Teng tools wrench from Auto One. About $130 works a treat. I make sure after I use it that I store it without leaving it set to anything. They are not cheap btw

I purchased Kinchrome 3/8 for around $100.
This wrench covers the full torque range specified in the workshop manual
Great value and only need to purchase a single wrench.