Tools

Years ago let one of these reliable and foolproof gadgets get away: .   So replaced them with a set of these: .  Which have served me well (I guess) until now. Checked the 1/2 inch 2 ways and it came up WAY OFF and the 3/8 ratchet head has finally wore out.  It's destined to get welded up for a real nice breaker bar.   I've never trusted the little inch pound on scope bases and rings and other such delicate things.  Fine for bicycles, but yeah...

So needing a torque wrench, and a bipartisan grift from my pocket back to my pocket of $1200 from Nans and The Don is soonly heading my way the timing is perfect for super high quality life long torque wrench!

Thought about getting back to my contrarian and very simple minded roots but in a big way.  Kind of like the old Craftsman Beam above but even bigglyer.  So a Deflecting Beam or a Split Beam seemed like an obvious place to stimulate an economy somewhere on this messed up planet right now. 

But my cheap rump self kept bumping in to this Powerbuilt on that notorious auction site.  So for $72 delivered picked up this cheap but freaking gorgeous Taiwan knock-off of a super high dollar Warren and Brown Deflecting Beam torque wrench.



 
Inconveniently (but I don't care) doesn't have a ratcheting head to blow out:




With a ridiculously simple adjustment scale;



 
Apparently certified stupid accurate (for now anyway), which I'll ham fisted test before torquing a single lug nut!




I felt like I was in college lurking through Sears for the one tool I needed to get my old Ford F-1 ready for a road trip and back to work cruising timber until the snow flies.

I like this thing!  Anyone have some odd or fun or interesting tools to share.  I'd love to see them.

Take care y'all and be safe please.

The last time I used my beam type torque wrench I handed it to my nephew and he looked at me like I handed him the dungy end of the stick. He called it primitive. The only dial in type torque wrench I had was in inch pounds. But I took care of that issue with new ft/lb torque wrenches that he will like. For myself I bought a Makita battery impact wrench and torque limiting extensions. I think I'll wait for him to get all done with the torque wrenches he likes, then bring out the impact version with extensions to check the lug nuts and watch his face. I checked one torque limiting extension against my beam type torque wrench and it's within a few pounds ( the 80 ft/lb one anyway). Close enough.

FWIW, they must be used with an impact wrench for them to work correctly (they're torsion springs). Used with a ratchet or breaker bar they just pass however much torque from the hands into whatever is being tightened.

For myself I bought a Makita battery impact wrench and torque limiting extensions. 

I have a electric and a pneumatic impact wrench the extensions sounds more like fun than work!  Cool.

For myself I bought a Makita battery impact wrench and torque limiting extensions. 

I have a electric and a pneumatic impact wrench the extensions sounds more like fun than work!  Cool.

It's incredibly fast. I can check all 4 wheels in much less than a handful of minutes and not even be where my air line can reach. But yes, the extensions... well, I'll never check lug nuts any other way now. I didn't pay a lot for the extension set, of course one can, but mine were made somewhere in Asia and I got the set for less than one US made extension. But I read reviews and saw no negative reviews. I'm far from a professional user and can't write them off, so $ saved means a lot to me.

For scope bases and rings etc' I bought a Wheeler Fat Wrench. It works nicely.
https://www.wheelertools.com/gunsmithing...53556.html

For scope bases and rings etc' I bought a Wheeler Fat Wrench. It works nicely.
https://www.wheelertools.com/gunsmithing...53556.html

Right there with ya.  I didn't have confidence in the in/lb Craftsman so got one of those bad boys for Xmas a few years ago.  Why did I wait so long kind of thing!

Know a good bit about tools and even handle some lines such as Stahlwille as part of my motorsports business.

If one wants the maximum tool for the minimum money regarding torque wrenches, there is only one choice: CDI. These are the underlying suppliers for many quality brands such as Snap On with the sole differences being graphic labeling and price.  Use their electronic DOD wrenches with printer output on customer projects despite being a Stahlwille dealer and lover of French FACom and Snap On tools.

However, for the casual user, one can not beat a twin beam - period and always what recommended when asked by such users. It has many advantages, foremost being the lack of requirement to set to zero between uses - be honest, did you forget and store the previous torque wrench to its last used setting??  But will disagree that quality tool ratcheting heads fail. Have never had that occur nor heard of it if a quality tool. Just as info upon departure, one can buy ratcheting adaptors separately; remember using the old DOD wrenches not having ratcheting heads and it sucked in confined areas.

For those using electric and pneumatic wrenches, strongly advise using a QUALITY set of torque sticks or you are begging for serious trouble when you least can afford the time and expense. Barring torque sticks, abide by old motorsports rule of removing fasteners with impact wrenches but tightening by manual means. Good advice and hope you take it.

Whats wrong with the click type torque wrench and how do you check it for accuracy?   I have a fairly decent quality one that I've had for years and no wheel has unexpectedly departed any vehicle.  So far.  

I got myself a setup about 20 years ago because I wasn't going to pay someone twice a year times two (then and now 4) for changeovers.  I've got tires on rims so its not an issue.  After a couple of years of doing it with the jack and tools from the vehicle (I told myself its good practice for roadside tire changes) I decided that was BS and hard on the body so I got a floor jack, and an impact wrench - I initially went looking for pneumatic because they're cheap but my compressor isn't big enough and I wasn't going to upgrade that so I looked at the cordless battery impact wrenches and at the time they were over $500 so nope.  I got a good Dewalt electric corded impact wrench with a bonus side grinder for under $200 and I was good to go.  Tire storage and handling has been the only issue as I get older and more arthritic - I've got 3 tire racks bolted to the garage walls but all up high.  Not that much of a problem hoisting the wheels for the Honda Pilot, Oddessy and Accord but the 20" F150 wheels are heavy.  I rigged up a pulley system a few years back to help me when I was rehabbing a shoulder surgery right at changeover time.  It did "ok" but ideally I needed a higher ceiling to allow room for the pulleys and the rigging plates - I'm still noodling a solution now because its that time of year.  I'm thinking of separating the pulleys so that the last pulley is mounted directly on the ceiling rather than from a rigging plate.  We'll see.  Here's a sample I found online so I could rig it properly.  Maneuvering the wheels into and out of position has also become a bit of a chore for me and this year for Christmas I bought myself a tool designed for the purpose that I'm looking forward to trying out.  Funny name but if it works than who cares

https://jackandjillofalltires.com

Its funny the lengths a guy will go to to avoid asking for help.

ONothing inherently “wrong” with a click type torque wrench. They are notoriously inaccurate below 20% of their minimum range and above 80% of their maximum range - remember that. Their main s not withstanding the extreme ranges of usage is that they MUST be reset to ZERO between uses when stored. If left on any setting but zero for any length of time they require a thorough rebuild and recalibration due to internals taking a set - do not trust such a clicker wrench as it will be way off even if a CDI, SnapOn or Stahlwille. The design of split beam and electronic wrenches are such it doesn’t matter. If using an impact gun, there are these things called torque sticks. Get them for each torque level required and one does not need to use a manual torque wrench.

Do also remember to use a quality copper or nickel based antiseize such as 3M or LocTite C5A for the interface of rim to hub to make life worth living. Nothing worse than a galvanicly corroded rim/hub....

Appears he about to be hoisted upon his own petard, eh?