I need a good torque wrench

[Bonnewagon]

I got my grandson conditioned to swap summer and winter tires. He knows to use 100 ft lbs on the lug nuts. I want to get him a decent 1/2" drive click torque wrench. Normally I go with Craftsman but NOS are going for crazy expensive. Brand new is about $80-100 and imported. I am totally unfamiliar with the current brands. Lexivon? Tekton? Vevor? Quinn? Etoolab? Amd of course a slew of oddly named brands that look suspiciously like a Harbor Break model. Which the 'Pittsburgh' model is $21 right now.

 

[melloelky]

i had this same converastion not long ago,it's the wild west out there now.between my brother's craftsman in pretty bad shape and my harbor freight that doesn't click all the time

 

[pagrunt]

At Harbor Freight just say no to a Pittsburgh torque wrench. Bought a 1/4" inch-lbs a few years ago which only looked like one but couldn't even click when set to any setting. Would of been better to get a plastic one that was branded Fisher Price.

 

[Bonnewagon]

Ya know we used to take USA made Craftsman for granted. I had a Sears Hardware close to me and I would stock up on stuff I didn't even need when it was on sale. Now that same USA made Craftsman is precious. One of the last things I bought was a socket set that included almost every socket Craftsman made. I could barely carry it to my car. I am holding it for when he gets his own place,
Yet China is getting better. I don't know enough about these brands to trust them with precision instruments. Even Taiwan is better than China so I will consider those.

 

[bracketchev1221]

I got my son a 1/2 Pittsburgh one probably 7 years ago, it’s served its purpose for doing wheels. I checked it based on my craftsman and it matched exactly. Now would I recommend them for continuous engine building no, but for him to put tires on and drop it in the driveway this one is fine

 

[Ribbedroof]

I would check out Project Farm videos on youtube

My Snap-On is claimed to be not repairable (lock ring), and because of that they also won't calibrate it...also no offer to make it right

I won't be buying another Snappy

 

[Bonnewagon]

Thanks Ribbedroof. That was some video. So some of those odd brands are not so bad. Most made in Taiwan, as I indicated, I don't mind Taiwan stuff. Snap-On was the best, but I don't think I'll be spending that on a tool that may be dropped or lost. But I'm glad I passed on the Lexivon which is all over Fleabay. .

 

[Ribbedroof]

He's hard to listen to (my wife leaves the room when I watch his vids)😆, but the info is great.

 

[Drkuhar]

Watch that some of them do not work on reverse threads. I bought a brand new tekton when rebuilding my rear end for the ring gear bolts and it doesn't click for reverse threaded bolts. My old USA craftsman does

 

[xylorex]

I have 3/8 and 1/2 tekton split beam torque wrenches. I use them often and no complaints.

The 1/2" is $145