Torque wrenches / brands

jdizon

jdizon

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Can I trust my Pittsburg pro 3/8,1/2 torque wrenches for reassembling my engine? It says +/- 4% accuracy. If they cant be trusted can some recommend a brand model I can pickup for $150 or less? I like the click style wrenches.
 
Hey, jdizon,
My only recommendations would be along the lines of mature/trusted/professional shop tools, like Snap-on, Mac, Craftsman. But only the U.S. offerings...
 
Picked this up used. Plan to get it recalibrated. Marco tools good quality?

MATCO 3/8" TRB75F flex head click type torque wrench case 5 - 75 ft. lbs
 
I've heard of Matco, dunno anything about them.
Was reading threads today on head torquing, came across a post that had a link to someone else's site where he calibrated/tested/evaluated several different torque wrenches. Have you seen this?
 
Matco is a good brand. I have worked with people in the past that have had thier Pittsburg torque wrenches calibrated, and they worked out fine. A couple of REAL no-name chinese torque wrenches have come back red tagged as not able to calibrate that I have seen. I usually try to find a good quality wrench at the pawn shop and then have them calibrated through work. Normally our (aircraft mechanic types) employer will pay to have our tools calibrated, so my multimeter, measuring devices, and torque wrenches get calibrated once a year.
 
I have tested a couple of cheap +/-4% accuracy torque wrenches. The ones I tested were exactly correct, exactly in the middle of the scale. They fell off to 4% too tight at the very bottom of the scale, and 4% low on the very top of the scale. In a word, they work just as advertised.

An internet search on Pittsburgh torque wrenches tells me they generally pass muster. YMMV.
 
I put mine together with a pittsburg, but on small stuff, like the clutch basket pressure plate bolts, I used a smaller craftsman so I could use inch pounds. still runs.
 
Damn I wasted money on the Matco torque wrench. I should have just stuck to what I had or had it calibrated. Thanks for the responses. I'll stick with Harbor freight stuff. So much more bang for the buck
 
Most torque specs on a motorcycle seem to be around the max the fastener will take without stripping. Which makes sense. There are ways to find that point which don't demand a freshly calibrated torque wrench.

But some of the fasteners are only spec'd to be tightened to some point before they would start to crush something, like on the fork clamps where the fastener itself could handle a higher torque.
 
i have a hf wrench but i don't feel comfortable using it on important specs (head bolts, engine internals, etc.). i just recently picked up a cdi brand wrench. cdi makes torque wrenches for snap-on and they are made in california. comes with a calibration certificate and they will recalibrate for a small fee. also having the cdi logo on it instead of snap-on makes it less expensive.
 
Don't care what brand I use as long as I can get close to the torque specs for the desired job. I paid 10.00 for each of my HF torque wrenches and they can be calibrated for another 50.00. I'm good with that. Didn't think the cheaper brands could be calibrated. Wish I knew that before I splurged on an overpriced Brand.
 

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