Mysterious Snap On torque wrench

[kshansen]

Left handed threads on older drivers' side wheels
that is LHD vehicles

Yep, know some Chrysler cars, and others, were that way at least in the 1960's. Actually had a drivers ed class one day where were were going to be taught how to change a tire. Driver Ed. teach told us that the lug nuts on the left side were left handed threads. Funny thing is when the first student was tasked with removing the lug nut the first stud broke off as did a couple more. Seems the people who had mounted the new tires on this car did not know about left hand threads and managed to force them on with and air wrench. Just lucky we found it before a wheel had fell off during driving class!

 

[bosco659]

A few pics of the innards - a bit blurry from my old phone. The brass mechanism in the bottom is the movement for the needle. The copper arm is attached to a beam that bends with the applied load. It moves the arm on the movement to cause deflection of the needle. The copper arm is twisted - I assume from misuse and / or abuse from a po. If Snap On can’t or won’t fix it, or it’s cost prohibitive, I’ll take it apart and attempt to straighten the arm. I found an old parts list on line that listed the rivets that hold the case together. They were expensive so if I do take it apart and “fix” it, I’ll reassemble with screws until I’m confident it’s working properly. Nit sure how to set the rivets. Looks like a special tool might be needed.

Moving the screw up or down changes the calibration.

 

[bosco659]

My Snap On dealer says $147.00 Cdn to repair the wrench (flat rate). That would put my total investment up to $200.00. I will probably go ahead with it because it sells for over $600 new. Once repaired I can sell it as a new tool if I want to part company with it (I think in many cases they just replace them vs fix them). Stay tuned.

 

[jetmechmarty]

I believe I would do the same. It’s nice to have a tool like that you can be confident in. $147.00 Cdn doesn’t go far right now.