Anyone recommend a good accurate make ? I'll need two. One for low down stuff up to 30Nm and a BIG one to 240 Nm.
comes down to cost. britool or snapon lower prices draper. a lot seem to be digital these days. you can get an interface tool that fits between a powerbar and socket and is useable for different space restrictions
norbar is the best ive used, have a 1/4 britool a 3/8 norbar and 1/2 sykes here at home, norbar's defo my choice, at work its all britool torque wrenches we use, do NOT touch teng there shit quality unless theve changed lately
get a snapon if you can afford it, they're fully rebuildable. Unless you're going for full talk factor digital snapon ones are overkill for what you need. If it's occasional use, ie. most home mechanics teng or halfords will be fine for what you want. I've got a teng and yes, its not shiny but after five years I had it calibration checked and it was fine. Ideal for once in a blue moon. If anything, make sure you can lock the torque setting, halfords used to not have this feature and it was a pain in the arse as your torquing action would actually roll the handle and change the torque value. Keep it in persepctive and ask yourself how much use it'll see vs how much its going to cost you. If you only use it once every six months then there's no point in parting with 300 quid for a snapon digital unit, or a Torqueleader item.
I've got a low torque Norbar which is very good and a Halfords one for the big jobs and it's really all I need. There is no point in spending big money on something which you only use once in a while. Also there is some leeway on Ducati torque figures so you should be able to get in range on all the nuts and bolts. I have no problems with anything in the 748-9** range.
I have a low budget £30 one ive used for about 20 years without any problems. But recently ive been eyeing up a replacement and the general consensus is that the halfords professional ones are cracking value for money. Think the one I was looking at is about £70->£90 atm. Im waiting for it to appear in one of their sales.
Tool quality and cost always depends on the amount of use they are going to get............ ...........If you are going to torque up the caravan wheel nuts once a year, buy a cheap one.....it will last longer than the caravan. But if you are working in depth on bikes every month, then as others have said, Britool, Norbar and Snap-On are the way to go. Avoid stuff like Laser and what look like copies, because they are all the bl**dy same thing, cheap Indian or Chinese cr*p; just stuck in a different colour box.... AL
Ive always avoided Laser and "Silverline" like the plague as their stuff is mega cheap. But what i didnt realise until the other day is that silverline actually give you a life-time warranty on all their tools. Doesnt detract from the fact they are poor quality compared to the likes of snap-on & halfords pro, but supprised me.
Have a look at the Teng stuff. I've got 4 and have used them daily for 10 years and still good. Calibration is very good and consistent. Halfords pro stuff is good to and warranted for life.
I have two Halfords Professional Torque wrenches for the same purpose. No problems at all with them. In fact I think the Halfords Pro range tools are superb (NB I bought all my tools some 6-8 years ago so that assumes the build quality has not been compromised for now). (No I do no work there!)
I've only had one occasion to get a spanner swapped....gave them the old one and got a new replacement there and then. No reciept. Know a few that have been back and same story.... Maybe our local store is a rare bird? Broken more snap on stuff and the exchange process has been much tougher though LOL
Another vote for Halfords pro stuff from me. Always score very well for accuracy in reviews too. Oh and they are made by Norbar too I believe but dont shoot me if im wrong.
Halfords professional from me as we'll, got two 1/2" 40-240N/m and a 3/8" which I think is 20-100. Certainly good enough for most home mechs.
+1 for Teng, swedish made, lifetime warranty too (although never had to claim) just had to opportunity to calibrate my big (40-200 NM) torque wrench at a friends firm and it was spot on (less that +- 0.3%) after 3 years of regular use on track for changing front and rear wheel nuts on single siders 160+ nm
I have 6 in various scales and all Britool + another which is really for aircon engineers but takes crowsfoot ends. It's not only how often you use them, although this is still important, but whether they are consistently and sufficiently accurate for the work YOU intend doing e.g. If rebuilding an engine/transmission you need accurate torque settings even if you won't touch it again for xx years. If you're after quality, always look at the accuracy limits and whether they can be rebuilt / recalibrated. Nothing against snapon but a little too expensive for me at least compared to Britool. FWIW, MSC Industrial Supply Co. (ex J&L industrial) have always done good deals on Britool but you sometimes need to call for decent discount sometimes as high as 40%
Screwfix are quite cheap for Teng, I bought a 1/2" drive one from them for about £50, its spot on too. I have a Laser 1/4" one as well, for light stuff. you can tell the difference in quality but it does do the job well enough...
Last Xmas I got a Silverline Allen key T Bar set from someone on the forum as a secret santa gift. I used it to build my Radical Pantah and to pull apart my Elefant. I have Snap on and Halfords stuff, but I have to be honest and say I'm really impressed with the T bar set. All the hex ends are still sharp, with not even a sign of starting to round. If someone wanted a cheap set I would recommend them, and I'm a bit of a tool snob!
I've got some Draper Expert socket sets, and they're excellent quality, definitely the best I've owned and virtually indestructible. Nothing at all like their cheaper stuff. Reckon the torque wrenches will be good too.
